Diving after having little to no sleep the night before

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stanw

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What issues should I be concerned with when diving with little to no sleep the night before (besides obviously slower response time and general body fatigue).

Do you use more air when you are sleep deprived?

Thanks.
 
What issues should I be concerned with when diving with little to no sleep the night before (besides obviously slower response time and general body fatigue).

Do you use more air when you are sleep deprived?

Thanks.


Posted at just after 2 in the morning, classic.

Make sure you're not exhausted, that the conditions are good, and that you're well hydrated, at least that's what I would do.
 
I made a habit of diving right after getting off work at 7am every Saturday morning. The hour long drive out to the dive site wasn't so bad, as long as I had my morning coffee...and the diving usually went OK, but the drive home was a bear!

Never noticed increased air usage, but if I was particularly sleep deprived, I found myself forgetting silly things which got kind of annoying.
 
I just did this the other day - lots of water - get some energy in there as well - I find that during the dives I do great - love diving so much that I don't notice being tired. Following the dives I like to get something like a 5-hour energy shot - that helps me get home :wink:
 
Probably the most dangerous part of your diving day, if you're tired from the night before, would be the driving. Driving tired or exhausted can be the equivalent of driving after a couple of beers.
 
Yeah my sleep routine SUCKS, anywhere from 2 to 4 hours a night is common for me, if anything I find a dive wakes me up (until I'm done), then it's lights out for about 20 min; asd the whole thing starts again.
 
When I took residence at the Roachman Hotel (oops I meant coachman) in Jamestown, RI, you I would almost be guaranteed no sleep as the place was full of activity.

Thankfully the Roachman is now ashes with no injuries during the fire.

The best advise I can give is to eat a good nutritious breakfast and stay well hydrated to counter the effects of no sleep. Try to take moments of silent meditation to quiet the mind. Go slow also and be mime like to avoid exhaustion (set your own pace). I also advise you to submerse your self in water as its quite invigorating.
 
If you are inclined to staying up all night either because you are on the prowl or your job necessitates it explain this to your friendly doctor for a prescription for some type of mild speed to counteract the effects and use as described only. Beats dying on the freeway some afternoon.
 
I made a habit of diving right after getting off work at 7am every Saturday morning. The hour long drive out to the dive site wasn't so bad, as long as I had my morning coffee...and the diving usually went OK, but the drive home was a bear!

Never noticed increased air usage, but if I was particularly sleep deprived, I found myself forgetting silly things which got kind of annoying.

Probably the most dangerous part of your diving day, if you're tired from the night before, would be the driving. Driving tired or exhausted can be the equivalent of driving after a couple of beers.

Some people suggest that a "mild" form of decompression sickness manifests itself as a generalized immune system response. In other words, flu-like symptoms. These include fatigue. Other people have suggested that a lack of sleep increases the chance of getting hit with Type I or Type II DCS.

If you put the suggested increased risk of DCS together with the possibility of sub-clinical DCS, I get a picture that being fatigued before you dive is a bad idea. What do you think?

Also, I assume that everyone agrees fatigue increases the chance of making a mistake while diving. This could be really bad: Fatalities often seem to involve a chain of mistakes, starting with something going wrong and then misdiagnosing the problem or taking teh wrong action or ignoring it when you should take action.

In an environment where mistakes can be fatal, do you want to be sleep-deprived?

If you are inclined to staying up all night either because you are on the prowl or your job necessitates it explain this to your friendly doctor for a prescription for some type of mild speed to counteract the effects and use as described only. Beats dying on the freeway some afternoon.

I would make very, very sure that my doctor had experience with hyperbaric medicine before prescribing me stimulants to be used while diving or just after diving. I am not a doctor, but I would be worried that side effects might interfere with my off-gassing or that the neurological effects of Nitrogen Narcosis might interact with the chemical stimulant in a weird way.
 
I got a good wake-up call (so to speak) about diving when tired, when I was in Florida last year. I was working with an instructor to try to polish my cave skills, and on the second day (which was my fourth straight day of cave diving, staying up too late, and coping with some jet lag) she looked at me and said, "You're tired." I asked, "Why do you say that?" And she answered, "Your technique is falling apart. You're making mistakes you weren't making yesterday. You're not following the tips I'm giving you." And I thought about it, and she was right. I did not dive for the rest of that day.

I work night shift, and I often have opportunities to dive the afternoon or evening after I have worked. But even though I can take a nap and refresh myself somewhat, I don't do those dives, because I'm quite certain my judgment is poor and my ability to think quickly and solve problems is going to be significantly reduced.
 
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