Allergies and diving

[Lightning Fish]

I guess I could explore other avenues with a physician, but the suggestion has always been scheduled shots, and I really prefer a PRN pill. Every now and then, tho, I have an acute attack - and nothing helps, nothing gets done in my life for a day. My brother is still farming, so he gets those, too

My brother gets shots. He is stuffed up like a Christmas turkey right now.

PSE is chemically similar to "speed" and some people get that effect, elevated pulse, excitability, etc. Be careful the first time.

"They" say that hockey players take several sudafeds before a game, to give them that extra edge.

Cheers,
Bill.

 

[Lightning Fish]

...nothing nominally "bad" about the air.

Maybe I'm just cynical, but anytime I hear something like this, I have to stop and think for a minute. Remember, Agent Orange used to be a 'good' thing, or so they told us. What else used to be good? Oh yeah, feeding animal parts to herbivours.

Cheers,
Bill.

 

[markfm]

A bit of cynicism is appropriate I'm confident that it's not a normal mold or similar thing, since along with the shots comes screening and I had a recheck done this past year. It's likely some mix of chemicals that's within established limits, but enough to trigger a reaction in people who are sensitive.

 

[BillP]

When I take pseudoephedrine orally, it clears me up but later I am really congested. Is it rebound or is the congestion just accentuated because I spent the last several hours clear and able to breath?

Yeah that’s why, unlike Scubadoc, I hedge and say that generally pseudoephedrine causes less rebound in most people. I’m sure that in a lot of people it probably causes no rebound at all, but in some like you it might cause rebound congestion. In someone else, it could cause other side effects. Most rules have exceptions, but IMHO if the exception is uncommon and not significant for most people it is not a reason to write a new rule. If pseudoephedrine causes significant rebound in you that is a perfectly valid reason for you to not use pseudoephedrine. But IMHO, it is not sufficient reason to tell others that pseudoephedrine will definitely cause significant rebound in them. Mention the possibility, sure, but mention it as a possibility.

A drug is a drug is a drug ... How is the method of ingestion important in this case?

Yeah a drug is indeed a drug, but an apple is an apple and an orange is an orange. Just because they’re both fruits doesn’t mean that everything about one automatically applies to the other. In your post you talked about rebound congestion from pseudoephedrine and used your wife’s friend’s experience with nasal spray as an example to back up your claim. The problem with your example is that pseudoephedrine isn’t taken as a nasal spray (with rare exceptions)- it is a pill. Decongestant nasal sprays that are sold to the general public are different drugs (like oxymetazoline, xylometazoline, phenylephrine, etc.) The rebound congestion from using decongestant nasal sprays is well documented and easily observable after using the spray for just a few days. The same apparently cannot be said of pseudoephedrine for most people.

Bill, what is your expertise?

I am a physician specializing in diving and hyperbaric medicine and subspecializing in ENT and allergy/immunology. I am also a research scientist doing laboratory and clinical research on the effects of sympathomimetic amines (like pseudoephedrine) on the mucosa of the oropharynx and upper airways. I currently have a controlled double-blind study of over 2500 normal volunteers about to be published in a major peer-reviewed journal that shows that pseudoephedrine has no rebound effects. Actually, “BillP” is just my board name. I picked it because the initials are the same as mine. I am really Brad Pitt. I would like for you to be my guest to see my new movie “Mr. And Mrs. Smith”. Then maybe Angelina and I can have you over to our place afterwards for dinner and “whatever”…

OK, I’m just kidding. I claim no special “expertise” on this board. IMHO, people are way too ready to believe anything they read on the Internet, and it’s way to easy to make things up as you go along. That’s why I referred you to a quote from Scubadoc/Ern Campbell that you could read for yourself. Dr. Campbell is a “known quantity”. He has his scuba-doc.com diving medicine website, and has published articles in scuba diving magazines and in DAN’s own “Alert Diver” magazine. IMHO, having me (or anyone else for that matter) simply say “because I say so, someone told me, I read once somewhere” isn’t good enough in some cases- like when dispensing medical advice. It's too easy for people to post what they have misunderstood about what they saw, heard, or read- or frankly just to make it up. The information I post sometimes stands on its own and you can take it or leave it FWIW if you want, but I think it’s good information, and I try to get you verifiable sources to back up my claims when I can. And I ask other people to do the same when they can.

Just my 2¢,

Bill

 

[Lightning Fish]

I am a physician specializing in diving and hyperbaric medicine and subspecializing in ENT and allergy/immunology. I am also a research scientist doing laboratory and clinical research on the effects of sympathomimetic amines (like pseudoephedrine) on the mucosa of the oropharynx and upper airways. I currently have a controlled double-blind study of over 2500 normal volunteers about to be published in a major peer-reviewed journal that shows that pseudoephedrine has no rebound effects. Actually, “BillP” is just my board name. I picked it because the initials are the same as mine. I am really Brad Pitt. I would like for you to be my guest to see my new movie “Mr. And Mrs. Smith”. Then maybe Angelina and I can have you over to our place afterwards for dinner and “whatever”…

Bill

You had me sold on the physician and research. But now that we know who you really are, I'm available next Tuesday for dinner.

(Are there any Smilies that imply gullible?)

Bill.

 

[DandyDon]

(Are there any Smilies that imply gullible?)

:silly: * :dork:
:lol:
:smileysto​