Who is diving after Covid?

[BoltSnap]

A friend of mine, mid 20's, had a mild COVID and a couple of weeks after coming out of COVID suffered AGE coming up from a shallow dive, less than 10m. He is now paralyzed on one side of his body and no vision in the eye on that side. Just like many here who "thought" they knew better and just went back to diving after their self diagnosis, he is now crippled for the rest of his life.

Another person, I don't know him personally, wasn't so lucky and died by the time he reached the surface. I believe that his COVID hit may have been stronger but I don't know the exact details as I do in the first case. Several others died diving after coming down with COVID but I don't have definitive information on their cases.

All of the cases I know and heard about were "self diagnosed" and they all thought they were fit to dive. Their arguments would probably be copy & paste from what was posted above.

I had a very mild case of COVID in summer of 2021 after the first vaccine shot with mild cold like symptoms no issues in throat or lungs, O2 levels in blood were normal. I went by the recommendation promoted by authorities in the US, stayed out of the water for 3 months, went to a lung specialist who ordered chest x-ray, CT scan, breathing test (my results were at the same level as athletes' level), lots of blood tests and a complete physical with all associated lab tests. I was cleared to go back to diving.

I have had 5 shots so far and I should go for my second booster in about a month from now. I wear masks when inside buildings or when there are many people around me, local markets for example. I wash my hands regularly especially when I get home and use disinfectant gel after filling gas, handling money, shaking hands with people (which I avoid still) or anything I think is a potential issue. I do NOT want to come down with COVID again.

One of the side benefits of following protocol is that I haven't come down with a cold or flu since the beginning of the pandemic, nothing at all. I usually come down with a very strong cold or flue at least twice a year, Fall and Spring, but nothing since COVID times for me.

I am not a "Doc" and I don't want to play one in this matter at all, I have only one pair of lungs and only one spinal cord.

 

[Ghost95]

It seems that going back to diving after COVID, with our without a Dr visit, would depend on how you were effected. If you had chest congestion symptoms then a Dr visit might probably be in order. I don't know what tests they would run if your are feeling fine with no after effects though.

If you only had nasal congestion a Dr visit probably wouldn't be needed...IMHO. But i am not a Dr. It is difficult for a Dr to diagnose anything without signs or symptoms. For those who were cleared by a Dr, what tests did they run and were you experiencing any post infection symptoms/signs that made you go get checked out?

 

[johndiver999]

Hopefully this is "allowed" but I think it is quite relevant to the topic of potentially lingering, long term effects that can be dangerous. Right now, in the developed world we are seeing a markedly increased death rate in the general population. This is across all age groups and is not associated with concurrent and active covid infections and as far as I know, has not been associated with diving. But, this increased death rate is a fact and it should also be represented in the scuba diving population as well. There has been very little main stream news coverage of the increased death rate that is occurring right NOW.

It is apparently not a statistical anomaly and it is amazing that it is being ignored or under played. Perhaps the liberals think it makes vaccines look bad and the right wingers fear it makes covid look worse and nobody knows what the real cause is, so both sides have their heads in the sand?

 

[Haaginheimer]

I had it twice over the last 2 years plus a vaccine and 2x boosters (required by my work) - no issues. I run and work out regularly.

 

[Fishhy]

I dove a 3 tank trip about 2 weeks after getting over COVID, I still have some sinus congestion which lead to a pretty bad reverse squeeze on my ascent on my 3rd dive. I could feel it bubble through the congestion.

 

[tridacna]

Hopefully this is "allowed" but I think it is quite relevant to the topic of potentially lingering, long term effects that can be dangerous. Right now, in the developed world we are seeing a markedly increased death rate in the general population. This is across all age groups and is not associated with concurrent and active covid infections and as far as I know, has not been associated with diving. But, this increased death rate is a fact and it should also be represented in the scuba diving population as well. There has been very little main stream news coverage of the increased death rate that is occurring right NOW.

It is apparently not a statistical anomaly and it is amazing that it is being ignored or under played. Perhaps the liberals think it makes vaccines look bad and the right wingers fear it makes covid look worse and nobody knows what the real cause is, so both sides have their heads in the sand?

Can you quote a citation for this info?

 

[Gene]

I did cave dives before, during and now after covid lockdowns and all is well so far.
Back in 2019, I got a bad chest cough which wouldn't go away for about two to three months. I believe my son brought it back from Europe. I ended up having an IPE incident and was hospitalized. My cardiologist said it was likely a corona-virus, but probably not covid-19 as it was early on. The virus did weaken and affect my heart muscle, getting my ejection fraction down into the teens twice. (It should be around 50-60 percent.) So twice I had to suspend my cave/deep diving, and I'm still taking it easy now but have resumed cave diving, just staying closer to the exit and paying attention to my body more. Max depth so far has been 120 feet for a limited time.
My wife and family got covid more than once, and I've been exposed to it, and likely had covid at least once. I was definitely grateful to have gotten the vaccinations and one booster. (Had to do it for work.)

 

[KDAD]

Anyone still sharing regulators for OOA drills or only simulating it for someone who had Covid?

I had to share my long hose with an actual OOA diver last year. Used my necklace on the second dive and used the saltwater to disinfect the shared reg.

 

[PirateFoxy]

So I didn’t get a test that would check for a clot. Did anyone who got asymptomatic got checked for clot by a doctor to get signed off?

A simple blood test will show if your blood is still more prone to clotting than it should be. Micro-clotting, as I said, *has* been documented in people with asymptomatic Covid, so at the very least I'd see a dive specialist doctor and ask about it.

 

[kaylee_ann]

A simple blood test will show if your blood is still more prone to clotting than it should be. Micro-clotting, as I said, *has* been documented in people with asymptomatic Covid, so at the very least I'd see a dive specialist doctor and ask about it.

Yeah but if you had asymptomatic COVID, what if you never knew? How would you take precautions for diving then?