Hey guys. I am wondering if there are any scuba divers in here. If so have any of you got well enough to get back to the water. I hear it can really make a difference in your recovery. Pretty much the same as the hyperbarrick(?) chamber. I have an advanced licence and I intend to do a few dives in Italy in Sept. Any views? Posted by johnlyme1 (Member # 7343) on :
I am a tech diver. Last summer I was able to dive most of the summer but my LLMD limited my depth to 30ft an no longer than 50 min for any dive until my infections are declared gone. My LLMD is also a suba diver and ran a chamber for many years. There is a serious risk of the bends diving with any of the lyme or co-infections, offgassing can be compromised. Staying within the decompression limits of recreational diving is a must.
I also dive with a nitrox mix of 40% 02. This creates a huge safty net with off gassing. I also felt great after the dives but would get some mild herxing a few hours after.
Posted by bettex99 (Member # 8109) on :
I just got back from a dive trip to the Caymans two weeks ago. I made 12 out of 17 dives and the deepest I went was 80 ft. I went on the trip feeling good and strong, but I had heart palps and pressure headaches. I came back with no headaches and no palps but was really wiped out and fatigued. I am pretty much recovered now. I think I did have some herxing the first few days. I dove every day but still missed some dives as I was not feeling well. I think my body just had to adjust to the pressure. But as to improvement, I would say that I am no better than before diving. I am still in heavy treatment for lyme and co infections but try to live life as best as I can
Posted by lymeHerx001 (Member # 6215) on :
I had a russian doc recomend it once. But then again he recomended I find a girl and go work with a handicap kid while burning his expensive incesnse from india while I have MCS.
So thats about that......
Posted by jaime1978 (Member # 11786) on :
you mentioned hyperberic chamber... just curious
as I am new to this...what is that supposed to
do?
Posted by NMN (Member # 11007) on :
Its for treating the bends. It basically simulates diving and takes you down in depth raising the oxygen levels in your blood cells. As lyme does not like an oxygenated environment it is supposed to be very good at killing the little b*st*rds or at least makes them run for the hills.!! Especially while on treatment. Im sure someone can explain it better than I can!
Posted by Charlie59 (Member # 35435) on :
I have been on antibiotics for treatment for the past six months. I went diving this past week and used 36% NITROX first dive was 60 ft.for 60 min.stayed well within dive table and slow ascent. Herx affect was fairly severe that evening but had diminished by morning.I dove three more days doing two dives per day with first dive each day 85' to 90' with 36% NITROX mild Herx 2nd evening, slight Herx 3rd evening, and no Herx effect fourth evening. I believe this helped to kill the Lyme. I would like to try hyperbaric chamber treatment with 100% oxygen in near future.
Posted by tickled1 (Member # 14257) on :
Haven't been able to read everyone's replies but years ago, my boyfriend at the time bought me scuba diving lessons as a gift. It was really hard on me, especially my certification in the ocean about which time symptoms increased for me but this was still years before I found out what's wrong with me. About the same time as the scuba diving, I took a couple airline flights and symptoms intensified. Something happened there.
Posted by Lauralyme (Member # 15021) on :
Thanks for bringing this thread up Charlie
I am also a diver and I was diving alot while lyme was latent.....I believe the diving kept it at bay.
Can't wait to start diving again
Posted by showmemom (Member # 34213) on :
This is one of the things our LLMD recommended for our family. Just the scuba, not the hyperbaric.
Posted by tickbitt (Member # 33753) on :
I'm a diver but haven't dived much while sick.
Everything I've read is that you need to get to a little above 2 atmospheres of pure oxygen to get the desired effect. With 40% nitrox you're talking about 4 atmosphere's depth, or over 100 feet to get to that level. While it's easy to stay for an hour in a hyperbaric chamber reading a book it's a little harder to spend a full hour at 120 feet.
If 50 feet of 40% nitrox is enough to have an effect we could just breathe pure oxygen at our desks and get the same effect.
Posted by MichaelTampa (Member # 24868) on :
quote:Originally posted by tickbitt: I'm a diver but haven't dived much while sick.
Everything I've read is that you need to get to a little above 2 atmospheres of pure oxygen to get the desired effect. With 40% nitrox you're talking about 4 atmosphere's depth, or over 100 feet to get to that level. While it's easy to stay for an hour in a hyperbaric chamber reading a book it's a little harder to spend a full hour at 120 feet.
If 50 feet of 40% nitrox is enough to have an effect we could just breathe pure oxygen at our desks and get the same effect.
I'm not following all this technical stuff about diving, but did want to point out that, before I knew I had lyme, I did use an oxygen concentrator (97% oxygen) that I breathed from 2 hours a day for several months. It helped a lot, and made me dizzy/tired as would be labled a mild herx. So, I do want to point out, yes, breathing oxygen can make a difference, not close to a cure but it helped noticeably.
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