Asthma and scuba diving

[136sharon]

For 8 months now I have been prescribed duoresp spiromax and my asthma seems better controlled than it has been for 30 years. However I have recently trained as a scuba diver and plan to progress further in my new hobby. Although my gp has declared me 'fit to dive' I am concerned about the conflicting research that I have found. Any thoughts?

[Lysistrata Administrator Community Ambassador]

Hi, I am not an expert at all on this, but I have spent lots of time looking through various sites and forums as I really wanted to dive.

The result for me personally was that they would tell me I was completely insane for even thinking about it, but then my asthma isn't well controlled and is relatively severe. My reading told me that generally they might consider it on an individual basis if you are not severe, are well controlled generally and not symptomatic on the day and that cold and emotions/stress are not triggers. Though I wanted to dive, I could understand the logic when reading about what can happen if your airways close up underwater. They also warned that the cold dry air from the tank may trigger some people. I personally also find pressure changes eg thunderstorms and plane descents a problem, and can see how that would also affect diving. If you have already started, has any of this already been mentioned? I may be telling you stuff you already know better than me!

Again not an expert opinion but I would suggest finding a specialist diving doctor and getting their opinion - there should be online directories in places like the PADI website. The general feeling on all the stuff I read was that it's a fairly specialist area and a GP is unlikely to know about all the risks and factors involved.

Apologies for a long ramble when I'm not at all an expert, just a wannabe, but hope this helps! Good luck - snorkeling is fun but probably not the same.

[risabel59]

Hi there, I have done a lot of diving in the past and have my rescue diver qualification. I also have fairly serious asthma. If your asthma is well controlled you can dive. But, and here is the big But! you need to be extremely careful!! The main problem with asthma and diving is air retention. So say you dive deep as you know the pressure is greater, so say some air is trapped at that greater pressure in your lungs, (which can happen with asthma) and then you ascend and it expands in your chest rather than being exhaled, you can do some serious damage.

Another less serious problem, but still can be dangerous is "bad air" not all compressed air is equal, sometimes dust & pollutants get in tanks and cause an asthma attack. You need to be super careful about where and who fills your tanks. An asthma attack under water is no joke, always spend a few mins near the surface to make sure that the air in your tanks is going to cause a reaction.

My main rule is that I never ever ever dive if I have used a rescue inhaler in the last 48 hours. Also my Peak Flow has to be in its optimal range.

My current G/P does health certifications for North Sea Divers and was a Navy Diver as (well as doctor) himself. At the moment he has banned me from going deeper than 30ft. Mostly because I've had so many asthma problems in the last few years.

If you want to pursue diving, brilliant its a fantastic hobby, but you might want to think about seeing a diving specialist doctor privately, to really get the all clear.

You have also have to be very clear about managing your own condition and knowing when to say no, even if it is something you really really want to do.

Hope this is some help

Best

R

[Triggerina]

I dive and I pretty much agree with risabel59 . I am not a rescue diver though!

I stick to max depth of about 12 metres and do not dive if I have had a cold or anything other than good health and asthma control for a week minimum .