Headaches? Sinus Problems? Thoughts...

[rob.mwpropane]

I had the exact same issues. Flonase every day. Frequent really bad headaches after a dive. I went to an ENT that happened to also be a diver. He told me to use Afrin (12-hour version) in the morning on any dive day. I use that now and also pay more attention to descending slowly and equalizing very often and that has almost (but not quite) fixed me to not get the headaches anymore. I do still get them every now and then.

I appreciate that, at least someone's been through it. I personally want to stay away from Afrin, but I guess it's at least a last resort. I've been taking my Zyrtec-D for the past 2 days and feel worlds better. I didn't realize it was working so well.

Got it. So you don't trust your instructor's judgment as a scuba professional? But you're willing to go, as a novice diver, to the ocean with him? That doesn't make much sense. Hopefully, for your sake and that of your instructor, you make it through the course with no incidents.

Based on what you've posted, you should have had a few YES answers on your medical questionnaire, which would have required that you got clearance from a physician. I guess your instructor was notified of your situation by the answers to your questionnaire, so he's had the opportunity to discuss it with you.

Have you ever had sinus issues? I'm asking because I get the feeling your giving your opinion without any experience, and I don't feel that's fair. I have been to the doctors (as stated earlier) and gotten a clear bill of health, and have gone to a newer ENT (as stated earlier), and we've got a game plan.

I know how the liability song and dance gets played, ESPECIALLY in today's messed up world where people sue other people for looking at them the wrong way. I'm pretty sure because the way the world is my instructor would say. "I need you to go see a doctor to get cleared before we can proceed". Without giving me that cliche response about going to a medical professional, he would open himself up for a liability.

I would go (take half a day off), get the paper filled out by a doctor from the dive shop (probably miss a class), and then be in the same spot I'm in now. I would come here to see if anyone had any suggestions / went through the same thing, from people that are unbiased and have nothing to gain or lose from their response....so here I am

 

[charlier]

Hi Rob - As an instructor and dive guide, I have worked with many new and experienced divers with sinus problems. Recently, I experienced an allergy related sinus problem. It took three visits to my ENT for resolution. Personally, I do like to use Aftrin, although my ENT suggested that it might help. I found other OTC meds such as Zyrtec works just as well. Zyrtec-D makes me lightheaded. If you were my student, I would want you to talk to me about it. Not from a liability or medical release standpoint, but just tell me that you have headaches or a sinus issue that needs resolution. Best of luck.

 

[stuartv]

I appreciate that, at least someone's been through it. I personally want to stay away from Afrin, but I guess it's at least a last resort. I've been taking my Zyrtec-D for the past 2 days and feel worlds better. I didn't realize it was working so well.

To add to what I said before, when I went to my doctors about it, they also sent me for an MRI of my head to get a picture of all my sinuses. Then the ENT scoped my sinuses. The conclusion was that I have a slight deviation in my septum. The ENT said that if I started using Flonase correctly and Afrin on dive days and I still had an issue, he could do an outpatient procedure to shave down my septum.

With the Flonase, using it correctly meant that I wasn't taking it every day. I had switched from Zyrtec to Flonase but only used Flonase on an "as-needed" basis. Not a full 4 squirts every day. The ENT told me that Flonase builds up. To get the full effect, I couldn't just use it every couple of days or only 1 or 2 squirts. I changed to doing a full 4 squirts every morning. That definitely helped not just in diving but also in day-to-day not having an occasional sniffle that I never used to pay any attention to.

What the MRI, they found that I had a fair bit of fluid in some of my sinuses. Not the sinuses right behind my nose, but ones back and lower in my head (the sphenoid sinuses, IIRC). Ones that didn't result in me FEELING congested.

So, it seemed that my headaches were coming from congested sinuses that were experiencing pain from too rapid descents. And not that I was descending particularly quickly. It was just too quick for clogged sinuses (that I didn't know I had). And the congestion was coming from allergies that I wasn't treating properly. And all the while I just never realized that I had clogged sphenoid sinuses, because you don't get the same symptoms from that as you do from having more common sinus congestion (e.g. from a cold).

 

[rob.mwpropane]

I appreciate everyone's suggestions. This community is awesome. I think I have a pretty good idea as to what to do. Definitely slower descents. I need to stay on top of the Zyrtec-D. For the most part I do use Flonase everyday, but there does come a time where I run out and it'll take a few days to get it again. Over the course of time, it has helped a good deal, more so when consistent.

As far as MRI, surgery, etc. That's on the books. It'll have to be somewhere around Jan-Feb when work slows down and I can take a few days off. I'm just glad to find other people that are managing with these issues and still able to dive.

 

[rob.mwpropane]

Just wanted to give an update, as I'm sure others go this quite a bit. I have been keeping up on all medications, way slower descents, and even talked with my instructor in a round about way. Everything is going great.

When I first posted this, I didn't really know my instructor all that well which is what scared me (only because of all the paperwork I had to fill out, and not sure of which way they would go). Now that it's a more friendly relationship, it's much easier to discuss stuff.