Over the counter drugs prior to diving

[H2Andy]

I am curious as to how many divers out there self-medicate
in order to dive when they feel sinus, a cold, the flu, or some
such might jeopardize a day of diving.

 

[KrisB]

I suffer from an almost-always plugged nose, which makes equalizing very difficult. One tablet of pseudephedrine (aka Sudafed) solves that, and has been ok'd by DAN, I'm told.

 

[Zippsy]

KrisB - I believe this is the bottom line on DAN's take on Sudafed - "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." That's a little different than what I think you are saying.

BTW, this isn't any critism of you by any means. I often take one Sudafed an hour before the first dive of the day myself - as long as I am not diving on enriched air, despite what I have read on the subject. I'm a "do as I say, not as I do" kind of guy.

 

[KrisB]

Thanks Zippsy.

What you said was pretty close to what I was thinking, though different from what I wrote.

Oddly enough, even with the sudafed, I often have trouble equalizing -- in fact, I often cannot get my ears to equalize until there is a bit-more-than-slight discomfort there, then they equalize like a dream, with no after-effects.

 

[Pugsly55]

I usually take a 12 hour sudafed along with a plain claritin before breakfast the morning of the dive. It keeps my allergies at bay while I enjoy the surroundings. Sometimes I will take an anti-inflamatory before diving as well, like Motrin or Relafen.

 

[kona]

I need to start taking Dramamine the day before diving and then the day of as well.

 

[simbrooks]

When i first had troubles with equalizing during my checkout dives, it was suggested that i took Sudafed - which i then started to do during the next few dives - but even though things seemed a little easier i realised that i was still stuffed up after the dive, so what was the point? I then decided not to take it prior to diving and have worked more on my equalizing technique, so now i am pretty much ok during the dive and having no barotraumas afterwards. IF occasionally i dont feel my ears are quite right after finishing a day of diving (usually first dive ok, but if i do a real shallow dive second or third its not always going to be as good on my ears) i will use sudafed to aid my ears overnight prior to the next day of diving - that is when i use sudafed. I would not try to dive on a cold with sudafed to ease it, that is just asking for trouble.

 

[DandyDon]

SUDAFED - aisle 5

If I'm on air, I'll take a generic form with antihistamine to help keep the ear tubes open, but then - it's a maintainance drug for me anyway.

If I'm going Nitrox, I'll take the compound the night before, but not again until after I finish Nitrox. One of my common allergies is "rain mold" common to warm, humid dive sites.

Same with aspirin - for old knees, but to also help reduce DCS possibilities.

 

[UWSojourner]

I suffer from an almost-always plugged nose, which makes equalizing very difficult. One tablet of pseudephedrine (aka Sudafed) solves that, and has been ok'd by DAN, I'm told.

Sudafed helped me before a surgery I had few years back. I had one of those surgical Nose-O-Rooters (I had a deviated septum). That made a world of difference. Used to be I could never get a full breath through my nose. Now, I practically vaccuum around the house.

 

[headhunter]

If I haven't been on a boat for a long time or if I expect the trip out to an island to be especially "bumpy", I'll take scopolomine.

If I'm plugged up for any reason, I won't dive. That's one of those things that I was taught in my first dive class in '79 that I never forgot.

For all I know, it may be OK by today's standards with new medicines, but I'd hate to take something that opened up my sinuses only to have them plug up again at depth. That could be a painful ascent.

Christian