Smoking is bad for your health. Everyone knows that. It is also very bad for anyone who dives. However, quitting smoking is very difficult and often takes a number of tries before a person is successful. Fortunately, these days there are drugs that can help a person quit smoking. These anti-smoking drugs come in a number of forms, such as gum, lozenges, a patch, nasal spray, lollipops, inhalers, and even regular oral drugs. These drugs, in whatever form they are taken, are a way to give a body a nicotine fix without smoking. This can help a person wean off smoking or get some nicotine when a craving hits.
While we know that smoking and diving don't mix and it is fantastic when someone gives up smoking, but is there any need to be concerned about anti-smoking drugs and diving. Unfortunately, yes there are some issues with anti-smoking drugs that need to be addressed for the diver who is quitting. First of all, no matter what method you are using to quit, whether you are using the patch, the gum, or just going cold turkey, for about the first week after you stop smoking your body will produce more mucus than usual. This is done to clean your body out, ridding it of all the junk and gunk that is left behind from smoking. This additional mucus might increase your risk of experiencing mucus blockage or the squeezes.
One of the side effects of smoking is the increased risk of heart disease, which is due to the nicotine in the cigarettes. Nicotine acts as a vasoconstrictor, which is a narrowing of the blood vessels. It also causes atherosclerosis, which is the stiffening and narrowing of the arteries. In addition to these, the nicotine in smoking causes the blood to thicken because it causes platelet activation. The combination of all of these things makes it difficult for the blood to flow through the blood vessels and this causes an increase in blood pressure and a risk of heart attack and other forms of heart disease.
Since nicotine therapy is one of the most popular ways by which to quit smoking, any diver who is using nicotine therapy must beware. It is still not safe to dive because you are still suffering from the effects of the nicotine on the blood vessels and the heart, even if you are no longer actually smoking. Until you stop using the nicotine therapy, you may need to refrain from diving. It is best to consult with your doctor to determine whether diving while on anti-smoking drugs is safe. If you are taking a stronger form of nicotine, such as Zyban, then you should not dive for the duration you are taking the medication.
When you begin to use anti-smoking drugs to stop smoking, you will likely be taking them for 8-12 weeks. It is important to ensure that your body has the time to withdraw from the nicotine addiction and cleanse itself before you go back to diving. The best thing to do is to plan your quit smoking program for a few weeks, even 3-4 months before you are ready to begin diving. This will allow you to quit without the added pressure of wanting to get it over with so that you can get diving and you won't have to deal with any withdrawal symptoms while diving.
Quitting smoking may be one of the best things you ever do in your whole life, not just for your diving, but for your health in general. When you do quit smoking you have to think very carefully of how you will do so and you cannot assume that just because you aren't smoking anymore that diving is 100% safe. When you are taking anti-smoking drugs to help you wean off the addictive substance of nicotine you may not be able to dive due to the risk of heart disease. However, the sacrifice will ultimately be worth it as once you have completely finished your “quit smoking program” you will be healthier than ever before and diving will be less risky and more pleasant. Diving will always be there waiting for you, but your health won't – at least not if you don't quit smoking. So good luck as you quit and enjoy the big blue sea once you have completed your course of anti-smoking drugs.