Diving while taking Prozac

[Happy in Hanford]

I just started Prozac about a month ago. I have my adventure dives for my AOW certifications next weekend. I am also trying to get my Nitrox certification and have a Nitrox dive also set for next weekend. My first question is about diving on air. I realize the medical literature says there is at least some increased risk theoretically of oxygen toxicity or nitrogen toxicity and seizures (and likely death) while diving while on SSRIs. I also realize that no medical professional is going to tell you it is absolutely safe due to fear of liability/lawsuits. So my question is this: what is the real-world experience of actual divers on Prozac? There must be thousands of divers on Prozac. Can anyone share their experiences? Has anyone had any problems or heard of any? Are the professionals simply overcautious and scaring people unnecessarily? Moreover, has anyone heard of problems going deep on air with Prozac? I will have to go 100 feet depth on my deep AOW adventure dive next week. My second question is about Nitrox. I am thinking of canceling my Nitrox dive because of risk of O2 toxicity. Is that a good idea? Or should I maybe just ask the instructor if we can do a shallow dive on Nitrox. (I am definitely not going to cancel my other adventure dives!) Or does anyone think I should just take myself off the Prozac? THANKS IN ADVANCE.

 

[brsnow]

Call DAN they will be able to answer these questions

 

[Chrisk919]

This should probably be in the Dive Medicine forum, but definitely call DAN (even if you are not a member) and put that question to them. They will at least be able to refer you to a dive medicine practitioner to discuss this further.

Very few of us here are medical professionals (exceptions being @Duke Dive Medicine and a few others) and anything we would say would be 1) most likely anecdotal and 2) uninformed of your medical history.

 

[Happy in Hanford]

Call DAN they will be able to answer these questions

I did talk to DAN. I was hoping to get other people's experiences. Thanks

 

[Happy in Hanford]

This should probably be in the Dive Medicine forum, but definitely call DAN (even if you are not a member) and put that question to them. They will at least be able to refer you to a dive medicine practitioner to discuss this further.

Very few of us here are medical professionals (exceptions being @Duke Dive Medicine and a few others) and anything we would say would be 1) most likely anecdotal and 2) uninformed of your medical history.

Anecdotal is what I want! I was hoping to hear from people who dive or have dove on Prozac. Thank you for your reply.

 

[tursiops]

i suspect you are looking for someone who will disagree with DAN and say it is OK.
Also, you have to submit a medical questionnaire to take the AOW class, and that will require a doctor's signature if you answer it honestly, which it sounds like you are not intending to do.
No dive is required for Nitrox; why are you even doing one? If you are doing Nitrox as one of your Adventure dives, that is a waste of the AOW...take an adventure dive that allows you to actually learn something.

 

[Happy in Hanford]

i suspect you are looking for someone who will disagree with DAN and say it is OK.
Also, you have to submit a medical questionnaire to take the AOW class, and that will require a doctor's signature if you answer it honestly, which it sounds like you are not intending to do.
No dive is required for Nitrox; why are you even doing one? If you are doing Nitrox as one of your Adventure dives, that is a waste of the AOW...take an adventure dive that allows you to actually learn something.

DAN did not say categorically it was not okay. They said Prozac could lower the threshold for O2 tox. She said I might consider setting my dive computer warning to something less than 1.4 PO2. I asked them what would be safe, 1.3 PO2?, 1.2 PO2?, etc., but they had no answer. They simply said you can decrease your risk by not going so deep. But nothing specific. That is why I was hoping to see what other actual Prozac divers are saying, because there are probably thousands of them.

BTW, your response is insulting. You assume way too much. You don't know me or my intentions. But your idea about not doing Nitrox as one of my adventure dives is a good idea.

 

[Blackcrusader]

I did talk to DAN. I was hoping to get other people's experiences. Thanks

I have never met a diver who said they use prozac. No idea where you got the information that there must be thousands of divers using it.

 

[Happy in Hanford]

I suspect people generally don't like to advertise that they are taking antidepressants.

 

[tursiops]

DAN did not say categorically it was not okay. They said Prozac could lower the threshold for O2 tox. She said I might consider setting my dive computer warning to something less than 1.4 PO2. I asked them what would be safe, 1.3 PO2?, 1.2 PO2?, etc., but they had no answer. They simply said you can decrease your risk by not going so deep. But nothing specific. That is why I was hoping to see what other actual Prozac divers are saying, because there are probably thousands of them.

BTW, your response is insulting. You assume way too much. You don't know me or my intentions. But your idea about not doing Nitrox as one of my adventure dives is a good idea.

So have you submitted the required medical questionnaire for your AOW, and gotten a doctor's signature?