Diving with essential tremor

[JMBL]

Hi folks,

I'd be interested to chat with divers living with essential tremor (if you don't know what it is, click here), to exchange experiences around it and especially its implication on our/your diving practice.

I've been living for 49 years with it, I was diagnosed when I was 3 (extremely unusual, but still...), basically it means my hands are shaking at the most akward time and with no way to prevent it what so ever (and don't ask there's no medicine working for me). As I'm getting older, the tremor increases regularly, to the point I've been compelled to find a new job (right in the middle of the process), and it's beginning to pester me while diving more and more, which is something new.

Now, you know about me, what about you ?

Cheers !

 

[JMBL]

Hey guys, are you shy ? hiding ? Come on, I don't bite.

 

[Zane]

The chances of being a diver and having essential tremors and being on Scuba Board and seeing this post is pretty unlikely, it's probably why you aren't getting any replies. Not because all these divers with essential tremors here on SB are ignoring you ...

 

[happy-diver]

Well I knew guys, and gals, not many, suffering from alcohol and nicotine withdrawal that imbibed before diving

Only to stabilise

 

[astr0b0y]

Must take a lot of patience with yourself to deal with a world made for abled bodies. What kind of solutions and workarounds have you employed to deal with it so far while diving? I imagine clipping things on and off would be hard work with standard bolt snaps.
But looking at your dive count, I feel like you’re not letting this slow you down at all. That‘s outstanding! I’m whinging about having to get up at 4:30 tomorrow to finish of a cert…

 

[JMBL]

The chances of being a diver and having essential tremors and being on Scuba Board and seeing this post is pretty unlikely, it's probably why you aren't getting any replies. Not because all these divers with essential tremors here on SB are ignoring you ...

Yeah I know : in 52 years of life, I met only 3 people, outside my family, who had essential tremor (none of them divers). I didn't imply the community was ignoring me, it was just a (maybe a sorry one) try to revive the thread which might have been overlooked.

Still, Scubaboard is the largest diving forum I know, with members from all around the globe, and speaking about disability is not shied on, so my guess is, the chances are best here. I know, stats are against me, less than 1% of the population is supposed to have ET, but it was worth a try anyway.

 

[JMBL]

Well I knew guys, and gals, not many, suffering from alcohol and nicotine withdrawal that imbibed before diving

Only to stabilise

Yeah a know trick to any person with ET, still on the long run it's not the best therapy I fear. Btw, alcohol is known for it's "rebound" effect (sorry the correct term is probably different in English, but no idea what's the correct one) : meaning improvement for a short time, then there's payback, meaning sometime after you shake more.

 

[astr0b0y]

Rebound is spot on. Same happens with many nasal clearing sprays - use them for a day too long and your nose is blocked again.

 

[JMBL]

Must take a lot of patience with yourself to deal with a world made for abled bodies. What kind of solutions and workarounds have you employed to deal with it so far while diving? I imagine clipping things on and off would be hard work with standard bolt snaps.
But looking at your dive count, I feel like you’re not letting this slow you down at all. That‘s outstanding! I’m whinging about having to get up at 4:30 tomorrow to finish of a cert…

Well, I don't know about outstanding : I like to dive, I'm happy underwater, so I dive as much as I can, weather and money permitting it.

As far as solutions and workarounds are concerned, while diving or otherwise : practicing, thinking out of the box, and being stubborn helps a lot. The occasional "scram and mind your own business" helps a lot too. Problem is, people tend to think and behave according to the norm, so whatever or whoever doesn't fit in has got hell to pay.

Here's an example : for years, my left hand was shaking far less than my right one (although I'm right handed), so it was easier for me to dive with my principal regulator coming from my left shoulder (1st it was a Poseidon Cyklon 500 metal, then a "reserved" Apeks XTX50 (+DS4) ). I had organized my rig, and trained with it so everything was running smoothly, no problem to give my octopus or to assist someone (did it twice for real with that config btw). Anyway, I heard tons of stupid comments, ranging from : it's forbidden, to you'll die a painful death.

I've decided to post here, because tremors have been more and more intense and visible over the last 10 years and now they're beginning to pester me underwater. As you've stated, using bolt snaps is a pain in the neck, that's why I tend to choose larger ones than other divers would normally choose. Then again, the most usual comment is : "those bolt snaps are too big, that's stupid !".

Still, I'm not here to play "Moaning Myrtle", but it helps to talk and compare experiences. Over the years, I've dived with people in wheel chairs, with prosthetics, or suffering from Tourette's syndrome, or Huntington disease. Compared to that ET is a picknick, so I'll gladly stay with it.

To end on a sad note, I dove for several years with those guys who had Tourette and Huntington, but when it became unbearable, they both decided to end the journey.