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Sudafed & Diving

Posted: September 17th, 2008 | Author: admin | Filed under: Health, Health & Diving | Tags: , , | No Comments »

Question :
Are you aware of any ramifications from the use of Sudafed (or any other decongestants) used in conjunction with diving? I am frequent sufferer of congested sinuses and they almost ruined my first dives. The squeezes nearly killed me.

Answer :
Sinus congestion to the extent that you describe suggests that you might have some correctable nasopharyngeal problem that could benefit from a visit to a good ENT doctor. (Nasal septal deviation, polyps, tumors, etc).
Sudafed can be a great help to the diver especially when taken in the sustained release tablet form so that there will be no ‘rebound congestion’.
Sudafed is ‘pseudoephedrine’ and increases the heart rate and metabolic rate. Because of this it should not be used in nitrox diving due to the increased risk of O2 toxicity and seizures underwater.
You can find detailed upto date information about diving and health, in the official website of scubadoc. (http://www.scuba-doc.com )