Is fatigue a possible effect after my first 4 dives?

[shara]

I have just completed my first 4 dives for my open water certifications. My normal altitude is a bit over a mile high in colorado. I am currently in Phuket Thailand and am very fatigued after my first 2 days of diving. Is this normal? My courses went very well, I was relaxed and calm.

Thank you.

 

[1_T_Submariner]

I don't know about for everyone but for me it was. It went away for me I can do 3-5 a day for a week but on Thursday I'm pretty tired. This is self service diving (bonaire) from shore moving my own tanks etc... I have no Idea about your physical fitness/activity level and I'm no medical person just giving my personal experience.

Enjoy the rest of your class and Welcome to Scubaboard and Scuba!

 

[1_sl]

Try to get your nitrox cert soon. That'll help based from mine & other divers' experience.

 

[Infantry_169]

Possibly, while you felt calm, you were excited in a good way about the dives. Good things cause stress just like bad things. Stress fatigues us. I am just saying this because I felt the same way after my OW cert dives in NY.

 

[mikeyjoe]

Try to get your nitrox cert soon. That'll help based from mine & other divers' experience.

Ditto - I was bagged as a new diver - new stresses on the body. I am also less tired diving nitrox - good card to get sometime......

 

[mrputtputt]

I dove 4 straight days from last week's vacation. I think it's the sea legs effect affecting me more. The ferry from Cozumel back to Playa was pretty rough. Then the waters had 5 ft swells on my last day's dive. I don't think it's DCS or so as I checked the symptoms and I don't have vertigo. Just a little minor swaying now and then, but it seems to happen really when I look at the laptop. Maybe someone's telling me something (when I was checking email during vacation and day1 here at work). LOL No other issues with driving. Heck I even watched a movie last night. I do feel this and a little fatigue still 3 fulls days after diving (today is my 4th day). I had 26-27 hours from the last dive and my flight time too.

Maybe it's just back to reality type reaction. Because while I was in Cancun, I woke up darn early everyday and naturally with the sunlight (god I miss waking up that way instead of a jarring alarm clock). Didn't feel tired and I did lots of walking daily too (even got some blisters from either pair of sandals).

 

[vjanelle]

Setting up/tearing down equipment, fast ascents, silent bubbles, air vs nitrox, surface swims, dehydration, jet lag, etc, etc.

There could be lots of reasons for it, but it's not terribly uncommon.

 

[1_sl]

Ditto - I was bagged as a new diver - new stresses on the body. I am also less tired diving nitrox - good card to get sometime......

Exactly, some extra oxygen to your body definitely helps.
That's the first specialty I suggest my friend to get. I think now you don't even need to do open water dives to complete it from some agencies.

 

[elan]

I have just completed my first 4 dives for my open water certifications. My normal altitude is a bit over a mile high in colorado. I am currently in Phuket Thailand and am very fatigued after my first 2 days of diving. Is this normal? My courses went very well, I was relaxed and calm.

Thank you.

yeah , definitely I believe you were diving wetsuit , one of the reasons I hate wetsuits is that contact with the water drains out he energy.

I have no such fatigue while diving dry

 

[Mark Michaud SELAUSAR]

Between the mental and physical taskloading, and diving in a medium 800 times more dense then our atmosphere....................you bet. Nitrox does help, but most people are very worn out after their open water cert. It will get much better with experience.