drManhattan wrote:I have never taken any altitude medication anywhere.
then i strongly recommend you to take it when you do your aconcagua climb.
Take what? Based on what? IGNORE
a basic guide is that a healthy person training at sea level may need altitude sickness pill, something like Diamox or Acetazolamide, or other traditional medication above 3000m to around 7000m.
No - a basic guide is take your time, stay hydrated and only use medication if regular symptoms of altitude - headache, nausea, dizziness, breathing problems - become serious. There is NO SUCH THING as an 'altitude sickness pill' and the fact that this poster is suggesting that indicates their ignorance. IGNORE
Traditional medication do have slower effect and requires consumption 1 week before the climb.
This statement is both false and nonsensical and the '1 week' is absolutely meaningless bullshit. IGNORE.
above 7000m, one would require artificial oxygen.
No, you do not 'require' artificial oxygen above 7000m. People
choose to use it to more easily and safely ascend to summits over 8000m and do not usually start to use it until their last, or second last camp, depending how much assistance they need and how much money they have. Plenty of mountains are climbed by many people every year over 7000m and they do not use artificial oxygen.
You probably going to hear a lot of people telling you that it is not important for the medication, proper acclamatization is the key.
Which is correct. Medication - Diamox, dexamethasone etc - is only needed if if undrugged acclimatisation has not worked or serious symptoms occur suddenly higher up. They are not aids to progress for most climbers in most situations.
The thing is, they know too little about altitude sickness.
They know more than you, who have shown yourself to be dangerously ignorant and arrogantly presumptuous.
This reply by 'ibelieveindevil' is one of the worst advice posts I have ever seen on Summitpost.
drManhattan, please IGNORE this guy. I have climbed Aconcagua twice unguided, various other summits over 6000-7000m and live in Australia. PM me for more info.