Could/should I dive with cold/allergy?

[Mike Boswell]

I often catch colds on airplanes, and two days after arriving at Bonaire (or wherever) I get all stuffed up. Once my nose and sinuses get stuffy, the mucus drains down my throat into my bronchial tubes, which then become infected with bacteria, producing bronchitis. I used to have to take antibiotics for the secondary bronchial infection. The whole thing will sometimes last for weeks.

I have learned to manage colds by taking heavy doses of phenylephrine HCL tablets. They dry me up instantly and prevent the secondary bronchial infection. The cold is often gone in three days.

 

[brucet]

I personally have started dosing with Sudafed, a couple days before I dive, if I am fighting a cold. Would not do it so much for a local dive, but for soething where I have planned and made a trip to get there. Has worked for me, but as another said, not reccomended by PADI. Just make you dose shortly before the dive.

 

[ACT651755]

If you just can't do it, are stuffed and can't go down, then break out the ole snorkle and enjoy the fishes from the top.

I'd suggest that going down isn't going to be the problem, but coming back up. I did a dive at Ras Mohammed (down to 30m) while congested and cleared my throat before I descended. I had no problems descending but over the thirty minute dive I'd obviously gotten bunged up, because on ascent, I was struggling to equalise. The pressure in my sinuses was so great that I felt very dizzy... I had to go up very slowly to allow the air to force itself out without losing consciousness. At five metres I became too concerned, alerted my DM/buddy with the 'I'm narcotic' signal and he held on to me as we ascended. It took me a couple of minutes on the surface before I felt well again... I really was in agony.

I did this dive as a Rescue diver with circa 50 dives. If you're planning to undertake such a feat as an OW diver with very few dives, make sure you let your buddy know to keep a close eye on you.

 

[Herk_Man]

And go to your doc and get a Z-Pack. Not a big fan of "recreational" use of antibiotics. But we are talking about saving your dive trip here. Even if it is virally initiated, follow-on symptoms could be bacterial. A Z-Pack will wipe it out quick. Just my 2 psi.

 

[TSandM]

And go to your doc and get a Z-Pack. Not a big fan of "recreational" use of antibiotics. But we are talking about saving your dive trip here. Even if it is virally initiated, follow-on symptoms could be bacterial. A Z-Pack will wipe it out quick.

NO! Sorry, but this is very bad advice. Some of the biggest problems we are facing in everyday medicine now are due to the indiscriminate prescription of antibiotics for respiratory illnesses. We have high rates of resistance, as well as bugs like MRSA and C. dif (which causes a severe colitis) because of it. There are many good studies in the medical literature that show that, in the absence of significant underlying lung disease (unlikely in divers), antibiotics do not make ANY difference in uncomplicated upper respiratory infections. In fact, it is difficult to show that antibiotics are very effective, even in bacterial sinusitis.

Please, don't go to your doctor and insist on antibiotics for a cold. They don't help, cost you or your insurance company money, have potential complications for you, and lead to much larger, systemic problems over time.

To give some information to the OP, now that I have vented, one thing to do is check whether you can pressurize your ears on land, using the same technique you use underwater. If you cannot squeak air into your ears on land, it's highly unlikely you will be able to do it while diving. If you can easily pressurize the ears, there's a reasonably likelihood that you will be able to equalize your sinuses as well. If your ears are difficult and your face feels full and dull, you may not be able to manage the sinuses.

Decongestants can be useful for mild problems, but they are probably unwise if the congestion is severe.

 

[s.s.seafan]

Please, don't go to your doctor and insist on antibiotics for a cold.

no I won't do that.

... one thing to do is check whether you can pressurize your ears on land, using the same technique you use underwater.

how would i know if my ears are pressurized on land?

Decongestants can be useful for mild problems, but they are probably unwise if the congestion is severe.

I wouldn't be debating myself if the congestion is severe, it's because it's mild, so I'm not sure if I'm doing something that's not wise.

 

[s.s.seafan]

Be careful and don't push it. As advised above, you can go snorkeling. Survive to dive another day.
Its partly a clearing issue, but more importantly, you do not want any mucus or phlegm that can trap small amounts of air in your lungs. As you ascend and the air expands it could cause a lung over-expansion injury at a micro level. Its an insidious problem that you possibly wouldn't even be aware of, until you find that the result is emphysema. If you damage the lung tissue in the alveoli where oxygen exchange occurs with capillaries, the result is permanent shortness of breath or worse.

that's quite alarming! the mucus I spoke of is what I have when I cough, is that the situation you are talking about here?

 

[Herk_Man]

NO! Sorry, but this is very bad advice. Some of the biggest problems we are facing in everyday medicine now are due to the indiscriminate prescription of antibiotics for respiratory illnesses. We have high rates of resistance, as well as bugs like MRSA and C. dif (which causes a severe colitis) because of it. There are many good studies in the medical literature that show that, in the absence of significant underlying lung disease (unlikely in divers), antibiotics do not make ANY difference in uncomplicated upper respiratory infections. In fact, it is difficult to show that antibiotics are very effective, even in bacterial sinusitis.

Please, don't go to your doctor and insist on antibiotics for a cold. They don't help, cost you or your insurance company money, have potential complications for you, and lead to much larger, systemic problems over time.

To give some information to the OP, now that I have vented, one thing to do is check whether you can pressurize your ears on land, using the same technique you use underwater. If you cannot squeak air into your ears on land, it's highly unlikely you will be able to do it while diving. If you can easily pressurize the ears, there's a reasonably likelihood that you will be able to equalize your sinuses as well. If your ears are difficult and your face feels full and dull, you may not be able to manage the sinuses.

Decongestants can be useful for mild problems, but they are probably unwise if the congestion is severe.

I would normally be on your side of the issue on this but he's trying to save his vacation. And I just got done with a cold that the doc kept telling me was viral. I absolutely couldn't shake it. Finally he wrote me a script for a Z-Pack. Literally, within hours of the first dose I was almost symptom free.

You're right. Over prescribing antibiotics is a bad thing. But one extra use in order to make diving in paradise possible isn't going to open up cracks in the earth.

 

[Divedoggie]

that's quite alarming! the mucus I spoke of is what I have when I cough, is that the situation you are talking about here?

There are head colds and throat colds and chest colds.... The mucus could just be post nasal drip and you are coughing it out before it gets into your lungs.

If it were me, and I could clear my ears and equalize easily, but I thought there was a chance that I had mucus in my chest and lungs, I probably wouldn't dive for fear of a reverse block in the alveoli.

Everyone keeps talking and giving advice about equalizing and reverse blocks in the sinus and ears. They are giving advice about decongestants, nasal sprays, anti-biotics, steam treatments, etc. IMO, just be careful...
If you follow Scubaboard, you will find some people on here who are very knowledgeable and who will give sound advice. TS&M is an excellent and experienced diver AND she is an MD. Knowing that, I might take her advice.

You obviously are concerned and rightly so. Again, if it were me, I might go to my doctor and have him listen to my lungs, look down my throat, and then I would take his advice about diving with a cold or allergy.

 

[s.s.seafan]

thanks. so how do I know whether I can pressurize your ears on land?