Permanently damaged balance nerve due to vestibular neuritis

[UnexpectedDreamer]

I was hoping to get some advice re. learning how to dive when I have a permanent damage on the balance nerve on one side due to vestibular neuritis.

I want to get my open water diver in Indonesia (or on Koh Tao) in July.

I often get vertigo, or feel like I'm on a boat, and get nauseus, but have vomited due to this condition only once or twice in 18 months. I have good days where I hardly notice anything anymore, and terrible days where I can harldy function and the world just spins around far too quickly for me to keep up. I am particularly entertaining when it looks like I'm drunk when I walk down the street
I am doing some physio exercises etc to learn how to live with the condition, but it is unlikely it will get much better, and it definitely won't in a month!

I have several types of medication that sort of help sometimes. I have "normal" motion sickness medication (I'm from Norway so it's not particular strong stuff) which I think worked for long flights + boat trips a year ago. I also have oxazepam which I suppose is a milder version of valium-like medication, and prochlorperazin which I'm not sure what is, but I've been prescribed it for vertigo. I also have metoclopramid/hydrochlorid or something for nausea (called Afipran here in Norway).

Can I dive with this condition? I have spoken to my doctor about it but to be honest neither he nor anyone else I've spoken with have a clue about diving with this condition.

I've done a 'discover scuba dive' a couple of years ago, and I really want to get my OW.
Would it maybe be best to just give up on the dream and see if I can find some good snorkelling destinations instead?

 

[TSandM]

I would snorkel.

I have experienced vertigo quite a few times underwater, until I learned how to avoid it. It is extremely unnerving, and resulted, for me, in a number of uncontrolled ascents, which are pretty dangerous. I have a very low trait anxiety level, so I never panicked, but it would be quite easy to do, when you feel as though you are tumbling violently through space, and nothing you do stops it.

In your case, you are learning to use other sensory input to try to override the signals from the damaged inner ear. But when diving, you are deprived of gravitational information for orientation, and if the visibility is reduced (or if it's infinite) you are deprived of visual signals as well. This allows the brain to focus on the erroneous positional information, thus diving is a situation where you are setup to have the worst possible trouble with your vertigo.

There may be others who disagree with me, but from my own personal experiences, I would not advise someone with a medical condition that affects proprioception in that way to try to learn to dive.

 

[UnexpectedDreamer]

Thanks for the reply, TSandM! Unfortunately it was what I thought...I'll head over to the snorkeling forum and see if anyone has got any tips for where to go for a snorkeling holiday in Indonesia in stead

If anyone else has experience or comments on this condition I'd love to hear them though! Won't give up all hope just yet.........

 

[OMANDIVER]

See a dive specialist doctor. My inexpert opinion, having suffered from inner ear barotrauma and the months of vertigo that followed, is OW may not be worth the risk of further aggravation to the nerves in your inner ear as it may your condition worse.

 

[Ricky B]

My father would get vertigo. He would recover fairly quickly (i.e., within minutes), but he was often quite tired afterwards. The incidents were unpredictable. Based on what I saw would happen when he had a vertigo incident, there is no way I would want to be underwater suffering vertigo.

Don't forget that you could be endangering your buddy if you become incapacitated by vertigo. At a minimum, you would be honor-bound to disclose to any prospective buddy that you have a condition that could disable you without warning.

Per Alert Diver Online, it is recommend that one not dive when taking benzodiazepines and benzodiazepine-like compounds (such as oxazepam) because of their sedating and cognitive- and judgment-impairing qualities.

I am sorry to be discouraging but I cannot encourage you to take up scuba.

On a more positive note, many a time what you see snorkeling with a shallow reef is just as good as what you see diving.

 

[UnexpectedDreamer]

Aww, where are all the 'don't worry, it's no problem!' people! Sigh... haha

Oh well...I'm looking at places to snorkel in SE Asia, so hopefully I'll have some great experiences bopping around on the surface

 

[the_dragon_no1]

Well .. i have had vertigo multible times during dives.. both during my ow and my aowd.. "lol" kinda learned to live with it.. BUT i can feel it coming (during abit to fast ascents if im in a "bad ear period".. what i do is close my eyes as soon as i know it Will happen, untill its over 5-10 sec (?) Really helps! Even managed to carry on with a 50min wreck dive one time.. but it was a long 50 min
Anyways i pretty much now how to not get it anymore, but it is for shure possible to live with and scuba.. (Offcours depends on the person!)

But seems like you got a more random condition, so maybe scuba isn't the best choice. Anyways good luck.

 

[UnexpectedDreamer]

The Dragon! My new best friend

It is random, but I can feel when days aren't going to be alright. However I have now clue how it will work when diving, also when I first got the condition it was completely random and the vertigo was at its wrost then...

Is it an idea to go to a diving instructor I've had before and do a Discover Scuba or something to see how I react? Maybe it's better under water....?

 

[the_dragon_no1]

Better? No... I have never had it on land tho so can't speak for that, but i guess it's the same, or maybe abit more stressful underwater. Especially the first times! I had my first one while snorkeling, when i was diving down a few meters, and first reaction was "Get to the surface!!" So i did... this was before i started scuba. (fyi, i have a mentally zero policy to running for the surface while diving, for those who might wonder. Absolute last option.)
Can't say how you will react to it, but im shure it will be sketchy the first time underwater having it happen.
Really depends on the person and your own choises. I can't recommend you to go diving.
If you really really want to scuba, i guess some test dives in a shallow pool is the way to go first then.

 

[UnexpectedDreamer]

I'll think about it. See if I feel like trying on a good day! According to my doctors there's no medical reasons for me not to dive, so I assume it won't get worse.

Thanks for all the replies!