Jennifer, you can spend forever reading and worrying about altitude and Diamox. When I climbed Denali in 1995, the standard advice was to take a minimum of Diamox when symptoms appeared. I took half of a 250mg tablet when I got Cheyne Stokes at ~16,000'. I took a quarter of a tablet twice a day after that until we got down below 16,000'. That was all I needed. More recent advice is to take larger doses and start before you begin ascending. I think you’ll be fine without Diamox, but you might carry a few pills just in case. If you dose the way I did, you should minimize any side effects.
