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Holding my breath....increase or decrease BP?

Posted , 3 users are following.

ericg753
ericg753

I am leaving for Cozumel to do 1 week of scuba diving, on last day would like to do a whale shark snorkel.

I have a TAA 4.4cm, cardiologist, pulmonologist and PCP all agree I should be okay to dive, just no heavy lifting which I am making arrangements with the dive crew when I get there.

Also spoke with DAN (Divers Alert Network) who said the same thing.

Not so sure about the whale shark snorkel though, as to get some great pics and vids with my GoPro, I'll need to go underwater for 15-30 seconds, take the shot, come up and resume breathing.

Curious if this is damaging to my TAA? I'm not talking freediving depth, maybe swim down anywhere from 10-15 feet if that, multiple times to get the shots?

0 likes, 7 replies

7 Replies

  • mide14661
    mide14661 ericg753

    Posted

    As long as your doctors are saying it's fine, it's probably OK. 10-15 feet depth shouldn't have any effect on your body, and holding your breath a few times for 15-30 sec isn't going to do any damage.

    Like you, I'm a fairly active person and when I was diagnosed had lots of anxiety resuming activities I enjoyed. Can I fly? Can I play basketball? Go running? Lift grocery bags? Have sex? Etc, etc. This anxiety is normal and will (hopefully) fade with time.

    I was diagnosed in February of this year with a 4.7cm TAA...what I've learned from my experience is you have to:

    1) have a good team of doctors that you completely trust

    2) follow their advice

    3) take your medications

    4) Check your BP regularly (my cardiologist said 2x/week)

    5) don't lift anything heavy or do anything stupid

    6) Most importantly...LIVE YOUR LIFE. 

    Remember, we all take a "risk" by getting out of bed every morning; we take a "risk" driving to/from work every day. There are no 100% guarantees in anything we do in life. Safety is an illusion. At some point, you just have to live and try not to perseverate on things you cannot control. Don't let this condition suck all the fun out of the things you enjoy.

    Have a great trip...Cozumel is beautiful!

    • ericg753
      ericg753 mide14661

      Posted

      Thank you....trying, really am. It's getting better, just want to make sure I take all the right precautions and not do anything too risky and I will wind up paying for it. Some of the questions are simply for learning more about my limitations, medications, etc. Knowledge is power

      Looking forward to Coz!

  • derrick02146
    derrick02146 ericg753

    Posted

    JEEZ, you really are a worrier, arnt you ?

    No it isnt going to affect you or your TAA, not even going to affect your BP, yes excitement will increase you heart rate

    How heavy is a go pro,? 4 ounces, maybe 5, I reckon you can handle that without raising a sweat

    I reckon you can do better than 15-30 seconds, maybe a minute, lets face it you will be using a snorkle anyway

    NOW GO, stop asking questions, you are starting to sound desperate now, everyone who reads this is waiting for you to go, have a great time and then come back and bore us with how good your holiday was and how many fish, sharks, whale sharks you saw

    You said you are taking A SHOT, what just one picture of a whale shark, I reckon you can do better than that, take as many as you can, its big enough biggrinbiggrin

    • ericg753
      ericg753 derrick02146

      Posted

      Hey Derrick I did warn you!! LOL

      All kidding aside, I'd rather ask than not ask, this was more inquisitive than anything else. Honestly I'd rather dive with the whale sharks and really get up close and personal. I took some nice wall shots at 108 ft and captured a carribbean reef shark in the distance, a moray eel swimming, some groupers and turtles and grunts galore. 

      Seen quite a bit, but none of the "big boys" yet - manta rays, whale sharks (I read they can grow as large as the big school buses and weigh over 40,000 lbs!!), hammerheads or even better great hammerheads. No interest in great whites, thanks except in a shark tank. Will post pics and drink some tequila while I'm down there smile

    • derrick02146
      derrick02146 ericg753

      Posted

      I'd leave the tequila until you are back on board

      You would like the great whites in Sth africa then, I watched a cage dive go wrong when I was there (now that would have raised your BP, HR and given you some washing to do)

      The great white got into the cage (I think its on youtube) no one was hurt, but there was a lot of panic

      I thought whale sharks made a school bus look like a mini

      You are going to be fine, dont you have some dive gear to check, cases to pack , seats to book ?

    • ericg753
      ericg753 derrick02146

      Posted

      I saw a YouTube video where a great white get into a shark cage and 2 people jumped out...you were there?? Definitely clothes washing material!

      I've seen videos where yes the whale sharks are enormous....Google search says as big as school buses, hopefully I'll be lucky enough to see some massive ones. 

      I'm a last minute Larry, I wait until the last few hours before I start packing. 

    • derrick02146
      derrick02146 ericg753

      Posted

      That sounds like the one (I was  on a road trip, Cape Town to Cairo) I was down at the site when it kicked off, I never had my camera, but lots of others did, I think it was  posted about 10 minutes after it happened

      I am always packing and unpacking my ruck sack, put stuff in, take stuff out,  some stuff I buy on the  road smile

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