Note that you can't take any of those medications if you are allergic to
sulpha-based medications.
Actually, I think it depends upon your sulfa allergy. My wife has carried an allergy to sulfa drugs for years, but the doctor gave her Diamox anyway since it is in a different category of sulfa than the antibiotics she had a reaction to many years ago. I can't provide the details as to the differences involved but her request for the drug, even though she knew about its sulfa derivation, came as a result of some very useful information Ken and Harvey posted a while back. Ken in particular, I believe, indicated that the classic sulfa allergy may not apply in many cases to acetazolamide. I'm sure they can explain why this isn't a classic "sulfa" drug, but that's beyond my pay grade.
Net result, she took Diamox for the first time a few weeks ago and suffered no reaction (other than the typical irritating side-effects most everyone seems to experience). I would encourage anyone interested in Diamox to discuss with their physician before assuming that a pre-existing sulfa allergy is an automatic disqualifier.
As an aside, she also asked for a couple of dex to take to the Sierra as an emergency AMS drug (she has a history of debilitating AMS at 14,000 feet), and got a firm, flat "no". No amount of benefit could outweigh the downside in her doctor's opinion. Guess the doc's never been in those shoes . . .
