Immersion Induced Pulmonary Edema (IPE)

There are several things that could be the cause for your IPE incidents. Unfortunately, doctors unfamiliar with diving aren't going to be able to tell you very much, as they weren't able to tell Denise. My conclusion regarding her incident was that the IPE was caused by taking a medication she didn't need - the armour thyroid. Yes, the thyroid gland can cause IPE. Either post more information about your health history, medications you take, etc or send me a PM. If there's something suspicious there, I'll let you know. That doesn't necessarily mean it's the true cause of your IPE incidents, but it could be. Medicine oftentimes is more of an art than a science. The human body and how it functions is too complicated to fully understand with our current knowledge.

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Originally Posted by denisegg

I saw two pulmonary doctors after being released from the hospital. They could not find anything wrong with me. I waited about 6 weeks and went back to all of the doctors again and all of them released me saying they could not find anything wrong with me.

I finally had to make a decision to try it again. Since none of the doctors or researchers could tell me why it happened, they could not tell me if it would happen again.

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Another possibility...... Dust mites infestations are found on average in one half of all homes. They are basically invisible and most people are completely unaware of their existence. They love to eat dead skin cells and secrete waste that is essentially micro-fine dust. Chronic exposure eventually leads to alergic response, that can mimic asthma symptoms. It is often severe, brought on by stress or exertion. Dust mites can be eliminated, it just costs money. Dust mite doo-doo can be cleaned from your residence, it only costs money.

Do your own internet search. Doctors almost never look at the conditions that surround you in your existence. Only an MD specializing in allergies keeps up with this kind of stuff. You might consider seeing one. Not everything is always the result of something being medically wrong with you, per se. Best of luck in your endeavours.

Jim

Immersion pulmonary edema is really a mystery to medicine. It can occur while only swimming, and does not seem to hit any particular demographic, although people with underlying hypertension seem to be overrepresented in the case reports. The condition can range from mild to lethal, and it is my personal suspicion that some unexplained diving deaths may be related to it. Nobody can predict the likelihood of recurrence, but if you have had more than one episode in close proximity, I'd certainly be inclined to think something about your current state of health predisposes you to it.

A thorough cardiac and pulmonary workup is undoubtedly warranted, but may be unrevealing.

One thing that stands out in my mind reported by the OP is wheezing. I did not do that. You couldn't hear me breathing. My breathing was very labored, but I was coughing constantly. I was having trouble communicating to others because I could not stop coughing. The coughing began at the same time it became harder to breathe and progressively got worse as I made my way out of the cave. Within 10 minutes my lungs were almost completely filled with fluids to the point I was spitting up blood. The paramedics assumed I was suffering a heart attack. I had had a routine screening 6 months prior to this and my heart was suppose to be fine. It made no sense and it didn't "feel" like I thought a heart attack would. I kept telling them it is my lungs. It is almost like I could feel them filling with fluid and choking my ability to breathe.
Rob helped me so much. He visited me in the hospital and explained to me patiently everything the doctors were doing and I discussed with him the findings about my thyroid. I had gone to a Regenerative medicine doctor who did blood work on me and said even though my overall thyroid level was ok that the t3 , t4 levels were off and put me on armour thyroid. I went to him for a year and kept going back every three months and never felt better. He kept adjusting my dosage without rechecking my levels until he had me on the highest dose about 6 weeks before this happened. I had not been diving until that weekend since he had increased the dose to that level. The endocrinologist told me to quit taking it because I probably never needed it in the first place and he would recheck my levels in 6 weeks. I got off of it and sure enough, in 6 weeks my levels were normal. I had it tested again the week before I was to dive again and it was still normal. I agree with Rob. The medicine was causing my own thyroid production to shut down because of the introduction to the medicine I did not need.

wow scary stuff. I had never heard of this before

Wheezing can definitely be a symptom of pulmonary edema. We call it "cardiac asthma", and it doesn't response to asthma medications.

In respiratory care, there are times that we would rather hear wheezing in that we at least we know some air is being moved within the lungs. The OP sounds like his case was not as bad as Denise's so he may have been able to move enough air to cause wheezing.

That makes alot of sense. The paramedics told my dive buddy I was within minutes of dying. This article talks about the symptoms and causes of fluid in the lungs. It lists thyroid disease. Out of all the doctors I saw, none of them made the correlation between what happened to me and my thyroid issue. Rob, as a friend in the medical profession and a diver, was the only one who did. Thankfully, my thyroid was not even diseased and by getting off the medication, it is now back to normal.
http://www.ecureme.com/emyhealth/dat..._the_Lungs.asp

You should definitely go to a doctor and explain what happened and get a thorough work up. You may be able to find some answers that will not only allow you to continue to dive, but resolve an issue you don't even know you have and improve the overall quality of your life.

I just heard of this condition this year. After being part of the team with Denise, all I can say is this stuff is scary.

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Originally Posted by denisegg

That makes alot of sense. The paramedics told my dive buddy I was within minutes of dying. This article talks about the symptoms and causes of fluid in the lungs. It lists thyroid disease. Out of all the doctors I saw, none of them made the correlation between what happened to me and my thyroid issue. Rob, as a friend in the medical profession and a diver, was the only one who did. Thankfully, my thyroid was not even diseased and by getting off the medication, it is now back to normal.
http://www.ecureme.com/emyhealth/dat..._the_Lungs.asp

You should definitely go to a doctor and explain what happened and get a thorough work up. You may be able to find some answers that will not only allow you to continue to dive, but resolve an issue you don't even know you have and improve the overall quality of your life.

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I can't take all the credit. My wife (also nurse) and I discussed your case and came up with the conclusion together.