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Two quick thoughts.  The only increase in bleeding risk you get from
combining aspirin and ibuprofen or any of the related drugs is in what
it does to your stomach.  If your gut can stand all the irritation, you
should be OK.
In terms of "masking" DCS.  No.
These drugs actually get to the root of the symptoms.  They stop DCS
symptoms because they block a key part of the illness.  If you have
symptoms despite taking these drugs, seek treatment.  If you don't have
symptoms, you probably don't have DCS.  This is not like taking morphine
to prevent pain from a stab wound.  Its more like taking quinine to
prevent malaria.
BTW, I'm going diving in the deep blue for a week!
Later guys!
Wendell G


> Wendell,
> 
> That is what I've suspected. It's been said for years that aspirin was
> "maybe" an aid--probably a very small one--for the prevention of DCS. That
> some aggressive divers are taking it and other such over-the-counter
> medications isn't surprising given the insidious and unpredictable nature of
> DCS.
> 
> The conclusion I read everywhere is that there isn't enough research,
> there's only a intelligent-guess suspicion that it works. If it has been
> "long recommended" as SOP for deco diving, who has recommended it and what
> do they base that recommendation on? I'd still like to see research that
> definitively says, "aspirin and ibuprofen can reduce the risk of DCS."
> 
> There is research, but within the research I've seen there are probably as
> many new questions as there are answers. The best anyone can say is that
> aspirin ought to be beneficial. As to dosage, I did read in at least one
> diving medicine document that as little as 1/4 of a normal tablet of aspirin
> will provide the full platelet effect.
> 
> Ibuprofen affects platelets too, but in a different way. Do you think that
> there is any concern at all for divers who are taking larger doses of
> aspirin and ibuprofen together? I've seen one person suggest that he takes
> 800 mg predive and an additional 800 mg every four hours of ibuprofen and an
> unstated amount of aspirin as well.
> 
> How big is the bleeding concern for this type of dosage? And to restate my
> previous concern, is there any concern at all that dosages like this could
> mask subtle DCS symptoms and thereby delay treatment?
> 
> This isn't a zero-sum game. If it actually works and its been proven that it
> does then it's a good thing for all deco divers within the boundaries of
> risk that I suggest.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> JoeL

-- 
"There are two kinds of people, those who do the work
        and those who take the credit. Try to be in the
        first group; there is less competition there."
                   (Indira Gandhi)
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