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Have you scuba dived?

Sat, 04/16/2011 - 21:04

Hello,

I have tonic-clonic seizures and absense seizures. I'm an outdoor kind of person and I was wondering if you have scuba dived. I've gone hiking, rockclimbing, white water rafting...ect. I just have never scuba dived. Have you scuba dived" Or should I just add it to one of the several things I shouldn't do.

Comments

Re: Have you scuba dived?

Submitted by ole on Mon, 2011-04-18 - 16:23
Hi orla here, As long as your with an expert in First Aid and if you get a warning prior to your seizure i'd definitely give it a go. I suffer from Complex Partial Seizures and prior to each seizure i see flashing colours in front of my eyes and a horrible sensation of fear. In June 2008 while on a holiday in Turkey i went Scuba Diving of course it was ruined 3 or 4 minutes in when i felt a seizure coming me and the instructer had codes for each other thumbs up meant keep going and as soon as my eye twitched it was thumbs down and he brought me staight back up. But the experience is brilliant and on my next holiday depening if my seizures give me a break i'd defo do it again.

Re: Have you scuba dived?

Submitted by ladybugg31186 on Mon, 2011-04-18 - 16:25
I did it! it was the most amazing thing ever! I went with my 2 best friends and they know exactly what I act like before a seizure so I felt at ease diving with them. My neuro told me I shouldnt even think about doing it, even with my seizures under control for the most part, but I wanted to anyways. Im not saying you definatly should, but I feel like I want to live my life to the fullest. I even got my license. Good luck and have a great time!

Re: Have you scuba dived?

Submitted by GF70 on Fri, 2012-11-09 - 16:51

I've done it but I'd strongly recommend against it. 

If you have tonic-clonic seizures, then I can't imagine what it would be like if you were trying to breathe in SCUBA gear if you felt a seizure coming on while you were still underwater. The most dangerous thing about scuba diving is being in deep water and then rising up too quickly (or having a full-on seizure in deep water).

Because your body gets compressed below 10 feet, you risk something called "the bends" if your body decompresses too quicky. If you decompress to quickly, the nitrogen that builds up in your bloodstream while you're deep in the water goes from liquid to gas while it is still in your bloodstream and the bubbles in your arteries can go to your brain and elsewhere. If that happens, the bubbles keep blood from certain parts of your brain and you experience brain damage or you die.

If you dive below 10 feet, you do what's called a "safety stop" while going up from 10 feet below the surface. A "safety stop" is where you come up to a 10 foot depth and stay there for 3 to 5 minutes while your lungs are able to exhale the excess nitrogen that has built up in your bloodstream. When the nitrogen level in your bloodstream is back to a safe level, then you can go the rest of the way to the surface.

How does this relate to your seizures? If you go more than 10 feet down, you are going to need at least 3-5 minutes to go back to the surface plus a bit more to get back to a safe place on the boat. 

If you still want to go diving, I'd recommend that you do a "recreational dive" where you are always with an instructor and you stay above a 10 foot depth. They teach you what to do and then you get to jump in where your life jacket is completely full and you stay on the surface. When you're ready, you let air out of your boyancy compensator (an air-filled life jacket) until you're just below the water. If you're comfortable, you keep going. If you get scared, you just press the other button to inflate the bouyancy compensator and it brings you right back up. That's much less risky and an instructor would be much more likely to let you do that if you told them you had epilepsy.

The main thing I liked about diving was the peace and quiet that you experience with the water all around you. The other thing that I really liked was seeing everything from a different perspective. You can experience both from above 10 feet. When I was in Australia at the Great Barrier Reef, I had the chance to dive down to 30 feet (I had been seizure-free for 5 years before that). Over there, there really isn't much to see below 10 feet because the beautiful coral reefs are in areas where the water is only 5-10 feet deep.

As always, you have to make the judgement call and listen to your doctor. 

Another key thing to remember, if you go deep and risk killing yourself by having the bends, you also risk killing the guide/instructor who also risks getting killed because they are required to stay with you.

 

 

http://www.scubadiverinfo.com/2_safety.html

http://scuba.about.com/od/scubaterminology/f/What-Is-A-Safety-Stop.htm

http://reefexperience.com.au/scuba-diving-tours/resort-scuba-diving-tours/

 

 

I've done it but I'd strongly recommend against it. 

If you have tonic-clonic seizures, then I can't imagine what it would be like if you were trying to breathe in SCUBA gear if you felt a seizure coming on while you were still underwater. The most dangerous thing about scuba diving is being in deep water and then rising up too quickly (or having a full-on seizure in deep water).

Because your body gets compressed below 10 feet, you risk something called "the bends" if your body decompresses too quicky. If you decompress to quickly, the nitrogen that builds up in your bloodstream while you're deep in the water goes from liquid to gas while it is still in your bloodstream and the bubbles in your arteries can go to your brain and elsewhere. If that happens, the bubbles keep blood from certain parts of your brain and you experience brain damage or you die.

If you dive below 10 feet, you do what's called a "safety stop" while going up from 10 feet below the surface. A "safety stop" is where you come up to a 10 foot depth and stay there for 3 to 5 minutes while your lungs are able to exhale the excess nitrogen that has built up in your bloodstream. When the nitrogen level in your bloodstream is back to a safe level, then you can go the rest of the way to the surface.

How does this relate to your seizures? If you go more than 10 feet down, you are going to need at least 3-5 minutes to go back to the surface plus a bit more to get back to a safe place on the boat. 

If you still want to go diving, I'd recommend that you do a "recreational dive" where you are always with an instructor and you stay above a 10 foot depth. They teach you what to do and then you get to jump in where your life jacket is completely full and you stay on the surface. When you're ready, you let air out of your boyancy compensator (an air-filled life jacket) until you're just below the water. If you're comfortable, you keep going. If you get scared, you just press the other button to inflate the bouyancy compensator and it brings you right back up. That's much less risky and an instructor would be much more likely to let you do that if you told them you had epilepsy.

The main thing I liked about diving was the peace and quiet that you experience with the water all around you. The other thing that I really liked was seeing everything from a different perspective. You can experience both from above 10 feet. When I was in Australia at the Great Barrier Reef, I had the chance to dive down to 30 feet (I had been seizure-free for 5 years before that). Over there, there really isn't much to see below 10 feet because the beautiful coral reefs are in areas where the water is only 5-10 feet deep.

As always, you have to make the judgement call and listen to your doctor. 

Another key thing to remember, if you go deep and risk killing yourself by having the bends, you also risk killing the guide/instructor who also risks getting killed because they are required to stay with you.

 

 

http://www.scubadiverinfo.com/2_safety.html

http://scuba.about.com/od/scubaterminology/f/What-Is-A-Safety-Stop.htm

http://reefexperience.com.au/scuba-diving-tours/resort-scuba-diving-tours/

 

 

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