OK, who smokes?

[Anti-Hero]

We have a diver locally who smokes. The last thing he does before sticking a reg in his mouth is take a drag and the first thing he does when he gets back on the boat is light one up. His air consumption is about half or less of mine. If your paying for fills that might be enough of a reason to quit.

I would urge you to dive nitrox if at all possible. Though I know absolutely nothing about how smoking affects off gassing I would suspect that having some additional O2 in the mix would help you greatly. I'm sure someone with a medical background can chime on this.

Smoking affects off-gassing in many ways. Excessive carbon monoxide/dioxide in the blood decreases inert gas washout by binding to the hemoglobin. Chronic lung congestion decreases the lungs ability to exchange gases, and can in severe cases actually trap gas leading to barotrauma. It decreases peripheral circulation leading to decreased off-gassing of lesser perfused tissue, etc. etc. etc.

It's pretty much the antithesis of safe diving. AND, to top it all off it's a pretty damn expensive habit from what I hear.

 

[jswantek]

I smoke, tried to quit a few times, but not just because of diving. I did the six-week program with the patch, then went right back to cigarettes. But, that's another story.

I will say that I can tell my smoking does affect my air consumption, among other things. I'm diving with an ST120, my buddy (non-smoker) an AL80. We're comperable in size, physical characteristics and ability, but I'm coming up with only a few hundred PSI more than him. So, I'm cutting back slowly. I've gone from almost two packs a day to half a pack a day, and I'm still cutting back. I can tell you firsthand, it's not easy.

Without tearing things apart or lighting a lot of fires (no pun intended) if you want to get more out of your diving, quit smoking.

Best tool I've found so far, nicotine gum. Works great on long flights, too. My doctor told me that the nicotine in the gum, while still harmful, is doing a LOT less damage to me than what I'm inhaling when I light up a cigarette. It's expensive, but in time you can actually start tricking yourself into using regular gum just to satisfy the oral fixation, and get off the nicotine completely.

In the end, it's your choice, but I think you'll enjoy diving more, and get more out of it, if you get off the cigarettes. That's what I'm going for.

 

[Wobbegong wannabe]

I smoke about 5-10 a day. I don't smoke before dives though (or heavy exercise) because I think it's asking for trouble. I'll sometimes have a couple the evening after a dive but I try to leave it at that.

 

[paddler3d]

I can personally think of two local divers who died in the last couple of months that were heavy smokers and died while diving. Age and general fitness we're also likely issues. Anti-hero has some good points in his post.

Good luck quitting. I once found a study that showed it takes the American smoker an average of 11 attempts to quit.

 

[marinediva]

I am currently in my second week on quitting. I am using the tablets over a 12 week period.
I refuse to believe smoking effects my diving, however it does effect my kayaking, and have chosen to quit so improve my endurance in kayaking.

WHilst I did smoke I never enjoyed seeing others smoke on boats period, and preferred to do so in private. I don't feel it is good for professionals to smoke infront of students or smell of smoke for that matter

 

[Gene_Hobbs]

Duke and DAN looked at smoking and diving in 2003.

CONCLUSIONS: The data suggest that when DCI occurs in recreational divers, smoking is a risk factor for increased severity of symptoms.

Buch DA, El Moalem H, Dovenbarger JA, Uguccioni DM, Moon RE. Cigarette smoking and decompression illness severity: a retrospective study in recreational divers. Aviat Space Environ Med. 2003 Dec;74(12):1271-4. PubMed ID: 14692470, Full text here

 

[Rick Inman]

I've seen divers sitting around espousing the horrors of cigarettes while ingesting their Big Macs, fries and shakes (I think I've done that myself).

Overall, it's a good goal as a diver to remain as healthy as possible - examining our diet, exercise, smoking, alcohol consumption, prescription and non-prescription drugs use, etc. I think we're all a work in progress. I think mental health and peace plays a factor in responding to pressure that could arise in an emergency under water.

That's another positive of diving. It has you looking at the stuff in your life you should be looking at anyway. I have high blood pressure issues (still not on meds, but keeping it in check with diet and exercise), and it turns out that my BP drops quit a bit after a dive and stays down for a few days. Because of this, my doctor prescribed that I dive often (he did this in front of my wife. I could have kissed him!).

Good luck on the smoking (quitting, that is). During my life I've had to quit drugs, alcohol, smoking... The only drug I have left is my triple latte every day.

 

[Garrobo]

A person needs an incentive and a little character and will power to override nicotine addiction. I have friends who have quit alcohol, cocaine and heroin and can't quit smoking. Nicotine is the most addictive compound known to mankind. Personally, it was easy for me to quit. I was so drunk or high at the time that I didn't even notice it. It was in 1967 that I was in a rice field, up to my a** in buffalo sh** and leaches in the middle of a monsoon, trying to light up a Pall Mall with a malfunctioning Zippo while dodging bullets and mortars. At that moment I sort of got religious and told the lord that if he would get me out of this sh** alive that I wouldn't smoke another cigarette. We both complied. I stuck to weed the next three months and 12 days and am better off for it. Now if I could shake the weed habit. Not.

 

[Docc]

If you do keep smoking, I'd recommend not doing it around the area where tanks are being filled if pure o2 is being used. Fire and high % o2 don't like each other.

 

[paddler3d]

That's another positive of diving. It has you looking at the stuff in your life you should be looking at anyway. I have high blood pressure issues (still not on meds, but keeping it in check with diet and exercise), and it turns out that my BP drops quit a bit after a dive and stays down for a few days. Because of this, my doctor prescribed that I dive often (he did this in front of my wife. I could have kissed him!).

Can I have the name of your Dr.? Does that mean that you could get them to prescribe you SCUBA gear? I could use a prescription for a dry suit.