Spring allergies. Diving with "desloratadine 5mg"

[Lilli1234]

Hi divers!
Is anyone using desloratadine before scuba-diving?
I suffer from allergies during spring and I often need to take 1 tablet of desloratadine (every 24hours).
I'm a bit worried whether I can or cannot dive during this period.
It'd be nice to hear from someone who has a similar problem and dived after taking these drugs against allergies.
Thanks.

 

[Imla]

It is a long acting anti-histamine and should not pose a problem to dive with as long as you are not bothered otherwise.
I use it myself, and to me diving is a welcome relief from spring allergies as the filtered air seems to give a slight respite from the pollen.

 

[uncfnp]

Agree with Imla. A long half so no worries with its wearing off during a dive as since it contains no decongestant even if it did it shouldn't effect your ability to equalize. And its considered nonsedating.

Many divers with allergies and congestion also routinely use steriod nasal sprays and pseudoephedrine (12 hour version). These can also aid with equalization. For these divers, symptoms and not the medication may make diving difficult.

 

[stepfen]

Me and my allergist agree with the people above, however DAN does not. In their medical questionnaire seasonal allergies and/or any medication you take regularly would rise a flag. They will then request you to provide a "clear to dive certificate" from a specialised diving doctor.
I suffer from seasonal allergies and recently from a similar skin condition (the hives). I take desloratadine daily too plus another drug (Xolair - IgE inhibitor) 2 shoots per month for the hives.
When I renew my DAN insurance I ticked the relevant boxes in their questionnaire and my case was appointed to
a doctor from DAN to be reviewed (all correspondence over e-mails). According to him such medicines MAY affect narcosis and its effects during a dive and he insisted I should be physically examined (I wonder what can they examine?) by a specialist.
I filled in the usual medical questionnaire and have it signed by my allergist. In it he stated that according to him these medicines wouldn't increase the risk during diving. But that was not enough for DAN - they still needed the opinion of a specialist.
I then contacted a specialist doctor (recommended by DAN) over the phone (I was abroad and very short of time before a week-long diving trip) and after I described him my condition he gave me - verbally- the good to go.
During the dives (15 dives well within recreational limits - 25meters max depth) I felt nothing out of the ordinary.
I haven't asked DAN yet if after all these my insurance coverage is still valid and I should.

 

[Lilli1234]

Thank you all for your feedback. I am new to this as I've just started my diving course last month.
First confined water was fine (but that was 2 weeks ago) , now the spring arrived and I have started to take desloratadine (every 12-24 hours), as the beginning of the spring is always the worst for me :-(. I might try some saline nasal spray as well, just to see if it gets better during the next days.
I have my next pool training dive in 10 days, so I'm a bit worried whether I will be able or not to equalize and whether I should cancel it or not.
How did you guys feel before the dives with your allergy? I know it might sounds like a stupid question, but is there a way to check if I'm fit enough to go underwater?

Thanks again!