How to approach diving with a health issue? (CVS)

[chillyinCanada]

Did you call DAN and discuss it with them?

 

[Seaweed Doc]

I'd call DAN for sure before diving.

From my lay perspective, any chance this is an allergic response to something unusual?

That aside, I had a buddy that got seasick at the drop of a hat. He trained himself to take the reg out before he vomited and put it back in. Still, the best option is to throw up through the reg. I'd take it out, shake it a bit, and hit the purge.

 

[Duke Dive Medicine]

Hello Everyone,

I have, in the past, been an avid diver. I never passed up the opportunity to get wet.

I have enjoyed diving all over the US, Mexico and Belize.

Unfortunately, three years ago I developed a health issue that I have not been able to resolve. After three years of doctors, test and procedures the only answer I have is a diagnosis of "cyclic vomiting syndrome with unknown cause".

The short story is that I have sudden onset nausea and vomiting. It can be very unpredictable.

This has kept me from diving for fear of having an episode while on a dive.

I have heard of divers vomiting during a dive and not drowning....... I simply have no idea how to safely deal with it.

Any suggestions as to how I can deal with this safely would be much appreciated!!!

Steve,

Sorry to hear about this. If your episodes are consistently incapacitating, it would be best to avoid diving.

That said, while this is not a clearance to dive or a declaration of fitness, as others have noted, it is possible to vomit under water. With your condition, I think the dive-limiting factors would (again) be the severity of the episode; your own ability to keep calm during the event, which takes a good deal of wherewithal; and the significant distraction that could take your attention away from other crucial dive-related tasks. Your ability to self-rescue could also be limited, and if you're incapacitated, you'd require the assistance of other divers.

A head-up position in the water increases the pressure differential between the stomach and the esophagus. I'm not sure whether that would be a trigger for you but it's something to consider.

This condition is outside my area of expertise, but there is some literature that suggests that prophylactic treatment may be effective. You may have already explored this but FWIW:

The below linked paper deals with pediatric patients:

A New Approach to the Prophylaxis of Cyclic Vomiting: Topiramate

An Up-to-Date article that mentions prophylactic treatment in adults (someone please tell me if this link works, I found it under our hospital intranet):

UpToDate

The StatPearls version:

Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome - StatPearls - NCBI Bookshelf

A decision to dive should be made in close collaboration with the physician who is managing your condition. If you do choose to dive, I would strongly recommend that you keep the regulator in your mouth if you vomit. It may leak a little bit depending on the characteristics of the episode, but the purge button should effectively clear the majority of vomitus.

Best regards,
DDM