Are there any divers on here?

Apparently due to my asthma I am high risk and my doctor will not let me do it. I found this out whilst sitting at the side of the pool with the instructor after having paid for a days diving! And I am not talking about the muff side of things either!

 

How bad is your asthma? Lots of asthmatics if they arent too bad, just do it anyway. Have you ever heard of the buteyko course? My ex who was a chronic asthmatic since he was a little boy went to do the course for a weekend, he used to go through heaps of those blue inhalers, did the course and he never used one again.

 

I work for someone who stopped breathing long enough to cause brain damage due to an asthma attack......not worth the risk as far as I can see. And he didn't think his asthma was bad either. Sorry to put a downer on things. Each to their own and all, but hey, this dude has serious disabilities because of the attack.

 

And I know a guy on a motorbike who died.... you know for every situation there is a story that for someone did not end well I am such a firm believer in that doctors and science are not always right, people defy them all the time, and sometimes you need to take risks and be defiant, for only then do we feel truly alive. And sometimes it may go badly for some but for others, it made life worthwhile xxx

 

I totally get that .....but it needed a balance to someone who "was cured because he took up diving" and "lots of people with asthma, risk it anyway".
A friend of mine swears blind he developed asthma BECAUSE he started diving.
Calculated risk to a "what the f**k" attitude, for 95% of the time gets my vote.

 

if you are asthmatic do you have a bigger air tank

 

I get the comments (cheers Ram nice to have to you back??) but the dive was booked before I flew out to Teneriffe so while sitting there filling out the forms I just ticked the 'asthma' box not realising it would cause an issue. I was asked to ring my doctors to see if they were ok with it but as I had had a cold about 6 months previously that caused me to use my inhaller and go to doctors because it developed in to a chest infection I was told no chance. I have since had a conversation with the doctor and told that if I am serious about diving I would need to undergo some tests before he could sign it off. I am ok to run 26 miles though!!!

 

Its totally your call, but try buteyko. If you decided to go back and do a dive course and you feel fairly confident that you are not a chronic asthmatic and its only bought on by a cold, just dont tick the box. We had a dive instructor in Egypt who was an asthmatic.

 

I was gonna post re the run, ''see a doc'', but was pretty sure you would go, or the missus would drag you there...

I think the diving and asthma issue is more related to the effect/force of the water pressure on your lungs than ''normal'' breathing whilst running. When i took groups, they made us sign a disclaimer regarding any health issues a diver might have, so consequently, regarding personal health, there would be NO comeback.

With regard to general H&S disclaimers these are not worth the paper etc,,,, if the ''instuctors are proved culpable of negligence...

 

Diving is great fun, however it is very expensive!

 

Its a combination of the pressure at depth and the compressed air. Apparently it can cause a sudden attack which could cause problems when you really dont need it to. If I hadnt had the chest infection which needed me to use the ihaler which then needed anti biotics then it may have been ok. So this year it could be on!

 

Its very different to snorkelling, I love the feeling of being totally weightless and just floating amongst the fishes with just the sound of my breathing and them chipping at the coral. And when you have something big like a large thresher shark or a giant manta swim around you, there is nothing more exhilirating! I am addicted, I feel like Alice in Wonderland when Im in an amazing dive site with towers of coral and massive schools of fishes. Unfortunately for every amazing dive, you will have about 3 duff dives but hey, you have to have the bad sex to appreciate the good sex

 

I had this problem on my last visit to Sharm el Sheikh, saw more fishes snorkeling than I did diving which was disappointing, although it is always a great experience just not having to come up for air all of the time...

 

Hmmn... a major difference between girls and boys being illustrated once again. For boys, there isn't such a thing as 'bad sex'. The antithesis to 'sex' is 'no sex'. Sorry to steer this but I hope the elucidation was worth it! I have dived in the SW Pacific both on reefs and wrecks. On both occasions by myself (how dumb can you be?) and had a close shave with some reef sharks in a place called Havana Harbour. Those who are interested might know this was where the US fleet hid from the Japanese during WW II. During their sojourn, the ships dumped rubbish over the side and the sharks learned this and haven't yet unlearned it.

I did say I was dumb to go diving there...

 

Reef sharks are harmless, they are docile as. No one has ever been attacked by a reef shark. Panic not!