Just DX with Parkinsons

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Phil

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Portland Oregon
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Ok.... so I am 56 in moderatley good health, ( I thought) and twenty minutes ago I was dx with Parkinsons. My grandmother died of it and my mother has had it for 25 years. The first question out of my mouth to the doctor was...."Can I dive" He told me he was not sure....what do you think? I have no idea about course of action he is planning, it is just too soon to know. In your expirence, will this keep me from my 100 dives a year routine ???????
 
You can dive. However, you best get an annual evaluation by your physician, preferrably a dive physician. Parkinsonism affects muscle motion to various degrees, and only in moderate severe cases will diving be prohibitive.
 
Can I kiss you..... I have been so worried that my diving days were over.... I am heading to Bali in April..... Coz in June Iran Jaya in Aug and PNG in Oct..... if the Doc says to me no way I would attach my mouth to the exhaust of my wifes Honda.
 
Hi Phil,

What is the nature and severity of the symptoms?

Have any medications been prescribed?

Regards,

DocVikingo
 
Phil:
Can I kiss you..... I have been so worried that my diving days were over.... I am heading to Bali in April..... Coz in June Iran Jaya in Aug and PNG in Oct..... if the Doc says to me no way I would attach my mouth to the exhaust of my wifes Honda.
Maybe if I was one of the Village people, but I'm happy you're happy.:D

As DocV is already suggesting, you are not entirely out of the woods. You will need to touch base with your doc regarding:

Parkinsonism, the disorder, and diving
Medications and diving

Its important you do so because many resorts have disclosure forms regarding medical diseases. There are problems with answering those forms, truthfully or not.
 
Not yet Doc..... his words to me were...." Lets take this nice and slow....you have the symptoms of Parkinsons (tremor in right hand) and since your GM and Mother had or have it ....I have to assume you do also" He wants to see me in 3 months to see if the tremors are any worse and told me to "drink a glass of red wine a night" ...so I said how about two....! Then he said something about Non-essential tremors......which made no sense to me at all "(of course tremors are non essential ) and thats where were at !
 
Phil:
Ok.... so I am 56 in moderatley good health, ( I thought) and twenty minutes ago I was dx with Parkinsons. My grandmother died of it and my mother has had it for 25 years. The first question out of my mouth to the doctor was...."Can I dive" He told me he was not sure....what do you think? I have no idea about course of action he is planning, it is just too soon to know. In your expirence, will this keep me from my 100 dives a year routine ???????

Saturation and DocV gave good advice...

here's a site to peruse...

http://scuba-doc.com/Parkinsons.html
 
I have non-essential tremors, a very mild case...or is it central tremors...I forget, but a slight tremor in my hands. The big difference b/w this and Parkinson (I believe) is mine often stop shaking when I go to do something and Parkinson will often start with fine movements.... Anyways, I think you are the best person to decide if you are capable of performing the fine motor skills needed in an emergency (your doc's advice is important though). As for the red wine advice, it will reduce the tremors, but that advice very quickly leads to alcoholism, so be VERY careful. WebMD is a good resource, they also can tell you about the different kinds of medication that are available and side effects, ext.
 
There are two types of tremors --- intention tremors (occur or worsen with activity) and rest tremors (present at rest, relieved by activity). Typically PD is a rest tremor, essential tremor is more intention, but these rules are not hard and fast, so most neurologists do not place much emphasis on this distinction any longer.

Unilateral tremor is more often PD, bilateral onset is more typical of essential tremor. Tremor of the voice or head is rare with PD, common with ET. Alcohol relieves ET, not PD, but doctors should NEVER recommend alcohol to control tremor. A trial of a beta-blocker is better.

Treatment for PD should be initiated when the symptoms interfere with daily life, although there is some animal data suggesting that dopamine agonists like Requip slow the progression of the disease. Thus, some neurologists advocate their use early on...also, taking the vitamin Coenzyme Q has been shown to slow the disease in some models, but this remains controversial.

I believe that the dive medicine community feels that PD, like MS, is such a variable disease that no broad statement about PD and diving is possible. It's a case by case thing, and in this case, untreated unilateral tremor in an otherwise healthy active person should not a contraindication to diving IMHO. I've been diving for years with such a tremor. And no dive op has given me grief about it...plus, unlike heart disease, it's not something you can lie about or hide. Because PD tremors do tend to improve with activity, they are often more cosmetically challenging than they are debilitating...in fact, ET can be more debilitating than early PD, even though PD has more long-term problems than ET.
 
So Shakey..... when you get on board the Peter Hughes Liveaboard and you are about to fill in the disclamer and the liability forms and they ask you " are you under the care of a Physician for any medical problem" What do you say ???????
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

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