My family has been planning a trip to Colorado for months. I was finally excited about the trip and started planning an itinerary. That's when I stumbled across warnings regarding altitude sickness. It was terrifying. "You've been planning an amazing trip, but you might feel terrible for most of it, and you might actually die!!!" We're sleeping at 8500 feet, which seems to be the beginning of issues for most people. There are five people in our family and a 20% chance of issues at that elevation, so I feel certain at least one of us will have negative effects. Add to it that we're going to be in the middle of nowhere, and I'm a wreck. Meds for altitude have side effects.

Is there anyone out there with experience at high altitude? Did you have symptoms? What can I expect? This is ruining my trip before we get started!

TIA