fairybasslet:
You know, my ENT, a diver recommended to me by DAN, told me to take Sudafed. I don't see what the big deal is all about. They last 4 hours. How many times has a dive lasted that long that it's going to wear off and cause you to have a reverse block?
There are 12 hour versions, too, which will take you through a multi-tank session.
There has been some concern raised about the use of Sudafed while using Nitrox. DAN did a study on this:
http://www.diversalertnetwork.org/me...p?articleid=51
The evidence is not really good--mostly anecdotal, and not many anecdotes. On the other hand, there is some experimental indication (one study done before Sudafed existed) that drugs
like Sudafed may excite the central nervous system and potentially increase the potential for CNS toxicity.
DAN's conclusion is that Sudafed is generally OK to use, but to be safe you should avoid it
if you are diving EAN to the point that your PO2 level might exceed 1.4ata. Note that this is the normal safe limit for EAN anyway.
Here is the key paragraph:
What's the bottom line? In normal, healthy divers breathing air, occasional use of pseudoephedrine at the recommended dose is probably safe. This presumes that the drug has been taken during periods when no diving has occurred and that no undesirable reactions have occurred. However, one should avoid chronic (daily) use when diving, and it seems reasonable to avoid the drug entirely if diving while using oxygen-nitrogen mixes where the PO2 during a dive might exceed 1.4 ata, the current recommended "safe" open-circuit scuba limit.
