Hello everyone!
I haven't been here in a while, but I have a question I think only you can answer!!
I just finished a scuba diving class, and will do my certification soon. I've seen 3 doctors lately (just gave birth, so that explains it!), and all 3 give me different info...
One says I should NEVER, ever dive in my life because I have CH, and it will start a new cycle every time I dive because of the pressure.
Another said I shouldn't dive until I'm sure my cycle is over, so I'd have to wait at least a month of PF before even trying.
And the third doctor doesn't think it's a problem.

Any CH sufferers here that are scuba divers? Did you ever notice diving giving you an attack? Any other info on diving and CH would be appreciated.

Thanks for your replies!  :)

Jessica

Jessica:
I can only offer my personal experience.
I dove a lot for about 3 years after the onset of my clusters, though never while in a cluster period.
Diving never brought on a episode, never had a headache of any sort while diving.
(I had to stop diving after an MVA with a lung injury, unrelated to CH)

I browsed through goggle scholar and found nothing.

Pressure changes, such as airplane travel, have caused an attack in some people (reported on this site), diving may result in similar pressure changes.

I'd certainly be really hesitant to dive while in a CH period and have no scientific advise to offer during other times.

Good luck.

Doug

Thank you Doug for your response.

I was wondering about the differences between the pressure of diving, and taking an airplane, as I know flying can trigger attacks in some people (although I never had an attack when flying myself). I tried to do my certification last week-end, but wasn’t able to go deeper than 17 feet because of my ears (unrelated problem). I thought I was over with my last cycle since I hadn’t had an attack since July, but I had one attack Monday night. It wasn’t as bad as usual, but it made me wonder if it was because of the little diving I did on the week-end. I dove the same depth in an Olympic pool 2 weeks prior, and didn’t have any problems…

I guess I’ll experiment a little more. I have to have my ears checked out before I can dive again, so hopefully it’ll be long enough since the last attacks not to cause me any issues. I’ll keep on looking in the meantime for CH sufferers that are also divers!!

Jess

I'm with Doug.  Dove a lot (max depth 100') and never had it start a cycle.  Never dove while in cycle due to medication use.

I'm the spouse of a CH sufferer who is an avid diver.  He has never reported any problems with diving triggering a CH.  Before he was certified, he spoke with his CH doctor about any risk and he said there was nothing wrong with diving per se but that if it started to trigger CH to stop.  So that sounds like to me that it can be a trigger for some, but it isn't overly common.

[quote author=3C2331313F38342331560 link=1250690316/4#4 date=1250882320]
he spoke with his CH doctor about any risk and he said there was nothing wrong with diving per se but that if it started to trigger CH to stop. quote]
Thats good advise.

I used to be an avid recreational diver and never felt any affect on CH either.

Hi Jessica,

I was an avid diver years ago, but haven't been diving much lately.  I never had any problems with diving triggering a headache.  I haven't had to deal with CH pain at all for about three years now, but that's another thread. ;-)

If anything, I would expect diving to abort, rather than trigger, a CH!  This is wild speculation, but when you're diving, the partial pressure of oxygen is elevated; the deeper you go, the more oxygen is in your blood.  You'd have to go to an unsafe depth (~140 feet) to equal the partial pressure that you get from pure O2 at normal atmospheric pressure, but even at 35 feet or so, you're doubling the oxgen in your blood.  Of course, the partial pressure of CO2 goes up by the same ratio, so maybe it cancels out (?)  Having said all that, I would never propose diving as a tactic to abort CH - Having a CH is way too big of a distraction to deal with when you need your wits about you during a dive.

Traveling in an airplane is the opposite.  Even in a "pressurized" aircraft, you're still at a reduced pressure (compared to ground level), so the partial pressure of oxygen in your blood is lowered (unless you're on pure oxgen, as in a military plane).  That could explain why it's a trigger for a lot of folks.

Anyway, I wouldn't let the fear of a CH attack keep me from diving, unless I tried it and found it actually does trigger a hit.

Regards,
Jim

Thank you so much everyone!

Jim, you made me feel better about diving. I was getting a little afraid, and had thoughts about abandoning that dream. I will try again, and see what it does for me.

I dive when I can but never when I'm in cycle. Enjoy life and don't let this stuff keep you from doing what you like but be careful. And never touch the corral.

Hi Jessica

I have never scuba dived in my life before, but awile ago I went to Mauritius for my daughters wedding. I wanted to scuba dive there but the doctor in charge wouldn`t approve it because I was taking verapamil at the time for my clusters. I couldn`t make him understand that I was using this medication for cluster attacks and not high blood pressure. I`d ticked verapamil on my form and that was the end of it as far as he was concerned.