Allergy and runny nose amplified during dive?

[Nicool]

Hi fellow divers,

I suffer regularly from a number of allergies, mostly pollens, but also mites. To my knowledge, I have no specific allergy to scuba equipment materials (neoprene, latex… all good for me).
Last year I’ve relocated from France to Australia and it didn’t take me long to find new favorite allergens here J
That’s no big deal, I take the same anti histamine pills as before when I go through a few allergic days, and that allows me to be fine from a respiratory / equalization perspective.

However, over the last few weeks I have noticed some of my allergy symptoms appear during the dive: a bit of sneezing, but mostly runny nose.
Sometimes I go diving (shallow, safe dives) while my nose is already runny, so no wonder it keeps going underwater.
However, on many occasions I am totally fine before entering the water, and the runny nose starts while diving, and stays for the whole dive duration. This is a real PITA as I have to take-off my mask and clear my nose several times per dive.

That is really not cool and I am creating this post hoping some of you can help me understand the reason, and what to do about it. Some ideas/considerations I’ve had:
-I leave my gear to dry during weekdays (diving on weekends) in my garage that’s totally open to the backyard, so maybe there some allergens may accumulate in the dive gear?
-That could be the case for my mask, also I rinse the mask in seawater before going down, so allergens should be washed away.
-Maybe it’s the case for my rebreather: I am diving a closed-circuit rebreather (so dives are 2-3 hours long), and as such the gas I breathe goes through plastic bags (the counter-lungs) in which some pollen or allergens might have accumulated during the week as these stay open for drying during the week.
-I noticed that I always get bit of water in my mask: not enough to spoil visibility, but my nostrils would typically be submerged or partly submerged in seawater during dive. I have no idea on whether it has always been like that - I have about 600 hours of diving give or take, so could very well be the kind of things you just get to ignore. However, I am wondering if this could trigger then some runny nose symptoms.

Actually I don’t have other ideas. Just saying I have been diving like that (similar temperatures and dive durations) on my rebreathers for years and these systematic underwater allergies are new (I may have had that once 2 years ago, that’s it).
So any thoughts you could share would be greatly appreciated

Thanks
Nicolas

 

[boulderjohn]

I have on occasion had similar issues. I have mild seasonal allergies, but I also just have a history of nasal congestion. It usually isn't a problem, but occasionally it can be. When it is a problem, it happens like this. I am diving just fine, with no problems, and then, late in the dive, my head is suddenly congested, and I have trouble breathing through the nose. Clearing the mask is a problem because I cannot exhale well through the nose. When the dive is over, I get out of the water, and I am almost instantly cured. this is pretty rare, far less than 10% of my dives, but it sure is annoying. I wrote about this on ScubaBoard several times, and I got no answers.

Then a couple years ago I was diving in a resort area, and it started happening--same as before. As it happened, this resort had a spa, and I went in for a massage, something I rarely do. I lay prone while the masseuse worked on me, my head in that circular pillow arrangement that sticks out of the end of the table. And then it happened--the same stuffed head and unable to breathe effect as I had diving. I was miserable. As soon as that part of the massage ended and I was no longer lying on my stomach, it was like the end of the dives--I was instantly cured.

So my theory was that my head for some reason had more junk in its various sinus cavities than normal, and while I was in a face down position, it slowly drained down to the lowest point--my nose area. Whether it was diving or getting a massage, the problem was a prolonged face down posture. Anyway, that's what I'm thinking. I don't have any other answers.

Maybe@doctoremike can provide a more scientific explanation.

 

[Dark Wolf]

I have had allergies most of my life. Hay fever, horses, cats, chickens, small amount of trees, some garden grasses. And while not exactly allergic, most flowers tear me up. Took 4 allergy shots a week for several years.

With that in mind, I have often come up with a nose pocket full of gunk. The increased pressure seems to "shove" stuff out. And I have few problems topside if I dive regularly.

However, I find boulderjohns experiences interesting (No offense meant). Maybe a difference in bodies? Allergies? Location?

I will follow this with interest.

Lobo

 

[Bubblesong]

I just heard about the idea of intermittent fasting curing allergies last night, then your post appears. So i researched it online, and there is a number of articles not selling anything but the idea that you eat only during 8hours out of 24, and have a 16 hour fasting period. So if you have breakfast at 9am , dinner at 4:30, then nothing but water after 5pm, for 7 days straight that is supposed to cut allergies. I have never had allergies, but then i don’t eat after dinner for a different reason, trying to keep weight off.
Here is one guy’s story: How Intermittent Fasting Cured My Allergies Forever

 

[Nicool]

I have on occasion had similar issues. I have mild seasonal allergies, but I also just have a history of nasal congestion. It usually isn't a problem, but occasionally it can be. When it is a problem, it happens like this. I am diving just fine, with no problems, and then, late in the dive, my head is suddenly congested, and I have trouble breathing through the nose. Clearing the mask is a problem because I cannot exhale well through the nose. When the dive is over, I get out of the water, and I am almost instantly cured. this is pretty rare, far less than 10% of my dives, but it sure is annoying. I wrote about this on ScubaBoard several times, and I got no answers.

Then a couple years ago I was diving in a resort area, and it started happening--same as before. As it happened, this resort had a spa, and I went in for a massage, something I rarely do. I lay prone while the masseuse worked on me, my head in that circular pillow arrangement that sticks out of the end of the table. And then it happened--the same stuffed head and unable to breathe effect as I had diving. I was miserable. As soon as that part of the massage ended and I was no longer lying on my stomach, it was like the end of the dives--I was instantly cured.

So my theory was that my head for some reason had more junk in its various sinus cavities than normal, and while I was in a face down position, it slowly drained down to the lowest point--my nose area. Whether it was diving or getting a massage, the problem was a prolonged face down posture. Anyway, that's what I'm thinking. I don't have any other answers.

Maybe@doctoremike can provide a more scientific explanation.

Hi John,
It looks like your problem is different from mine: some positions of your body or diving can somehow cause junk fluids to move an congest yourself. Note it had happened to me in the past to feel totally ready to dive after recovering from a cold, like ears equalizing just fine, breathing through nose, etc, but when i lowered my head to look down i felt headache, which was because my top sinuses where still junky, and it prevented me to equalize sinuses and hence prevented me from diving. Anyways, that happaned once.

However the question i am trying to answer here is which aspects of my diving could trigger allergic reaction, especially sneezing and runny nose.

I have had allergies most of my life. Hay fever, horses, cats, chickens, small amount of trees, some garden grasses. And while not exactly allergic, most flowers tear me up. Took 4 allergy shots a week for several years.

With that in mind, I have often come up with a nose pocket full of gunk. The increased pressure seems to "shove" stuff out. And I have few problems topside if I dive regularly.

However, I find boulderjohns experiences interesting (No offense meant). Maybe a difference in bodies? Allergies? Location?

I will follow this with interest.

Lobo

Hi Lobo, do you mean that diving helped you somehow clear out junk and then you would feel better on the surface after diving?
When diving a bit congested after a cold, i too have observed that junk would somehow be foreced down - compacted, gathered, etc. Some influence of the increased pressure probably.

However i am not sure if pressure variation could be a trigger for allergies?

I just heard about the idea of intermittent fasting curing allergies last night, then your post appears. So i researched it online, and there is a number of articles not selling anything but the idea that you eat only during 8hours out of 24, and have a 16 hour fasting period. So if you have breakfast at 9am , dinner at 4:30, then nothing but water after 5pm, for 7 days straight that is supposed to cut allergies. I have never had allergies, but then i don’t eat after dinner for a different reason, trying to keep weight off.
Here is one guy’s story: How Intermittent Fasting Cured My Allergies Forever

Interesting idea! After reading your post i researched a bit and found lots of websites disucssing how specific diets could help reduce allergies. Although i doubt these are systematic solutions, otherwise everyone would use these and there would be no more allergies.

However, curing allergies in general is one topic, but the topic of this thread is rather what aspects of my diving could trigger an allergic reaction, if any?

cheers
Nicolas