Too ill to dive

[Hillmorton Scubie]

Last year I had an expensive dive vacation nearly trashed, by coming down with a revolting cold on the very first day. Probably caught it on the flight.
It was impossible to dive for the first 6 days with the constant coughing and snot dripping out of my nose.
This years dive vacation, I had the stomach bug from hell. This also ruined 4 full days, I did manage to dive on the 5th day, but with the constant worry of emmitting disgusting brown clouds onto to my fellow divers.
Does this happen to you too.

 

[Garrobo]

I don't think so but then again I'm usually so high on prescription drugs, weed and beer that I wouldn't notice it. 420, Dude.

 

[Ice9]

Happened to me in Cozumel this year. I had been fighting off a cold for a week before we left. I thought I had it licked, but at the end of dive day #1 (of 4), it hit me full-on. Luckily I had been taking Airborne previously and continued to take it every 4 hours.

For me, a cold has 2 phases usually: Phase 1 is the cold itself. Phase 2 is the sinus infection. Well, that would just be unacceptable, right? Good thing you don't need prescriptions for medicine in Mexico! I was able to go to the pharmacy across the street and pickup a box of 1000 mg hits of Amoxil (antibiotics) and prevent the sinus infection.

I was well enough to dive on day #4, and that was a new record for me!

 

[Doc]

It was impossible to dive for the first 6 days with the constant coughing and snot dripping out of my nose.

Are you new at this? Divers are supposed to look like that.

Neosenepherine spray, Sudafed, blow the snot into the ocean, it's called a diver's wipe.

This years dive vacation, I had the stomach bug from hell. This also ruined 4 full days, I did manage to dive on the 5th day, but with the constant worry of emmitting disgusting brown clouds onto to my fellow divers.
Does this happen to you too.[/QUOTE]

Immodium.

Of course it happens, we are all humans (Well, except for the DIR crowd). Better living through chemistry.

 

[boulderjohn]

I came down with a terrible cold on my first day in Florida a couple of years ago. I had heard about a then-new remedy called Zicam, and I loaded up with it. I had a couple miserable days, but I was diving after that with no problems.

Last fall I went to Yap and Truk, and I took some just in case. One of the other divers started to have cold symptoms, so I gave it to him. He took it regularly for several days, and his symptoms never got past those first stages. I have had several other experiences like that, so I now take it with me whenever I have diving planned. I even start taking it before the flight as a preventative.

You may hear about a preventative called Airbourne. Before you buy it, understand that it is pretty much vitamin C. That will probably help, but vitamin C is cheaper.

 

[DiverLS]

Last May I was diving in the Bahamas. On the second night we had to dock to take the COOK to the Dr. She couldn't stop throwing up. Yep, on the 4th day - I got it but I don't throw up. It went through me and I didn't want to make a brown clowd either. Don't think I could have anyway. I was wiped OUT. I had 10 immodium with me. Used ALL of them.

Oh well, 4 passengers on our boat had it. 4 CREW on the other boat had it and 6 passengers so I guess our boat got the better end of the deal.

 

[TSandM]

Last year, we made a ten day trip to Indonesia with a group. Unfortunately, one of the women in the group was sick when she got on the airplane, and a bunch of us ended up catching the cold she had. Luckily, although my nose ran and I coughed a bunch, I didn't get a lot of congestion, and only sat out one day of diving -- But boy, was I bitter about it!

This spring, my husband lost a day of diving in the cenotes from stomach woes.

It happens.

 

[Nudgeroni]

Last year, my spouse and I made the trip to Belize for our checkout dives. I was fine, but my wife got a nasty head cold on the second day there. She was able to get in one day of dives, but no more. It turned out to be pretty nasty, and she was out of it for the rest of the week we were there.

The trip was over Spring Break and she was exhausted from the semester, and planes are nasty little disease carriers; bad combo.

She has just finished her cert here in New England, and we have scheduled another trip to Belize so she can see what she missed. So, all will end happily (I hope).

If I find a way to keep getting her sick, I wonder if I could convince her to go to Belize *every* year...:evilsmile

 

[Ice9]

You may hear about a preventative called Airbourne. Before you buy it, understand that it is pretty much vitamin C. That will probably help, but vitamin C is cheaper.

Zicam and Airborne have pretty much the same ingredients..

 

[Hillmorton Scubie]

Immodium
Thats a strange recommendation. Read any new dive books health section, they specifically advise against the use of immodium, unless you have no choice, i.e. you have a flight. Its stops the body naturally removing the poisons in the gut, and can prolong a stomach infection.