AbyssalPlains
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I think this is a question for DAN. Should be moved to the diving medicine forum, too.
Underwater Nausea
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Since it sounds like it might be starting during your ascents, another possibility is the fairly common, but surprisingly little-known alternobaric vertigo. Usually easily prevented by equalizing during ascent as well as descent. I prefer passive techniques like jaw-wiggling.
Scroll down to the fourth topic at this URL: Vertigo
Scroll down to the fourth topic at this URL: Vertigo
lmorin
Contributor
RonFrank
Contributor
The OP get's motion sickness at the drop of a pin, so I doubt it is anything other than that. This maybe exacerbated by the fact they are diving some mud hole like Chatfield Res, and there is little in the way of visual references, or visual anything! 
Try various meds. My dad get's seasick, and the patch worked well for him. I think he has to apply this the night before the activity, but I honestly don't remember.
If you truely need/want medical advice, don't just get it here, see a doctor. One that dives would be best, but you have motion sickness in general, and I'd think that is something worth treating as long as that can be done safely.
Try various meds. My dad get's seasick, and the patch worked well for him. I think he has to apply this the night before the activity, but I honestly don't remember.
If you truely need/want medical advice, don't just get it here, see a doctor. One that dives would be best, but you have motion sickness in general, and I'd think that is something worth treating as long as that can be done safely.
Gen San Chris
Contributor
I had a diver who had a similar problem but I put him on Nitrox32 on the next dive and he was fine, maybe thats worth a try!
dry heat diver
Contributor
In addition to the meclazine, ginger tablets are sometimes helpful as well. Some divers I know will sometimes suck on a hard candy like the Jolly Roger during their dives. Just be careful you don't swallow and choke on it. None of those will help if it is a co2 issue.
Deefstes
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Some people are more susceptible to motion sickness than others and to different types of motion. Some get more affected by rolling motion while others are worse affected by lateral motion.
From your description it sounds like you are just particularly susceptible to motion sickness and perhaps particularly so to the types of motion you experience while diving. I would suggest you speak to a medical doctor about it. There are off the shelf medicine you can take but there are also other options that doctors can prescribe. There's even an off-label use of medicine for sufferers of epilepsy which apparently works very well. But speak to your doctor about it, he'd know best.
For what it's worth, I also experienced nasty motion sickness under water when I started diving. I discovered that it was mostly triggered when I roll into funny body positions like being inverted etc. Even now I try not to look towards the surface too much as I still sometimes get a bit vertiginous when doing that. Maybe try to maintain a nice horizontal trim throughout the dive and see if it helps at all.
The one upside of our 'condition' is that you attract all sorts of excited little fish when you hurl under water Been there, done that.
From your description it sounds like you are just particularly susceptible to motion sickness and perhaps particularly so to the types of motion you experience while diving. I would suggest you speak to a medical doctor about it. There are off the shelf medicine you can take but there are also other options that doctors can prescribe. There's even an off-label use of medicine for sufferers of epilepsy which apparently works very well. But speak to your doctor about it, he'd know best.
For what it's worth, I also experienced nasty motion sickness under water when I started diving. I discovered that it was mostly triggered when I roll into funny body positions like being inverted etc. Even now I try not to look towards the surface too much as I still sometimes get a bit vertiginous when doing that. Maybe try to maintain a nice horizontal trim throughout the dive and see if it helps at all.
The one upside of our 'condition' is that you attract all sorts of excited little fish when you hurl under water
Been there, done that.
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I didn't think so? Where did all that come from...?
If his air tasted funny, I hope he'd know to not dive it - but you could still be on the right track. Carbon Monoxide has no smell or taste even tho it can be found with contaminants that do, and it can certainly be a cause for nausea while under. But then I test my tanks with a CO analyzer, after I learned how little many fill station do to prevent CO accidents, and a few death threads. Pocket CO - Miniature Carbon Monoxide Detector and Dosimeter Ask for the new Scuba model.
How would that help? The Nitrox placebo effect...?
Yeah, if CO can be ruled out, that could certainly be it. Poor viz can be a dizzying experience and I once saw an experienced diver severely prone to boat motion illness puke underwater with hundreds of small sponges floating in the current.
I agree the best thing is to seek professional opinion and assistance of a Doctor (dive specialist).
FWIW As prone to motion sickness as you describe yourself to be makes me suspect the problem is related to that and not the gas you are breathing.
When your eyes are seeing one type of movement and your ears are sensing conflicting messages... result... motion sickness. The more pronounced the different messages are the more severe will be the result. That is why focusing on the seaweed or swaying grass or turning upside down effect us more. That is why focusing on the horizon helps while on a boat.
I have to avoid swimming over seaweed or make sure I focus on a diver ahead of me if we are swimming over it much. The other option is to get right down in the stuff and look for critters so it isn't a swaying mass anymore.
The other thing that could be a factor is your neck. If I get in a position where I am tipping my head into an unnaturally high position (usually peering into a crevice or under a ledge)for more than a few minutes I get really bad vertigo when I straighten up or it hit me hard and fast. If you are diving parallel to the bottom you often are tripping your head too far to see ahead of you. I have problems with my neck but this is a problem for some who have never had a neck injury.
People have already mentioned ear issues.
No advice here should take the place of a proper evaluation and discussion with a qualified specialist. The advice here may assist you in asking the right questions esp if you talk to a non dive specialist ...
Good luck .. it is a great sport and well worth the effort to get through these issues...
Yes you can feed the fish through your reg.. just make sure you clean it well after. The thing is.. trying to get to the surface to be sick is risky if you go too quickly for all the reasons they talked about in your dive course but it is also likely to make the nausea worse as well.
FWIW As prone to motion sickness as you describe yourself to be makes me suspect the problem is related to that and not the gas you are breathing.
When your eyes are seeing one type of movement and your ears are sensing conflicting messages... result... motion sickness. The more pronounced the different messages are the more severe will be the result. That is why focusing on the seaweed or swaying grass or turning upside down effect us more. That is why focusing on the horizon helps while on a boat.
I have to avoid swimming over seaweed or make sure I focus on a diver ahead of me if we are swimming over it much. The other option is to get right down in the stuff and look for critters so it isn't a swaying mass anymore.
The other thing that could be a factor is your neck. If I get in a position where I am tipping my head into an unnaturally high position (usually peering into a crevice or under a ledge)for more than a few minutes I get really bad vertigo when I straighten up or it hit me hard and fast. If you are diving parallel to the bottom you often are tripping your head too far to see ahead of you. I have problems with my neck but this is a problem for some who have never had a neck injury.
People have already mentioned ear issues.
No advice here should take the place of a proper evaluation and discussion with a qualified specialist. The advice here may assist you in asking the right questions esp if you talk to a non dive specialist ...
Good luck .. it is a great sport and well worth the effort to get through these issues...
Yes you can feed the fish through your reg.. just make sure you clean it well after. The thing is.. trying to get to the surface to be sick is risky if you go too quickly for all the reasons they talked about in your dive course but it is also likely to make the nausea worse as well.
If you're still feeling like that after you get on dry land, you gotta get that fixed. The worst chronic ralpher I ever knew was a submarine officer who would hurl on sea-and-anchor detail all the way out of port until the sub dived and got past 150'. Then he was fine.
On dives, during the rides on the inflatable, he would be hanging over the side speedpuking, and after splashing, he'd still be at down to maybe 30'. He just kept the reg in and exspewed through it.
Then on the ride back to shore, he'd heave some more. Once on land, after a couple of minutes, he was fine. You have it real bad if you're still out of it on land.
There's a doctor out there who might be able to fix - I guess DAN is a good place to start. Ya figure there's doctors out there who specialize in the butt end of people, there's gotta be some who are into barfology.
Good luck with that.
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