to ask those of you who've climbed Kilimanjaro, if you took altitude medication did it make you feel better or worse?

[Libbity]

DS doing it soon - want to know whether to encourage him to take it or not.

The problem is that Diamox - though it's a great drug in many ways - can have serious side-effects, though these only affect a small minority of those who take it.

Altitude sickness can be treated by descending; serious side-effects are not so easily treated, especially in remote locations . I have done a fair amount of trekking at altitude and never used Diamox for this reason (I'm a GP). It's a personal choice but, if I were you, i wouldn't push your DS to take it - let him decide if it's worth the risk.