Staying Healthy When Diving: How to avoid colds/flu brought on by diving

[vb1381]

Hi

I am fairly new to diving but keep encountering the same problem when I go. I find that after one or two dives, I nearly always develop a cold/flu like symptoms. I am not ill at all before going diving but after a couple of dives, within 24 hours I have blocked nose, sore throat, sneezes which develops into a full on cold and sometimes flu. This has happened to me when diving in Lombok, the Philippines and Malaysia and I just can't figure out the cause of it. Could it just be that I have a particularly weak immune system and my body finds diving too exhausting so my I become more susceptible to illness? Can diving be the cause of this sort of thing? Am I getting germs from the equipment? Is it the dry air I'm breathing when diving? Is it the tropical climate itself (I've tried taking anti-histamine when in the Philippines and it was the dry season so dusty) I just don't know! It ends up wrecking my holiday and preventing me from doing more dives.

I have always been susceptible to colds but don't know why diving is such a trigger. Currently I am very healthy and running a lot as I am preparing for a marathon next year (so feel like I am in good shape and have improved stamina) but I am going to the Philippines this December and really want to know how to avoid this happening again as I don't want to miss out on amazing diving or ruin another holiday. Any tips or similar experiences shared would be most welcome!!!! Thank you!

VB

 

[idocsteve]

Are you flying in a plane to get to these dive destinations where you get sick?

If so, that might be the culprit. Many people get sick when flying due to sharing the cabin air with a bunch of other people, some of whom are either sick or carriers of a cold virus.

Being physically fit won't necessarily make you all that much less suseptible to catching a cold virus but the extra fitness will be good to have should you find yourself in a crisis or other situation requiring higher than expected physical exertion.

 

[deco_martini]

Breathing compressed air does not cause you to contract Rhino virus (cold) or Influenza.

Did a doctor ever run a test and return a positive result for influenza, or is that just a guess on your part?

 

[wb416]

Are you rinsing your equipment? It might be growing germs in the regs and stuff between dives if not dried/rinsed (depending on what might be in the water... more likely for fresh water than salt).

 

[vb1381]

Yes, I have always flown to get to these places. Although I don't get sick straight after flying, getting tired from the physical exertion diving requires might trigger the illness caught on a flight.

On the most recent two occasions though, it was about two weeks after flying that I got sick when diving as I didn't dive until the end of my holiday - one of these was flu, I think as I had aches and pains, fever etc as well as cold-like symptoms. I haven't had a single dive break where I haven't got a cold/flu/sinusitis yet. The first two trips I got sinusitis, both diagnosed by doctors and for which I had to take medication.

I am going to the Philippines for three weeks this time and there's so much diving I want to do, I really don't want to spoil any of the trip by getting ill. It must be me as I haven't met anyone else who dives and has had the same experience yet. I get colds/flu here in the UK whenever I'm run down and worry that perhaps my body just can't cope with diving for some reason...

 

[idocsteve]

Yes, I have always flown to get to these places. Although I don't get sick straight after flying, getting tired from the physical exertion diving requires might trigger the illness caught on a flight.

On the most recent two occasions though, it was about two weeks after flying that I got sick

There's an incubation period during which the virus takes hold in your system, and it takes more time for the symptoms to show up.

Like I suggested, it's the flying. I doubt the diving or physical exertion has anything whatsoever to do with it.

Especially if you don't get sick when diving during nonflying vacations, although perhaps you don't have that opportunity.

 

[SteveAD]

Do you have your own regs, or rent?