On Sunday, December 01, 2002 10:42 PM, Reef Fish wrote:
(snip)
> So, I'll simply point out that there is nothing in the medications
> you discussed that has even been remotely linked as counterindication
> to DIVING, including the controversial case of Sudafed (except as
> you and Strike indicated to be so in Australia), by the medical
> profession.  I am not even sure that's the MEDICAL view (and not
> just the diving profession's view) in Australia.

Mate!  Just for the record, the reason that Sudafed was removed from sale at
Supermarkets and its sale restricted to pharmacies had nothing to do with
its use by divers but, rather, came about because some unsavoury people were
buying the stuff in bulk and extracting some of the chemicals for street
sale as a 'recreational' drug!

The 'controversy' surrounding it's use by divers certainly didn't cause me
to stop using it.  It was only when it was unavailable as an 'impulse' buy
through supermarkets that my use stopped and - as I said in my earlier
post - so did many of the sniffles that I was using it for in the first
place!  :-)

Having said that, I still continue to believe that the use of medications
prior to diving is, in the main, unwise Not least because diving medicine
itself is still very much in its infancy and I like to reduce all of the
variables in diving to a manageable level!<bwg>.  It is, however, a question
of balance.  Given the choice, for example, of going on a dive trip to an
area where malaria is rife, I have no hesitation in taking prophylactics -
usually Doxycycline.  (Although I have occasionally been prescibed
Mefloquine, I have always asked that the prescribing MD to change the
prescription to Doxycycline based on the reported side effects on divers
using Mefloquine that's been studied by a number of eminent diving doctors.)
:-)

Similarly, I  - since having my thyroid ripped out some 11 or so years ago -
have to take large doses of Thyroxine every day - a drug that is also linked
to possible onset of O2 toxicity symptoms.  While my use of the drug does
not preclude me from diving, it does cause me to think a little more about
the cumulative effect of taking a variety of medications and the chemical
changes that might be wrought in a body subjected to pressure.

Similarly with alcohol and the old adage, "Today's dive starts the night
before."! :-)

Although I have frequently been guilty of paying lip-service to the above, I
have absolutely no doubts that alcohol and diving is not a good mix.  (The
reason that I seldom, if ever, touch alcohol when on a liveaboard trip.) :-)

Nevertheless  - and as I stated earlier in this post - it is all a question
of balance.  One in which the individual must often make decisions based on
common sense use rather than alarmist - and unsupported hearsay.  :-)

Bob (or Rob, as he preferred to be called in later years) Cason - and I use
his name, as one of the people central to the Sudafed debate here in
Australia - was an enthusiastic soul who wanted to make his mark on diving.
All too often - and sadly, in many instances - this invariably entailed
trying to re-invent the wheel by locking horns with anyone who preached a
more moderate approach to diving safety!  (As an aside, he was constantly
trying to set underwater depth or endurance records.  Over a period of
months, he began posting notices on the shop's Bulletin Board with the names
of the deep air divers and the depths that they had achieved under headings
like, 'The 200+ ft Club'; 'The 180+ ft Club', etc.  His name always appeared
at the top as an encouragement for others to 'try and beat his record'.  He
tore the notice down when I pinned up a list headed, 'The 30 ft Club', and
secured more names beneath it!  This was before he 'discovered' the benefits
of helium!)  :-)

In '91, I saw him off from Sydney airport when he flew to the States to do
the IAND (they hadn't aded the 'T' at that time) Course.  He returned less
than a week later as an Instructor Certifier authorised to teach the full
range of IAND Tech Programmes that, then, started with Nitrox.  (A gas that
both of us were already familiar with through our respective navy days.)  At
the same time his combative personality brought him into conflict with a
majority of people in the embryonic tech diving community.  He began to see
dragons where non-existed and championed causes that - in many instances -
were either hearsay or of his own making!  The use of Sudafed was such a
cause and became, (to my way of thinking 'cause I continued to use the
stuff) an issue much like the case of the Army General during the First
World War who sent a message saying, "Send reinforcements, we're going to
advance."  By the time it was relayed to HQ, the message was, "Send
three-and fourpence, we're going to a dance."    :-)

Anyway, I'm sorry for the length of this post and the fact that I've
highlighted some of Bob Cason's more negative qualities, (he had many, many
good qualities too!) in order to make the point that hearsay is no
substitute for open-minded discussion and wide-ranging research of a topic,
and that a person's diving credentials does not make them an authority on
topics outside of their sphere of training and knowledge.  :-)))

> All we know is that ANY medication has POTENTIAL side-effects that MAY
> or may not adversely affect different individuals, whether diving or
> not diving!

(snippped)

> Whatever you read, cycle them through the computer between your ears!

I agree!  :-)

Strike