Unsafe recommendation in Dec '06 SCUBA Diving Magazine

[CoyKoi]

Along about mid-week of a week-long dive trip my sinuses sometimes get a bit mucus/water logged and I may pop a non-drying, non-drowsey Sudafed 20 minutes before a dive -- but only as a last resort to save the dive and only if I can still manage to clear my ears at the surface.

I usually stick to the advise of my ENT, who also dives, and do a homemade saline sinus 2x/day. It helps keep the sinuses clear and moist -- and happy for diving.

The recipie is:
1. Carefully clean a 1-qt glass jar. Rinse well.
2. Fill the clean jar with tap water or bottled water. No need to boil the water.
3. Add 2 to 3 heaping teaspoons of pickling salt or canning salt. Not table salt. Table salt has additives you don't want in your nose.
4. Add 1 rounded teaspoon of baking soda (pure bicarbonate).
5. Stir or shake before each use.
6. Store at room temperature. After a week, pour out any unused mixture and make a new batch.

 

[miesemer]

I'll use sudafed for a shallow recreational dive but will not use it for deep or deco dives (to reduce risk of ox-tox). I find being able to equalize on the surface prior to the dive not very telling on how congested my sinus's will be after an hour or more of horizontal/face down body position. Obviously, physiologies differ and YMMV.

 

[DiveTub]

I hate to think of how many hundreds of dives I would have missed without Sudafed and codral, I have a pack in a ziplock bag that come with me on every dive trip

Cheers
Chriso

 

[mania]

Diving and taking any unnecessary drugs is not a good thing. That includes antihistamine and pseudoefedrine, which have side effects dangerous while diving. All these should be consulted with an MD that has a clue about diving (let's face the facts - not all them have). This is my opinion and the way I do. If I have to take any meds - I don't dive.

Some patients with respiratory problems may be using a prescription antihistamine. Usually these have the side effect of sedation and, needless to say, sedation and diving is a bad combination. There are a class of nonprescription “cold” meds, like the ephedrine or pseudoephedrine (Sudafed, Actifed) based meds that will cause an increase in heart rate, blood pressure and will make you rather jittery or nervous - Bruce V. Voss, M.D.

Some information could be find here as well:
http://www.diversalertnetwork.org/medical/articles/article.asp?articleid=51
and here:
http://www.scubaboard.com/showpost.php?p=2319188&postcount=14
http://www.scubaboard.com/showpost.php?p=2127908&postcount=11

Mania

 

[Larry C]

I used to pop two sudafed when I woke up on dive morning, and one before every dive due to allergies. Occasionally, I still couldn't clear. Often, I'd pressurize and have to wait till the next day or following for normal inner ear feeling and hearing. Now, I take a generic Claritan every morning whether I'm diving or not, and Nasonex for three days up to dive day. Almost no problems.