Diving and Medication

[Jax]

Reading a recent blog in which the author related the effects of a pain medication brings me to wonder about reasonable and appropriate time intervals between use and diving.

The scope: The medications of which I write are those that generally come with the warning “You should not drive or operate heavy machinery until you know how _________ affects you.” For example, opiates such as Percocet, sleeping aids such as Lunesta or Ambien.

For Example: Military pilots may not fly within 12 hours of alcohol consumption, or 24 hours of use of certain meds. I do not know if other meds such as those above ground them for longer times. I was told some years ago that use of some cholesterol medications will ground a pilot.

The question: If one is on medications, how long should one wait before diving?

Is 12 hours sufficient? If not, 24?

Besides the Sudafed family, are there other groups of medicines to beware?

Information provided by members, Moderators and/or health professionals is in no way intended to serve as actual individual medical advice, diagnoses, or to provide treatment plans.

While keeping the above in mind, I am asking for what others have learned about the effects (lingering or otherwise) of medications while diving.

 

[Bubbletrubble]

The question: If one is on medications, how long should one wait before diving?

Is 12 hours sufficient? If not, 24?

Not sure how relevant military pilot standards are to recreational diving.

In response to your initial question, it all depends on the type of medication, the amount that is active and in your system (dosage, route of administration, half-life, etc.), and the specific effects that it has on your body and nervous system.

As you know, most FDA-approved drugs haven't been tested on individuals subjected to a hyperbaric environment.

Consulting the medical essays on the DAN website can give you an indication of whether other divers have been able to dive successfully while taking certain medications.

It would also make sense to be aware of the intended effects and side effects of a med (and possible interactions with other on-board meds) in your system on land before you decide to go diving while taking that particular med.

There are no hard and fast rules so long as the underlying medical condition that the medication is treating doesn't present any specific dangers to the diver.

 

[Jax]

Not sure how relevant military pilot standards are to recreational diving.

Only in that pilots are expected to be fully functional, and their rules seemed like a good guideline from which to estimate. I have no knowledge of civilian pilot requirements, ergo cited the military ones.

My question is not about diving when ON the medication, but instead, like alcohol, how long after should one wait?

Thanks for the medical essays link.

 

[Bubbletrubble]

My question is not about diving when ON the medication, but instead, like alcohol, how long after should one wait?

As long as any of the medication is inside a diver's body, he/she is technically "ON" the medication.

The method of delivery/route of administration (e.g., oral, intramuscular injection, IV injection, skin patch) affects how quickly the med gets into your system. For oral application, other factors might also affect absorption, e.g., time of last meal relative to when pill is taken, pill taken with grapefruit juice (or other acidic beverage), extended-release capsule, etc.

The rate of elimination/metabolism affects how long the med stays in your system.

Other factors (proteins that sequester the drug in your bloodstream, enzymes that keep the drug in an inactive state) may determine to what extent the med is active in your system.

Each drug is different. The activity of a specific drug may change over time as the individual develops a tolerance to it. Many divers have to take prescribed meds on a daily basis, so it can be very difficult (and probably inadvisable from the prescribing doctor's viewpoint) to wait for a "wash-out period" prior to diving.

I'd be particularly wary of simultaneously dosing with meds that are metabolized by the same enzymes in the liver. This can increase or decrease the duration of activity of the meds -- either situation can be dangerous. This is why it might not be a great idea for divers to drink alcohol with other meds in their system...even if they won't be diving until the next morning.

What specific meds were you curious about?