PADI Rescue Diver considering going back, however prescribed Methadone 70mg

[Duke Dive Medicine]

David,

First, congratulations on your recovery.

Both benzos and opiates can be synergistic with nitrogen at depth as you noted. You should avoid diving if you're actively taking either, especially if you're an instructor or assistant and you're responsible for students. If nothing else, it would be a liability issue (though I don't think Northern Ireland is as litigious as the US). The knee could give you problems from a weight-bearing and movement standpoint. Beyond that, I'd recommend you find a physician who is experienced in diving medicine and get examined in person. Your situation is too complex to provide specific advice over the internet.

Best regards,
DDM

 

[boulderjohn]

Have you considered a different option for your knee pain?

I got serious about diving because of knee pain, caused in part by the loss of the meniscus, such as you describe. Diving was the one activity that did not cause me severe pain. I had to quit skiing and tennis. I could play golf with a cart, but getting from the cart to the ball was painful. People could recognize me from a great distance by my characteristic limp. I had a handicap placard that gave me favored parking spaces, which helped. My regular doctor was very much against my getting a knee replacement because he was operating under outdated thinking on them, but I finally convinced him to allow me to get opinions from 3 different orthopedic surgeons. Two said unequivocally--"you need a knee replacement NOW!" The third was the one who convinced me I needed to do it, even though he was opposed to it. He wanted me to continue to live with pain, give up all activities that required use of the legs, move to a one-story house, never take the stairs, and give up all forms of exercise that could keep me in good physical condition until I was in such utter agony that I was considering suicide (OK, slight exaggeration), and then get the replacement.

I had the knee replaced nearly exactly 9 years ago. About a year after that, I was late getting back to the boat during a surface interval in Cozumel, and I had to run down the beach to get there. As I did, I thought in amazement, "I'm running down a beach!" I have no pain whatsoever, and I only think about that joint if someone asks me about it. As a tech diver, I frequently have to walk to and from a dive site carrying a huge amount of gear, and it doesn't bother me a bit.

In short, pain killers are not an issue for me because I have no need of them.