Asthma and diving

tunney

Hi,

I am a mild asthmatic thats interested in scuba diving. I take a steroid preventer inhaler and rarely require to use a reliever inhaler. I'm quite active (train 20 hours a week for triathlon) and spend quite alot of time in cold water doing open water swimming without incident. I have only ever had one "proper" attack and it only really affects me in that some training sessions and races wouldn't yield the expected results for perceived effort and heart rate if my asthma was acting up. In other words I could live without the drugs if I wasn't competitive.

Would my asthma stop me from diving? I've read conflicting reports.

cheers,
Dave

smcmullan

Dunno to be honest but here's a couple of links from sources that I'd respect which might assist in helping you weigh up the risks and making your own decision:

http://www.diversalertnetwork.org/medical/articles/article.asp?articleid=22

http://www.diversalertnetwork.org/medical/faq/faq.asp?faqid=124

http://www.bsac.org/medical/r_asthma.htm

seadeuce

Have a look at the following, and check out the site as well:


http://scuba-doc.com/clinic/index.php?PHPSESSID=e1025b7f10de331b1cdd70e2be3be464&board=29.0


You would still need to have a diving doctor pass you fit to dive in this country, but through the above site, you may well be able to obtain relevant information that would help your doctor in his decision.


Best of luck,

Seadeuce

Peace

Do a try dive with some PADI school. Safe shallow and relaxing.

Evil Phil

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=1076666&postcount=12

That's a list of CFT approved doctors. If CFT approve them then there certainly good enough for PADI. Go talk to one of them, get an examination and get the all clear.

Once you have the peice of paper you should be good to dive anywhere.

g'em

Just to note, CFT doctors tend to very much err on the side of caution, and I know of half a dozen people who have had childhood asthma, and are very active without any problems, but who have been told they can't dive in cold water, only in a pool/ warm water.

And if you're going travelling check the local legislation or contact a local dive centre for info on for medical cert requirements- in Ireland we chave to be wary of accepting a medical cert from some locations (usually when the diver has been passed for local conditions that are quite different to those in Irish waters). At least this is the case for PADI, it may be different for CFT.

smcmullan

Peace wrote:

Do a try dive with some PADI school. Safe shallow and relaxing.

Good advice! Even if you get the all-clear, take it real slow and shallow and build up to depth. You may not be able to dive or you may experience the onset of problems beyond a certain depth depending on your condition. This could be quite a moderate depth but that need not be a restriction on your enjoyment and experience of "what lies beneath".

PADI centres will make you fill out a lot of paperwork so you'll have to have the medical "fit to dive" statement first as the others have noted.

Benny-c

The dive medical community is slowly coming around to allowing mild asthmatics to dive. I hear 'on the grapevine' that CFT will eventually relent.

The problem with asthma is that even with modern medical advances so little is known about it (triggers etc), and that's why many organisations are 'iffy'about it.

Shoeless Ailbhe

I'm also have mild athsma and what i found is that many big companies or club are reluctant to take you on board initially but if you have good insurance and the doctor reports that it is only mild, you'll generally be ok. Its more for insurance reasons that they don't take you on. also 2 companies I went with have a 5-year policy, where if you have had an attack in the last 5 years they won't take you, but after that they'll risk it.

darraghw

I also have mild asthma which sometimes restrics me from swimming but i had no problems on any dives. I recently completed the open diver course but i did have to get the go ahead from my gp first. The only part that i found dificult was the snorkeling but again i think this is just paticular to my case.

sTuMbLeD

Hi,

How did you get on Tunney?
darraghw, Shoeless Ailbhe, did you have to do a full medical before you dived?
Is there any other mild asthmatics here who dive?

I was hoping to do the Open Water course next month in Grenada. The PADI school said I'd need a statement from my doc that I'm fit to dive. I asked my GP about this this morning and he seemed very reluctant. I'm 28, aint had an attack in 10 years and rarely use an inhaler so hadn't thought it would be much of an issue. He told me to get a chest x-ray and whatever medical form the Irish scuba association requires. Couldn't find one to download on CFT.ie, but found a form at scubadivewest.ie.

It looks a lot more complicated than I expected, has anyone else gone through this test and can explain what is involved?
Is it something that a regular GP can administer, or do i have to go to a CFT doctor?
How much does it cost to do this test?

Cheers,
Karl

Peace

There is a list of doctors that know about diving in one of the stickies. I would advise contacting one of those.

Usually mild cases of asthma don't exclude you from diving assuming you are not prone to attacks. But a qualified medical doctor is best to make that decision.

scubagit

This is the Diver Medical form used by CFT clubs. While it is specifically for CFT clubs it list everything a doctor need to test to certify you as fit or not as the case may be.
For the record I also have asthma and it has not gotten in the way in the last 7 years of diving. We all know our own limits and if you are honest with yourself you will know the days when you just should not dive.
Hope I attached it correctly.

NoQuarter

i went to do an open water course a few years back and i had very mild asthma, only ever had one attack myself , never use an inhaler and am very active and the doc still wouldnt sign the sheet giving me clearance!

Benny-c

Some Doctors will-some won't. Perhaps a second opinion??

vickyk2209

I did it In Thailand over the summer and I have pretty bad asthma. They done a medical exam and make me do lung function and stuff like That before They would Let me dive. I think It is a good idea but they can be too careful sometimes.

Shazbot

I'm in the same boat as vickyk2209. I have pretty bad asthma, usually hits durnig excercise and requires an inhaler to relieve the symptoms.

When i was in thailand at a dive resort about to do the PADI open water diver course i meantioned i was asthmatic and all the instructors immediately said "no, you can't do it" except for one guy. He took me to get a check up and I got the all clear to dive, head to do another check up after the dives to test the effects on my lungs. All turned out ok though.

As already mentioned, go see a doctor who knows about the particular hazards of diving on asthma. Remember to be honest during questioning though, don't lie just to get the ok to dive.

Good luck

sTuMbLeD

scubagit wrote: »

This is the Diver Medical form used by CFT clubs. While it is specifically for CFT clubs it list everything a doctor need to test to certify you as fit or not as the case may be.
For the record I also have asthma and it has not gotten in the way in the last 7 years of diving. We all know our own limits and if you are honest with yourself you will know the days when you just should not dive.
Hope I attached it correctly.

Cheers for that form Scubagit.

After reading it, and the mixed responses from others on this post, I'm still confused as to how my GP will actually test if my asthma is too severe to dive.

From CFT form-
"Persons with lung conditions that increase the risk of air trapping must be excluded from diving. Such conditions include Cysts, blebs,bullae, COAD and asthma... Exercise induced asthma is very common and probably occurs in every asthmatic with sufficient provocation."

Anyhow, I got my chest x-ray on Friday and will bring this form to my GP when he gets the results. I aint holding my breath :rolleyes: about him passing me though.

Can anyone recommend another doc in south Dublin that has experience with PADI/CFT medical tests? (none on that list from Evil Phil)

seadeuce

Ring CFT at 01-2844601 and ask where is the nearest dive doc to you


Seadeuce

sTuMbLeD

seadeuce wrote: »

Ring CFT at 01-2844601 and ask where is the nearest dive doc to you


Seadeuce

I tried them before, first by email (3 weeks later, still no response), then by phone, but they wouldn't/couldn't give me any info on doctors.
I told them I was hoping to do a PADI course when on holidays, and that I had asthma, and asked if they could provide a medical test/form for my GP, or recommend a dive doctor in my area.

They told me to join my nearest club, I tried explaining that i didn't want to join a club here (well not yet anyway, prefer to learn in warm water...) but they insisted that the clubs were the ones with the experience in medical reports and doctors and CFT could not give me the name of a doctor, or provide me with any forms.

I presume everyone on this forum has had to do a medical at some stage too, hence my request here for some recommendations please.

seadeuce

Hey Stumbled - PM sent!

Seadeuce