A question about Fibromyalgia and nitrox diving.

[tg54]

I’m a new diver, and am really enjoying the sport; however it seems to take me at least 2 days to recover fully from a 1 or 2 tank shore dive. (I know it’s a lot of work and a lot of weight, I have no problems with boat dive, but can’t afford them as often as my husband likes to dive).

I have fibromyalgia, which I suspect adds to my recover time, yet otherwise I am quite active and seem to manage it instead of it managing me. The question I have is with respect to diving nitrox as opposed to air as a recreational diver. It was suggested by a few people that I certify in nitrox as the scar lesions caused by fibromyalgia absorb more nitrogen, and nitrox has less of it.

This concerns me on these points. 1. Will diving with nitrox help me maintain my current level of symptoms as oppeosed to worsening them; I’m ok with continuing to dive. 2. Will diving with air only aggravate the conditio, or does it matter? 3. If diving with nitrox under ‘normal air’ conditions, is one mix better than another?

I’ve signed up for lessons and my first dive with nitrox is schedule on July 10th. I can always cancel if it is truly a detriment to my personal health and safety.

Thank for any input.

 

[ScubaDadMiami]

I am not a dive physician. However, I think someone is making more of this than necessary.

Scar tissue and injury sites tend to have poorer ability to eliminate inert gas. So it is said that areas of prior injury are somewhat more prone to DCI.

It would also be (somewhat) true that Nitrox use, for the same dive as on air, will allow for less absorption of inert gas in the affected area over a given time within the same non-required-decompression limits of air. This is true but only up to a point. For example, use nitrox, stay to the max, and you have now lost your theoretical advantage of the safety margin you were trying to obtain by using it in the first place.

I would be very suprised to hear someone say that they feel any difference in how they would feel with an injury like yours just by switching to nitrox. It won't hurt (pardon the pun) but I would not think it will ward off the pain you feel after lugging tanks around and getting thrown around in the water on a rough day, etc.

I like (EANx) nitrox and use it regularly. I am not against it at all. But I would not use it in the way it has been suggested to you. I would just use it for the traditional reasons you learn about in a class regarding its proper uses.