Travel medicine for Japan
Mount Fuji is a 12,389-foot climb done in one overnight push.
Get the altitude medication the CDC recommends for ascending above 2,500 meters, prescribed without the appointment. Sent to your pharmacy, ready before you fly.
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Most people climb Fuji from the 5th Station at 2,305 meters, sleep a few hours in a hut near 3,400 meters, and push to the 3,776 meter summit for sunrise. That is roughly 1,500 meters of gain in a single overnight, the exact rapid-ascent profile the CDC links to acute mountain sickness. The mountain looks like a long day hike, but the air at the top holds about a third less oxygen than at sea level, and many climbers feel it as headache, nausea, and the dizziness that turns people back at the 8th station. Acetazolamide compresses the body's three to five day acclimatization into one. Started the day before you climb, it is the difference between watching the sunrise from the crater rim and watching it from a hut window.
Japan travel health guide — vaccines, snapshot overview, and what to review before you go.
Orders are reviewed and prescriptions sent to your pharmacy within 24 hours.
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+1 (302) 251-2302Rx at your pharmacy in three steps.
No appointment. No waiting room. Answer a few questions and a licensed provider reviews within hours.
Your destination, dates, health history, and current medications. Takes about 2 minutes.
A licensed clinician reviews your health profile, checks for interactions, and approves your prescription.
- Allergy screen passed
- Drug interactions clear
- Prescription approved
Your approved prescription is sent electronically to the pharmacy of your choice. Pick it up when your pharmacy has it ready.
Skip the appointment. Get the same Rx.
Both columns cover the visit and prescribing only. Your pharmacy bills the medication itself on either side.
Medications in the Mount Fuji & Tokyo plan
Mount Fuji medication FAQ
- The standard climb starts at the 5th Station around 2,305 meters, has you sleep in a hut near 3,400 meters, and pushes to the 3,776 meter summit before dawn. That is about 1,500 meters of gain in a single overnight, which is the fast-ascent profile the CDC associates with acute mountain sickness. The summit is well above the 2,500 meter threshold the CDC uses, and the overnight hut altitude already crosses the risk line. Acetazolamide compresses the three to five day acclimatization the CDC describes into one, started the day before you climb. It is the most reliable way to keep day one from ending at the 8th station.
- The CDC recommends 125 mg twice daily, starting one day before ascent and continuing through the first two days at altitude. For a Fuji itinerary that usually means the morning before you head up to the 5th Station, through the hut stay, and through the summit push and descent. Side effects most travelers notice are tingling in the fingers and toes, more frequent urination, and a flat taste to carbonated drinks. Your provider will walk through the timing during your visit.
- Three medications matched to a Fuji climb that starts and ends in Tokyo. Acetazolamide (Diamox) is the AMS prophylaxis the CDC recommends for ascending above 2,500 meters, taken 125 mg twice daily starting the day before you climb. Hydroxyzine (Vistaril) handles the jet lag of a 13 to 14 hour time shift into Tokyo and the broken sleep of a midnight hut-to-summit start. Ondansetron (Zofran) covers the nausea that hits either from altitude on the upper mountain or from food along the way. Together they cover the three things most likely to derail the climb.
- Orders are reviewed by a US-licensed provider and the Rx is sent electronically to your pharmacy within 24 hours. Most travelers can pick it up the same day.
- After your provider approves the Rx, it is sent electronically to whichever pharmacy you choose during your visit. Your pharmacy will tell you when the medication is ready for pickup. You can use your pharmacy insurance to cover the medication itself.
- If a provider cannot safely prescribe (rare, usually due to a sulfa allergy or kidney contraindication for acetazolamide), the visit fee is refunded in full. You only pay if the Rx is sent.
Fuji climbs to 12,389 feet overnight. Start the medication that gets you to the rim.
Get the acetazolamide the CDC recommends for ascending above 2,500 meters, prescribed without the appointment.