Tandem Jumping while on antidepressants ?

[Han86 0]

Hello everyone , I have a question please , I'm planning to do a one time Tandem Jumping in the summer , but I read in the health instructions that you have to be free from any medications ? I'm on antidepressants .. is this going to be a problem ? Thank you

[nickfrey 0]

Ask your doctor...


Other than that you may not need them anymore if you get hooked!!!

[DBlank 0]

I was on anti-depressants when I started skydiving, did AFF right away, no issues, I did mention it to my doctor if i recall but no issues. Thanks to this sport I no longer need them

"Do you really want to take advice from the guy we call Tarmac?"

[Han86 0]

Thanks guys !!

[Andy9o8 0]

You are asking a medical question, not a skydiving question. People who are not medical professionals are not qualified to give medical opinions. Medical questions should be asked of medical professionals who you know, not total strangers online.

[pchapman 261]

The free-from-medications thing is usually just a legal cover their ass move by the drop zone. Just like having to sign that you have no unhealed injuries or infirmities. So if you have a weak ACL from an old injury and damage it on landing, they have a defense against getting sued.

Clearly one wants to be reasonably healthy with no large risk of major side effects.

As with a lot of medications, sudden changes in dosage or type of medication is a risk factor, but if on something at a steady dose, you and your doctor should have a good idea if there's any significant impairment.

But I'm not sure what the FAA formally wants of "just" tandem passengers these days.

A doctor may know nothing about skydiving (or drop zone waivers), so in a way they are as useless to ask as strangers on the internet. But they should have an idea if someone is fit to engage in active sports, or drive a car -- good general proxies for ability to skydive.

[airtwardo 6]

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You are asking a medical question, not a skydiving question. People who are not medical professionals are not qualified to give medical opinions. Medical questions should be asked of medical professionals who you know, not total strangers online.

Just wanted to say that AGAIN!

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[Han86 0]

Thank you all !

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You are asking a medical question, not a skydiving question. People who are not medical professionals are not qualified to give medical opinions. Medical questions should be asked of medical professionals who you know, not total strangers online.

Sure I will be asking my doctor, but at the same time I wanted to know real experiences about this issue from people who actually do the sport and have some experience in this field.

[Andy9o8 0]

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Thank you all !

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You are asking a medical question, not a skydiving question. People who are not medical professionals are not qualified to give medical opinions. Medical questions should be asked of medical professionals who you know, not total strangers online.

Sure I will be asking my doctor, but at the same time I wanted to know real experiences about this issue from people who actually do the sport and have some experience in this field.

Everybody says that whenever it's suggested to them that they should not seek online medical advice from skydivers. You're still seeking medical advice from total strangers who are not doctors.

[pchapman 261]

Not everybody says that.

Following some people's recommendations, you would never want to talk to anybody about anything.

Never talk about personal finance without a certified financial advisor. Never talk about food except with a nutritionist. Never talk about getting along with your boss without a psychologist and PhD in Organizational Behaviour. Never discuss your drop zone's aircraft maintenance without an aircraft maintenance engineer. Never discuss how to flare your canopy without Brian Germain personally present.

It isn't that a professional wouldn't be useful, but they aren't the only source of information.

And of course, never listen to anyone, ever, on the internet.

[DiverMike 5]

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It isn't that a professional wouldn't be useful, but they aren't the only source of information.

+1

I don't understand why some people think the internet is not a good source for information. I can tell you right now, there are people on DZ.Com who have given advice and instruction that is far better than sitting at the bonfire at the DZ listening to the packer who always wanted to be a rigger. And besides, they are probably not half drunk when giving the advice.

Having said that, this particular instance may fall in the category of needing to know the person better than an anonymous stranger on the internet. Is he taking happy pills because his dog just died or to stop the voices in his head screaming "Kill yourself and take a TI with you"?

For the same reason I jump off a perfectly good diving board.

[Divalent 89]

IMO, in most cases when seeking any sort of information, the internet is often a good place to start, but a bad place to stop.

Nothing wrong with asking the question in this case (and in similar cases): knowing what others experienced would help him decide if its worth pursuing and, if so, whether it would be useful to expend time and money in advance before he does so.

[Andy9o8 0]

Sorry, guys. I still think that seeking medical advice (whether directly or tacitly) on a skydiving website is more dumb than not.

Now if you'll kindly excuse me, I have to go bleed myself with leeches.

[DiverMike 5]

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Sorry, guys. I still think that seeking medical advice (whether directly or tacitly) on a skydiving website is more dumb than not.

I agree that asking for specific medical advice is bad, but collecting data to review with your health care professional is good. I am not a doctor and did not sleep at a Holiday Inn express last night, but I have given data to people who want to participate in Scuba Diving who are on antidepressants. I strongly stressed this information should be reviewed with a health care professional:

Divers who are taking antidepressants must satisfy the following criteria:

•Patients should only dive on the newer antidepressants. The older tricyclics reduce the fit threshold, can cause dysrythmias and are sedative. Modern antidepressants such as the SSRIs citalopram, fluoxetine and paroxetine have a low seizure rate of <0.1% compared with the general population. They are also none sedating and do not appear to impair cognitive function.
•They should only be on one psychotropic medication.
•They should have been used for a minimum of three months before diving to allow for resolution of side effects e.g. heightened arousal and anxiety.
•The condition for which they were prescribed should have resolved and treatment should be in the maintenance phase. This means that they should have returned to work and normal daily life.
•There must be no history of upward mood swings associated with lose of judgement. For upward mood swings to be significant they have to be persistent for at least four days with an unequivocal change in functional mood observed by others. The symptoms include decreased need for sleep, racing thoughts and excessive involvement in pleasurable activities that have a high potential for painful consequences. Thus a history indicating loss of judgement with unrestrained buying sprees, sexual indiscretions etc are incompatible with diving. Antidepressants are known to worsen this condition.
•There is a significant relapse rate when stopping antidepressants. Following withdrawal, further information regarding the patient’s mental health will need to be obtained from the GP. The patient should also not dive during the withdrawal phase. For short acting antidepressants such as Paroxetine, the suggested period is six weeks.


The above information allows the participant to have an intelligent discussion with a health care professional. It examines the issue much greater than , "Do you think I can Skydive?"

You may now return to your leeches.

For the same reason I jump off a perfectly good diving board.

[Han86 0]

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IMO, in most cases when seeking any sort of information, the internet is often a good place to start, but a bad place to stop.
.

Exactly , besides , it's not like I'm asking this question while I'm on a plane ready to jump just waiting for any confirmation lol … and about the famous line " don’t get your information from the internet " I believe that the internet is a good source of information to start if you choose the right place , I believe I didn’t go to a chat room and asked a skydiving question there , I came to a website that is specialized with this sport , and most of the people here have a great experience in this field , so I don’t see anything wrong with exchanging information and experiences . as long as we don’t make it the main source .

Thank you all for your input