Have you thought about diving with a full face mask?
Seizures and diving
- Thread starter mikecable66
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
Stoo
Contributor
- Messages
- 3,532
- Reaction score
- 3,825
- # of dives
- 5000 - ∞
This reminds me a bit of a discussion I had with a surgeon about my then 19 year old son. He (my kid) had suffered a series of spontaneous pneumothoraxes, which I now know, is not that uncommon in lean, lanky young men. There is also a genetic component to it and my Dad had had similar problems when he was a teenager. (I inherited my Mom's "height gene" I think...)
My son had recently started diving with me, and all of these episodes had occurred on dry land. The kid had had some surgery to remove the "blebs" on his lungs and was deemed to be cured.
We asked the surgeon, who was a certified diver, about the lad resuming diving. He suggested that it would probably be alright, but given that the kid was new to diving (and therefore not addicted to it) and the severe implication of a further rupture at depth, we all agreed that diving wasn't for him. He now lives in Australia and surfs everyday on the way to work...
And... he has had several less severe occurrences since the surgery... and thankfully, he wasn't diving, or he might possibly be dead now.
I love diving as much as anyone, but I don't love it more than I love living. If I had an "unusual" health issue that was unexplained and that could kill me without notice, and possibly result in injury to my buddy, I think I would think pretty hard about hanging up the fins for some time.
Perhaps you could get off the meds, and if nothing happens for a couple of years... try it again.
The concept of "taking it easy" doesn't really apply here... a seizure in 5' of water is likely to be"as fatal" as one at 105'.
All the same, this sux, and no matter what you decide, I hop eit works!
My son had recently started diving with me, and all of these episodes had occurred on dry land. The kid had had some surgery to remove the "blebs" on his lungs and was deemed to be cured.
We asked the surgeon, who was a certified diver, about the lad resuming diving. He suggested that it would probably be alright, but given that the kid was new to diving (and therefore not addicted to it) and the severe implication of a further rupture at depth, we all agreed that diving wasn't for him. He now lives in Australia and surfs everyday on the way to work...
And... he has had several less severe occurrences since the surgery... and thankfully, he wasn't diving, or he might possibly be dead now.
I love diving as much as anyone, but I don't love it more than I love living. If I had an "unusual" health issue that was unexplained and that could kill me without notice, and possibly result in injury to my buddy, I think I would think pretty hard about hanging up the fins for some time.
Perhaps you could get off the meds, and if nothing happens for a couple of years... try it again.
The concept of "taking it easy" doesn't really apply here... a seizure in 5' of water is likely to be"as fatal" as one at 105'.
All the same, this sux, and no matter what you decide, I hop eit works!
reghunnicutt
Contributor
I had five seizures over a few months when I was 21. No known cause. No more seizures after taking anti seizure medicine for 37 years.
I get checked out neurologically every decade with a battery of tests, MRI, sleep deprived EEG.
My brain patterns are out of the ordinary compared to the norm even now. It does not effect my diving.
37 years seizure free but still on meds.
Reggie in Midland, NC
I get checked out neurologically every decade with a battery of tests, MRI, sleep deprived EEG.
My brain patterns are out of the ordinary compared to the norm even now. It does not effect my diving.
37 years seizure free but still on meds.
Reggie in Midland, NC
Similar threads
