Diving accident - call the dive before it is to late

[ArcticDiver]

For really deep diving, over 100 ft, decongestants are possibly unsafe because the extreme depth pressure may interact with the drug. As long as you keep your diving shallower than 100 ft, that should not be a problem for you.

Recreational diving is normally in the range of 20 to about 75 ft. That is where most of the light penetrates and where most of the sealife is, and that is also where your air and your NDL time lasts the longest.

Within that range, approved decongestants should not give you any problems underwater. I know several divers who take decongestants underwater and out of the water as well.

There are several adverse consequences that can come from taking decongestants, even on the surface. Read about some of them in the product information folder. Finding out under water that you have one of the complications is a bad thing.

That is why it is important to discuss their use with a qualified physician before diving with them. My opinion is that the physician should be intimately familiar with you and your medical history as well as the effects of pressure.

 

[bcfundiver]

Thank you everybody for your responses.
I will take decongestant that my physician prescribed for me…
I just can’t wait to go back to the ocean...
But for now it is healing times… BORING!!!
:sofa: :sprite10:

 

[IndigoBlue]

Unless, of course, you dive in nutrient-rich green North Pacific waters that allow the light to penetrate - oh - 5' or so.
Meanwhile - a doc who is knowledgable about meds and diving would be the best source for information about how to safely use decongestants in hyperbaric conditions.

My own view of the importance of diving medicine is even more emphatic. I switched doctors, from an ordinary physician, to a DAN referred physician, when I became a scuba instructor. The new doc and I have loads of fun talking about sea stories. And I also refer students to him who mention relevant medical conditions on their medical questionnaire.

Even so, I still avoid virtually all drugs like the plague, doctor recommended or not. The only exception being aspirin. One aspirin before diving, upon the recommendation of my diving doc, is now my rule. In fact, one aspirin per day has become a fairly popular daily procedure for many people as well.

And 5 ft vis, oh well, there is always Mexico or Hawaii or the Florida Keys to dream about. But the bright side of 5 ft vis is that after you get below the surge, there is no reason to go any deeper. Unless, of course, you are after a given shipwreck, in which case, the question simply becomes, where is the wreck, how deep, and can we go there? A technical question.

 

[Snowbear]

And 5 ft vis, oh well, there is always Mexico or Hawaii or the Florida Keys to dream about. But the bright side of 5 ft vis is that after you get below the surge, there is no reason to go any deeper.

I didn't say 5' viz, I said 5' light penetration. You would be amazed at how the viz opens up once you get below the plankton. Usually in summer, 20-30' viz is considered excellent. I've seen it as much as 100' viz once we got below 80'. The amount of life on some of the walls in these cold, nurient-rich is incredible. And it doesn't end at 80'! So yes, there is reason to go deeper. You can have your pretty fish - I'll take the non-photosynthetic invertebrate diversity, 40"+ Lingcod and 6# rockfish.

 

[bcfundiver]

I didn't say 5' viz, I said 5' light penetration. You would be amazed at how the viz opens up once you get below the plankton. Usually in summer, 20-30' viz is considered excellent. I've seen it as much as 100' viz once we got below 80'. The amount of life on some of the walls in these cold, nurient-rich is incredible. And it doesn't end at 80'! So yes, there is reason to go deeper. You can have your pretty fish - I'll take the non-photosynthetic invertebrate diversity, 40"+ Lingcod and 6# rockfish.

On my last dive before the accident we went down to 80’ with real good vis (I guess it was around 20’). The life I saw there amazed me and I can’t wait to go back.
Close to the surface we were swimming in pea soup with about 5’ vis, but as Snowbear said as we passed 60’ it cleared out and the amount of life was incredible. :goldfish: There is a big reason to go deeper in these waters… but than the next challenge comes for a new diver like me – nitrogen narcosis . (Yes, it happened…and now I have to start getting used to it again…)

 

[Lightning Fish]

Indigo Blue: What is the reason for taking an aspirin before diving?

Cheers,
Bill.

 

[H2Andy]

well, one aspirin per day is supposed to help keep your heart healthy.

IB, i am also interested in knowing what your doc said the benefits are of one aspirin
before a dive.