! alcohol !

[below_sea_level]

What would happen if you went diving when there was still some alcohol in your system? I am not talking about getting drunk and going diving. Say you partyed all night and had to dive the next morning and there was still some alcohol in your system. How could this effect you. Please give me an answer if you know what you are talking about. I obviously know that this should not be done but I would like to know the side effects. :boom:

 

[rmediver2002]

The alcohol itself is not going to be the big problem but dehydration.

Of course as you already stated this is not something that should be endorsed but occures very frequently.

Jeff Lane

 

[mars2u]

Alcohol in the bloodstream also effects off-gassing Nitrogen. The nitrogen stays in your bloodstream and leaves your body at a lesser rate which could lead to DCS.

 

[rmediver2002]

Alcohol in the bloodstream also effects off-gassing Nitrogen. The nitrogen stays in your bloodstream and leaves your body at a lesser rate which could lead to DCS

I have not seen any information that would lead me to believe the amounts of alcohol in soulution in the blood have an effect on nitrogen in solution.

I would completely agree that the alcohols effect on the kidneys and subsequent dehydration do have an effect on off-gassing.

I would be interested in reading more about this subject if you have some information...

This site has some good information on the subject, and talks more in depth about motor impairment from alcohol.

http://www.scuba-doc.com/alch.htm

Again I could not stress enough that diving and drinking should not be encouraged or conducted...

Jeff Lane

 

[O-ring]

Otherwise I don't get it...getting hammered the night before going diving is a bad idea..period. If you want to be safe about it, just don't do it.

 

[mars2u]

rmediver2002 once bubbled...



I have not seen any information that would lead me to believe the amounts of alcohol in soulution in the blood have an effect on nitrogen in solution.

I would be interested in reading more about this subject if you have some information...

Ask and ye shall recieve...

DIVER STRESS AND RESCUE

SSI

Page 20

"Alcohol should not be abused the night before a dive, should not be used during a dive, and should be used in moderation at all other times. Alcohol can reduce your tolerance for high pressure nitrogen, which can make you more susceptible to nitrogen narcosis.Drinking alcohol before and between dives can also prevent nitrogen from quickly entering and exiting blood because of reduced circulation, making divers more at risk for decompression sickness. . If you should decide to indulge in alcohol the night before, avoid diving the following day."


Hope this answers your inquiry rmediver and I have to agree with O ring....

A good rule of thumb I use is "your first drink of the day means you just did the last dive of the day".

Safe diving

 

[rmediver2002]

I like that omitting the portion of my post that explains the comments...

Also when I ask a legitimate question for more information on a subject on diving medicine I am looking for a little more than a general statement from a rescue manual...



and now a question for you...

What do you think some causes of this are?

Drinking alcohol before and between dives can also prevent nitrogen from quickly entering and exiting blood because of reduced circulation, making divers more at risk for decompression sickness.

answer:

1) dehydration causing a thickening of the blood
2) impairment of vasoconstriction
3) decrease in blood pressure...

http://www.intox.com/physiology.asp

Although I do agree with you on this point...

I have to agree with O ring....

Jeff Lane

 

[mars2u]

rmediver2002 once bubbled...
I like that omitting the portion of my post that explains the comments...

Also when I ask a legitimate question for more information on a subject on diving medicine I am looking for a little more than a general statement from a rescue manual...



and now a question for you...

What do you think some causes of this are?




answer:

1) dehydration causing a thickening of the blood
2) impairment of vasoconstriction
3) decrease in blood pressure...

http://www.intox.com/physiology.asp

Although I do agree with you on this point...





Jeff Lane

1) I snipped the portion of your quote that inquired about information that I was at liberty to give. I did read your entire response again just to make sure I didn't miss something. I could have quoted your whole post as above, but I find that this clutters up the responses. From now on I'll make a mental note to quote your entire message if I should respond again.
2) You specified that you would be interested in reading more about the subject if I had more informaiton. I re-read your original post (a third time) and I still feel I answered what was asked. Your original post did not specify that you wanted more of a general statement albeit my opinion is that the statement speaks for itself and is sufficient (at least for me). I would suggest contacting a Dive Professional with a Medical background that could give you the physiology of vasoconstriction. I am not an expert in this field, just a former med-tech (long time ago) and geneticist.

Didn't mean to get you upset and thank you for the information concerning the causes although I didn't ask for them and I was well aware of the answer...but hey...thanks for playing along. It's all good info.

Any constructive information is good information...right?

Safe diving and I hope you have a better day.

Oh...I'm going to guess you did agree about my comment about the first drink of the day meaning you just did the last dive of the day. You seem like an intelligent diver from your posts that you'd agree with that statement also.

 

[joele]

as a practice, i don't take any alcoholic beverage at least 24hours before my first dive...

the problem with alcohol is that it affects a whole lot in a person's system... when you drink, you're introducing alcohol to your bloodstream... thus, i agree with o-ring and mars2u...

it may be good to note that the alcohol in one's bloodstream circulate around, which includes the brain... so not only, then, should we be scared about dcs and problems on off-gassing...

we all now what alcohol does to us when we get drunk, right? we get tipsy, dizzy and sometimes even nauseaous... we even get hangovers the following day, right? it involves distribution of oxygen to our brain and nourishing it... it could also affect our discernment and mental capacity to think under extreme situations... the more alcohol running around your bloodstream when you dive, the more chances you could be in deep **** underwater...

alcohol also dehydrates the body... the tendency with alcohol, we drink and just piss off water leaving an intoxicating solution of more concentrated alcohol... and it takes sometime to process the alcohol in our system untill they are finally expelled out of our body, either by sweating, pissing or taking a crap or by simply "burping"... it also increases acidity of the digestive system, thus, those with ulcers will certainly have problems underwater as it may cause extreme discomfort that could lead to panic...

bottomline, it affects circulation, mental preparedness
so as you may all agree, just don't...=-)

 

[jbichsel]

Although there have been great strides made in the last 10-20 years regarding our understanding of outgassing, DCS, there is still much we don't know and don't understand. Alcohol and its affects on our bodies in a diving environment being one.

My own personal rules for alcohol and diving are:

1. No alcohol within 24-36 hours on either end of diving. I use my own judgement relating to the long or short end of this based on how many, how deep, how long.
2. This even includes pool sessions.

I know some may think this a bit extreme, but better safe than sorry.