Please help! Equalizing and Costa Rica info??

[mberzin]

So i'm a fairly new diver, I certified in Guam where I completed around 9 dives. All these dives were boat dives in 80 degree clear as ice water with little to no weight. I moved back to the states and about a year after my last dive in Guam I attempted another dive in exact opposite conditions, it was a shore dive in 50 degree water, full suit plus hood and 25lbs of weight not to mention foggy water. This was by far my worst dive, I couldn't get comfortable with so much weight digging into my stomach and was so cold despite the suit. Worst of all I couldn't equalize so I couldn't even get to 20 feet. After the dive the instructor told me I should take Benadryl or Sudafed the night before to help with equalizing. Is this a good idea?
It's been almost another year since my bad experience dive and I'm vacationing in Costa Rica where I plan on diving again at Catalina Island. I've read that the dive sites require a more experienced diver that can descend quickly without an anchor or rope and also that can deal with heavy tides. I've never had to deal with either of those conditions plus I know that there are sharks to add to my tension. I'm just afraid of having another bad experience that will deter me from diving which I love so much!
So can anyone tell me if I would not be well suited to dive there or any advice about the Catalina Island site would be helpful!
Also I tend to have a lot of trouble equalizing some times and zero trouble other times. I guess it ties in with me being sick or just getting over a cold? Is there an OTC way of dealing with the equalizing if I have a little sniffle the day of the dive? I am very sensitive to meds so I wouldn't want it to make me loopy while underwater.. THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP!!

 

[flylow47]

That medicine advice is bad.

My very first dive in 1991 was in Costa Rica and I got a reverse blockage by exactly that kind of advice. First dive ever, no training, 80fsw. And I will never forget the experience and fear as I watched my spg tick below 500psi and I could not go up without severe pain.

Sudafed in particular can have other side effects. Steer away from that one while diving.

Please get professional medical advice if clearing is such an issue.

 

[PsyWulf]

Well not entirely horrible advice,but it was insufficient for sure

Your previous experience is quite common,equalizing can be challenging in colder water and stress just compounds the effect. You didn't mention congestion so I suspect it was rather the combination of factors that prevented equalizing effectively. Also hood's can make it a bit more challenging since the air being trapped in the hood makes it different experience to have. You are using Valsalva method to equalize?

Perhaps before going do a checkout dive even in a quarry,fully kitted as if going for an ocean dive,get your weighting,trim and buoyancy right so you can be comfortable in the water,there's no reason for weight to be digging in like that. Perhaps practice some other equalizing techniques while you are at it. I would look at getting a sharkskin or a thinner wetsuit to wear inside the suit,or a chemical heat belt to help with temperature issues if you're going to do a colder dive

Personally I take Sudafed just 10mins before I hit the water everytime,lasts me about an hour,and it definitely makes it easier to equalize for me

As for the descent and shark issue,I WISH sharks would come closer,generally they are very weary and avoid humans as far as possible,scuba divers aren't very chewy with all that equipment
The descent you spoke of is generally referred to as a negative descent,practice it in a quarry,it's awesome when you can do it right. You do a pre-equalize just before you hit the water,mask and reg sorted,roll back into the water,signal you're fine,then duckdive straight down finning to the bottom,constantly equalizing

To get your ears used to equalizing fast and repeatedly like that you can practice it on land when you are busy with everyday mundane tasks,after a while barring any medical problems you should be able to equalize often and efficiently
I prefer swallowing to equalize. That squishy crackly sound you hear when swallowing is your ears equalizing

 

[DivemasterDennis]

On clearing, I have found a single little red sudafed and hour before diving is helpful to me, but not everyone. You clearing problem was likely related to wearing a hood and the colder water. The same clearing methods apply in all cases- try swallowing, a little nose breathing, head turning and rolling and slower descents.
As to Catalina, the water will be 60ish, a big step up from 50. I found the diving to be great fun, but no special challenge. If there are conditions to deal with like current or other things, the boat will brief you. Listen to the briefing. Shore diving at Catlina ( The Casino) is pretty tame.
DivemasterDennis

 

[fisheater]

Dennis: OP is talking about the Catalina Islands in Costa Rica. You're talking about Catalina Island in California. Same ocean, but very different conditions.

I haven't dived at the Costa Rican Catalina Islands, but I did dive at the reportedly similar Bats Islands and elsewhere in the Gulfo de Papaguya.

You would likely be OK with the local diving, close to shore. Temps (in the summer) ran from 75-80F, but vis is nowhere near "clear." However, you don't appear to be ready for offshore diving, such as the Catalinas. There, you'd need to be confident in your ability to descend quickly with significant current and to exercise good buoyancy control on open water, drifting ascents.


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[mberzin]

Thanks for your replies!

---------- Post added September 6th, 2013 at 05:37 PM ----------

Thank you fisheater for your advice and honestly. The dive place offers refresher dives as well so maybe this is something I should look into before the actual Catalina Islands. It would be a 5hr two tank dive so it would be a waste of a day if I wasn't ready. I leave tomorrow so I'll post about the conditions and if I actually make the Catalina Islands dive.
As for the Sudafed I think I might try it the day before the dive and see if I have any side effects. It seems like a lot of people take it regularly before diving so it might be worth a shot!

 

[freewillie]

The official answer is no decongestant medications prior to diving. A more practical answer is that if you decide to use any type of decongestant then you need to make sure that is last at least as long as your total day of diving. My recommendation would be at minimum a 12 hour preparation.

The official answer is to avoid issues with reverse block. If you take a preparation and the effects wear off during your dive then you will not be able to ascend without pain. You did okay going under because the medication was still effective, but now it's effects have worn off and you are underwater and the med is back on the boat. Not a good situation.

Practical answer is that even with taking a 12 hour prep one hour before you get in the water, assuming AL 80 recreational depth you max bottom time 60 minutes or so (closer to 45 min), one hour surface interval, and another dive then you have about 4 hours of total time the medication needs to be effective. Add another dive, with now 2 extra hours with dive and additional surface interval then you are close to 6 hours. Well, standard Sudafed should last about 6 hours which means you are in trouble at the end of your last dive if you took standard prep unless you redosed prior the last dive. A 12 hour prep would give you and extra window just in case.

As for dropping in quickly without an anchor line or rope sounds like drift diving in current where everyone tries to stay together on the surface and descend quickly as a group to minimize separation in the current. It should be covered on pre-dive briefing. But, as the group descends you should all stick together with the person having the slowest descent. DM should state if having difficult time please indicate ears are not equalizing so he can try and keep group together at that depth.

Have fun.

 

[Doomnova]

I had equalization issues wehn I first started diving the biggest thing I can say is you need to "train" your ears to equalizing. SO pretty much I went home for chirstmas with about 9 dives under my belt and couldn't equalize that well so what I did was simple I practiced on land every oh hour or so pressurizing my ears to simulate the equalization process and after a couple of weeks of this I came back and found my issue that had been bugging me for months had disappeared to the point were the rock and myself were competing to see how fast we could sink.

Also this video is quite helpful for understanding what is going on with your ears while diving.
Doc's Diving Medicine Home Page

But i will say this you can use decongestants but I would not if you do I think Sudafed is the only one DAN recognizes as safe for divers but even then i would only take it if I had no choice as dealing with a reverse block is right up there with dealing with DCS on my list of things I never want to do.