just a question

[rob lunt]

hi guys and girls.


just a quick question i have been diving now for nearly a year and i am loving it,i have passed my ocean diver and im going through my sports,but on my last dive it was noticed that my hands were shaking and i felt a bit nervy somthing that has never happened before,anyway i went to the docs and have just been diagnosed with an overactive thyroid .does anyone know anything about this and does it affect my diving .



cheers Rob

[IainC]

In essence you health has changed so your 'declaration of fitness to dive' is no longer valid, probably due to one or both of these clauses:

16. Are you currently taking any prescribed medication (except the contraceptive pill)?
17. Are you currently receiving medical care or have you consulted the doctor in the last year other than for trivial infection or minor injury?

To go by the book you should consult a medical referee to make sure it is still safe for you to dive, for your own piece of mind if nothing else. That said - I am sure there will be people along in a moment to say they have an overactive thyroid and dive just fine.. You wil almost certainly still be able to dive, you just need a doctor's signature to say so.

Iain C.

[Vic]

i went to the docs and have just been diagnosed with an overactive thyroid .does anyone know anything about this and does it affect my diving .

OK, firstly - consult a medical referee for definitive advice. I'm not one.

An overactive thyroid has a number of effects on you - but you'll probably find a tendency towards worry, possibly even bordering on paranoia. This would be enough IMO to warrant not diving for a little while...

The good news, though, is that the condition is easily treatable. Go and see a specialist - you'll start with a thyroid inhibitor and a bottle of thyroxine pills. This will get you back to normal. The next stage is to address the gland itself - drinking a small glass of liquid containing radioactive iodine might be all that is needed.

HTH

Vic.

[rob lunt]

thanks Iain i will be askin the doc for sure but wanted to know as you say if any other members have any info on this condition.

[rob lunt]

thank you for the advice Vic

[IainC]

Hi Rob,

have some knowledge of this condition from relatives who have suffered from it. It is easily treated and/or controlled.

Useful medical site discusses symptoms and treatments..

http://www.patient.co.uk/showdoc/23068880/

[rob lunt]

thanks very much Iain

[Anne S]

Hi Rob, I had an over-active thyroid for which I was prescribed propylthyeurocil (PPT) and thyroxine. Because my regular blood tests showed the drugs were keeping the condition under control, the medical referee was happy to sign me off as fit to dive.
2 years ago I had the radioactive iodine treatment to try and resolve the problem. This caused my thyroid to become under-active. I now take thyroxine and have to get the OK from the medical referee every year to confirm it is under control.
When you are over-active you are placing your heart under severe strain (my resting heart rate was over 90), you are also metabolising your food so quickly that you can quickly become hypo-glycaemic and, as already mentioned, it has a dramatic effect on your mental well-being (I became very stressed over minor incidents) - none of this is good when you're diving.
It may take a while to get the strength of medication right, but once you do, you should get the OK from the medics - I regularly dive every week with no adverse effects :)

[rob lunt]

thank you very much anne that was very informative and very useful information