Claritin D before diving?

[Miami Mermaid]

Dear doc,

I'm having the starting symptoms of a cold. Currently, I am taking comtrex which does wonders for me.

We have a dive scheduled for Saturday morning, and I would like to know whether it is safe to take a Claritin D the morning of the dive.

As a general rule, I don't eat anything in the morning if I'm doing a morning dive to avoid seasickness.
I only drink fluids like gatorade, etc...

I know that if I take it, it will clear everything up.
My concern is whether it can have adverse effects in diving.


Thanks in advance,

 

[KC_Scubabunny]

I am certainly not medical expert but I have taken Claritin-D 12 hr tablets before diving. I get seasonal allergies and near the lake where we dive are sometimes pollens that kick my allergies into high gear.

There was an article in the August 2000 Dive Training that talked about the difference between antihistamines and decogestants when diving. According to the article the big concern with Claritin and other antihistamines is that they might make you sleepy or unable to sweat which may cause you to overheat easier.

The article warns heavily against combining multiple allergy/cold drugs because you might get unexpected side affects.

The Dive Training email address is divetraining@spc-mag.com. Maybe they can email you the whole article.

Hope this helps!

KC_Scubabunny

 

[scubadoc]

Hello:

First - it is bad business to dive with the symptoms of a cold. You are setting yourself up for middle ear and possibly inner ear barotrauma.

Second - Diving with Claritin-D is fairly safe as the loratidine (Claritin) has few side effects and little of the sleepiness that other anti-histamines can cause. The "D" is really pseudoephedrine (Sudafed) and is one of the few drugs that have actually been tested as safe for divers in a chamber with no adverse effects.

Third - 'KC-Scubabunny' is absolutely correct in that you definitely should not combine these medications. Again, my choice would be for you not to dive at all until the mucosal swelling of the head cold has completely abated.

The Dive Training web site is http://www.dtmag.com/ . BTW this is an excellent magazine for divers of all levels of experience.

 

[Miami Mermaid]

Dear Doc and Scubabunny,

I'd like to thank you very much for your helpful advice. I had no idea Claritin was that safe for divers.

Doc--I learned my lesson during my first o/w dive earlier this month. I had a slight, just a slight cold and my ears really suffered. You can see my post asking Doc Vikingo what to do.

Last week, the cold was completely gone by Friday, so I decided that diving was ok.
Despite taking Claritin, I still had some equalization problems. I must say, that once the dive was done, my ears cleared up really really fast.

Thanks again