I dive Nitrox because it is safer diving.....and if you are doing three dives a day or more on a Suunto.....you need it.....but here is an write up in Undercurrent that perhaps is an excellent reason to Nitrox


"Have a Little Nitrox, M’Dear
Last October, we quoted an Undercurrent reader
who’d discovered an unusual benefit of Nitrox. After
she and her husband made two dives with a 32% blend,
“something amazing happened,” said Karen Decker
(Oxnard, CA). “We went back to the room and had sex.
Yep, that’s right, sex. Something that had never happened
before the nap before that day.” Decker reported
that she and her husband “actually had the energy to
engage in this extracurricular activity each day after diving.
We’ve been enjoying Nitrox ever since!”
That article brought several comments, including
this from a subscriber who requested anonymity. “I love
diving; however, I found the drastic diminution of my
sexual responsiveness after a day of diving on air to be
an intolerable side effect. I proposed to my husband
that I dive only every other day and see if that helped.
He was not similarly affected; regular air or Nitrox, he
was always in full, happy vacation condition. He is a
physician and said that he thought Nitrox might fix the
problem. The change was immediate.
“We have experimented with one tank of Nitrox and
one of air when Nitrox is in short supply. This also seems
fine. For many of us, the whole vacation is not about diving
only. No one said a word about this in the Nitrox classroom,
but discreet inquiries on my part have revealed that
this is not a new discovery.”
Al Ankus, an Undercurrent subscriber and pharmacist
in Chicago, IL, offers an explanation. He told us that
Nitric oxide (a by-product of Nitrox inhalation) serves
as a neurotransmitter between nerve cells. Production of
nitric oxide “also plays a role in development and maintenance
of erection by stimulating the smooth muscle cells
surrounding the blood vessels supplying the corpus cavernosum
(region of erectile tissue that contains most of the
blood in the penis during erection). Through relaxation
of these muscles, more blood can flow in.” By the way, adds
our friendly pharmacist, “Nitric oxide is the main ingredient
of sildenafel — commonly known as . . . Viagra.”
Ern Campbell, MD, who runs Scubadoc blog told us
that while there are good anecdotal reports, there still
isn’t any hard evidence. He speculates, with tongue in
cheek, that perhaps vigorous sex and Cialis before diving
might decrease the risk of decompression illness, citing
research that shows while fitness above a basic level made
little difference, a bout of intense exercise (amorous or
otherwise, he says) 20 hours before a simulated dive in a
pressure chamber dramatically reduced nitrogen bubble
formation. The researchers believe that the exercise
eliminates microbubbles that seed the formation of larger
bubbles in the blood.
Other studies suggest that these microbubbles are
attached to the walls of blood vessels. Exercise is known to
stimulate the release of nitric oxide (NO), which not only
dilates blood vessels but changes their surface properties,
making them more slippery.
Obviously, there’s a need for more research in this
subject. As soon as we find a research team willing to take
it on, we’ll put out a call for volunteers"