L'effet que tu me fais - Give up

Les sourcils froncés, j'essaie de comprendre ce qui m'arrive, mais mes pensées sont ralenties. Je suis confuse, étourdie. Je regarde autour de moi, tente de me déplacer, le souffle me manque. Je dois marcher très, très doucement. Après peu de temps,une céphalée commence à se faire sentir. Je dois avoir faim. Je prend quelques bouchées lentes de mes craquelins d'urgence, quelques gorgées d'eau. La nausée se met de la partie.

Mon compagnon de voyage semble dans un état pire que le mien. Nous devons nous rendre à destination, nous reposer, comprendre ce qui nous arrive. Nous réussissons à obtenir l'information nécessaire pour notre déplacement.

Dans le minibus rempli à craquer, alors que mon nez se met à saigner, une dame qui voit bien que nous sommes dans tous nos états m'informe que des stimulants (mate de coca, feuille de coca) vont aider à diminuer les effets de l'altitude. Dans 48 heures nos systèmes devraient être habitués.

The altitude of La Paz is anywhere between three thousand and four thousand metres. An altitude we reached in four hours from Buenos Aires with it's altitude of, well, being on the coast, it is just above sea level. So, what? A metre at some points? Twenty metres at others?

Common side effects we experienced include: fatigue, exhaustion, sleepiness, confusion, dizziness, headaches, difficulty breathing, increased heart rate, and dehydration.

The fatigue, exhaustion, and sleepiness made our first few days here undernourished ones as it was often beyond our capacities to get out of bed, let alone get to the restaurants. Being dehydrated from excessive respiration doesn't help nutritionally.

The dizziness, fatigue, exhaustion, and difficulty breathing make walking very difficult, as there is no such thing as the level road in La Paz. Every road is either inclined or declined. And walking a decline now means walking an incline later.

The confusion and headaches make conversing in your third language, which you only studied for a month, very tricky. Especially when the accent is different from the one you are used to.

The headaches, which were the longest lasting of the symptoms, were likely caused by the increased heart rate, as my body tried to get sufficient oxygen to my brain. However, another possible cause, though rarer, of the headaches, can be cerebral oedema (a swelling of the brain), which, left untreated, is fatal. The only cure in these cases is to return to a lower altitude.

But how many days do you wait? When do you know that your constant headaches aren't due to excessive blood pumping through your brain but rather due to cerebral oedema? When do you know that you have to pack it in, give up your trip to Bolivia, and catch a flight out? How do you weigh those two possibilities?