Hello there, I have thalassemia minor because I inherited it from my mother.
I am a PADI, SSI and SDI instructor and have had some issues but I am not sure if those issues were or not related to my thalassemia - I wish there was more research done about this. I was cleared to dive by my doctor with no issues before starting my diving instructor career.
While I was doing my divemaster in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, I was diving about 4 times a week with one deep (around 30m dive and one shallow (between 12 - 17 meters) with air for about 6 months. About 4 or 5 times within those 6 months - always near the end of the week about an hour after my dives while I was at home I sometimes noticed a DCS looking rash on my stomach and thigs. On two occasions I told my instructors about it as it was happening and they took me to the local clinic which had a hyperbaric chamber. There they gave me oxygen and said they don't think it was DCS but a rash and gave me some allergy pills to take the night before diving. I was unsure about this diagnosis but DAN was involved as well and everyone agreed with the professionals that saw me so I took their word for it and the pills seemed to work because I did not see the rash again. I would also like to add that I was not the best at making sure I was hydrated - I'm not the biggest water drinker but I was trying to have at least 1-2 bottles from the time I woke up to the time I went diving.
After I obtained my divemaster I went to Bali to obtain my instructors certification. The IDC course involved diving in the pool and a 10 M spot in the ocean 5 days a week to train. I never took the allergy pills and never had a problem with a rash. The day after our group took and passed the Instructor exam our instructors took us on a trip so we could obtain some specialties. I forgot to take my allergy pills on the trip but figured it should be ok because I was diving all month in the ocean and pool and had no issues with a rash. The first day we started with a deep specialty diving to 40 M and later had a dive at 21 M for the rec spec. After the second dive we sat at the beach and I remember thinking it was very hot, had a headache and noticed a small rash on my stomach that went away in about an hour. I also have to admit I was not drinking too much water because it was expensive. 4 or 5 hours later my group went on a night dive but it also involved walking about 20 minutes there and back in the heat with our suits on to get to the dive site and that felt exhaustive for me. Later that night we went to dinner and the rash was back but bigger and darker then I had ever seen on my stomach and thighs and this time I also blacked out and fainted - I knew this was DCS. My instructors called DAN and an ambulance took me to the hospital where I spent 2 days and had 2 sessions in the hyperbaric chamber (6 hour and 4 hour) session. The doctors and nurses I spoke with said when I was first admitted that I was extremely dehydrated because it was hard for them to even find a vein on my hand. After a month off from diving to recover I started teaching about 3 times a week diving to about 30 M at least once a day but used nitrox and had no other issues.
When I got back to Canada I also had my heart checked for a PFO but there was none. The pandemic also happened when I got back so I did not dive from April to June and then worked as an instructor for 5 months in a lake in Ontario, Canada diving about 4 times a week without pills and no issues but I have to admit most of my dives were not deeper than 15 M as the majority of clients were open water.
My story is long winded and thorough because I wanted to leave it in a place for others to see and possibly relate to. Does having thalassemia minor cause any issues or make you more susceptible to DCS - well in my experience, I will have to say maybe.
