I made a mistake.

I did something stupid last week, and it cost me a dive. For the record, I am a new diver (about 25 dives) and was on a short dive trip to Grand Cayman. My wife and I were getting ready for an early boat dive, and I took a 12-hour Sudafed. I have done this often due to sinus problems that have made it hard to equalize. I know many divers are opposed to taking Sudafed before dives, but I had checked with my doctors (both of whom are divers) and done some research myself. For me, the benifit of equalizing properly out-weighed the risk of taking the decongestant.

The stupid part came in when I also took a Ventolin inhaler. The change in weather and humidity in the Caymans was making it hard to breath, so I used my wife's asthma medicine. I've had the same prescription myself, but haven't had breathing problems for several years.

By the time we were ready to begin our first dive, the combination of medicines drove my pulse rate up, and made controlling my breathing difficult. Once in the water, I had a very hard time getting below the surface, and felt uncomfortable with my breathing. I told the divemaster I was aborting the dive and she buddied-up with my wife, so they could continue the dive.

So I sat out the dive on a rolling dive boat, trying to relax, and reviewing my mistakes. I was glad I decided to not dive, as I used 500psi just getting from the back of the boat to the mooring line and back. I'm posting this as a warning to other new divers to be very careful about drugs, even over-the-counter ones. Personally, I've sworn off any meds, even Sudafed, prior to diving.
Dan

It's a good thing that the dive was the only thing it cost you - it could have been worse. Good thinking about aborting the dive - it's always best to err on the side of caution. It's when you are uncomfortable doing a dive when you are more prone to problems happening.

IndyDan,
Sounds like you have made all good decisions up and down the line. Sorry you missed the dive, but all ended well and you know what not to do in the future.
Dive safe,
Larry

Sounds to me like you made the right call...and not a mistake. You called the dive. That can hardly be called a mistake.

You made the right choice (not with the mixture of drugs) but about calling a dive before the dive itself became the mistake.

Better luck next time!

There's a hard way and easy way to learn there's no shame in aborting a dive. You made the right call it sounds like.

You did well to abort the dive. In the future, you may want to check before hand with DAN and get advices about using meds and diving.

Wow, being a new diver myself I appreciate the warning and I have taken Sudafed before a dive also and have never thought twice about it, thanks

its not neccesarily the sudafed that caused the problem, but rather the combination of medications. I would bet that many people don't consider the possible effects that combining medications could have both above and below water.

And like the others have said, there is no shame in aborting a dive. I would rather loose the dive and the money spent than loose my life or get injured.

Q1 - Is actifed different to sudafed?

Q2 - IndyDan, Do you have asthma or did i misread that?