# SCUBA



## Alister (May 1, 2018)

Any Scuba divers here

How does your D affect you


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## Northerner (May 2, 2018)

We have had scuba divers here in the past Alister, but it doesn't look like they are currently around. What effects, if any, have you noticed?


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## Alister (May 5, 2018)

Northerner said:


> We have had scuba divers here in the past Alister, but it doesn't look like they are currently around. What effects, if any, have you noticed?


I have not actually done any diving since diagnosis (& have not been diving much for the past few years).
Advise I have been given is to load up with carbs before diving as it would be better to be running high (witin reason) rathar than risking a hypo underwater, I can understand that 
[QUOTE}was saddened to discover that my padi licence would only cover me to dive with a dive master due to diabetes.[/QUOTE]
fortunatly I was a BSAC Dive leader & assistant club instructor (although I am no longer a BSAC Member) I my regular buddy is similarly qualified with even more experience so that should not be a problem for me (& if you ever fancy a dip I am up for it)


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## missclb (Apr 29, 2019)

@Alister – so I'm around a year late with my response, but i'm a fairly active scuba diver, and a type 1 (I'm so sorry I didn't see your post in real time!). How are you getting on, have you made it back in the water yet?  

I"m the opposite to you, I learned to dive after my diagnosis, in a bid to prove to myself that life can continue as normal. I dive wiht the same group most of the time and they're all fully aware of my diabetes, and i know i can trust them. I'm the least qualified out of my group as an MSD (not allowed to progress any further because of T1). 

How you manage yourself on a dive trip will probably depend largely on the duration of the trip. In the beginning, the safest thing for me was to let my levels run a little high, to avoid any potential underwater lows. I tend to do weekends where I do 7 dives in 2 days, and I found that the off-gassing along with elevated BGs made me feel super tired by day 2, and i didn't like that much. With experience, I'm pretty calm underwater, no flapping around (or bike riding !!) I've found that my BGs dont tend to drop much during a dive. The thing that affects me more is if it's super hot on deck when gearing up (I live in Dubai) so I always keep my diabetes at the forefront of my mind and test, test, test. All the time. I get up about an hour earlier than everyone else to make sure my levels are stable before the pre-breakfast dive. I tend to avoid carbs so that i can avoid injecting too much insulin. I always keep a bag of jelly beans on the boat in a waterproof bag, along with my spare meter. If i feel like my levels are unstable, i'll call the dive off. There's always another one to join in on later. So I feel like i'm managing my diabetes first, diving second. But I think that's the right way to approach it. 

Hope this helps.


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