overexertion

I'm currently taking a suba class and the other day I was doing pool exercises. The first exercise was to do dive and do a lap and a half around the pool as fast as you can and then go to the bottom of the pool. As I finished doing my exercise I felt like I was going to die. I was breathing faster than the regulator was releasing air, my heart was pounding like you wouldn't believe. I was so scared. I was so close to pulling the plug and go towards the surface but me being the safety freak that I am I said to myself just relax breath hard and it will pass. So I did and after about 5 minutes I began to breath normaly and mind you the pool was only 8 feet deep. I could just imagine how it would feel at 60 or 80 feet. This is a feeling I would not like to experience ever again. I'm not the type of person who is known to panic but boy was I close.

For all you experience divers out there are there any execises that I can do to develop my lungs and my stamina. I'm not going to let this experience deter me from diving. My main goal is to become a safe diver. What advice can you give me to become a better diver.

Read this post:

http://www.scubaboard.com/t33188/s.html

It may very well be that your overexertion triggered too much CO2 buildup which makes it feel like you cant get enough air.

steve

Thank you for responding

Is there anything that I can do.

Hi there Scubajay,
I have never posted before but I thought I would tell you what I did. I had two "panic" attacks while I was going thru open cert. The first was in the pool doing sort of like what you were doing and the second was swimming out from shore before dropping down. It felt like I would never be able to breath a normal breath again. What the DM told me to do was stare at my finger and breath as slow as possible. He said the reason to stare at finger was to keep your mind on that one task. That really helped just for focus and I also realized that I could not get a good breath in my 7mm. I went to the next larger size and it helped tremendously. I think I was nervous and that just went away with dives.
I have never had a panic attack since and I have dived about 60 dives. Oops sorry this is so long, good luck
ut:

This was a very informative post.

Thank you very much.

Your going to have to learn to set a pace that is in line with your cardio fitness level.

As cardio fitness improves you can increase your workload...

You should never allow yourself to get to the point of overbreathing the rig (what happened, you can not catch your breath...)

Start slow and work your way up gradually... Stck with it!!

Just one more reason to stay in shape!

Jeff Lane

Jeff,

You are right about the cardio fitness. Every diver should make this part of their daily routine.

Thank you for the advice

Keep in mind that the first part of the gas you suck from the reg is co2. It's a small amount left over from your exhale. If you are taking short fast breaths, you are getting more co2 than if you are taking normal workload breaths.

The co2 builds up and your muscles start fighting for oxygen. You breath faster to try and get the oxygen that your muscles need. But since you are in oxygen dep you breath fast and shallow.

You are then in a vicious battle between what your body says and what your brain says.... and your brain at that point is usually wrong because panic has started to set in..:wacko:

The solution is what you were taught in class about breathing.

I've had it a couple times underwater and what i did was just stop and relax. The best solution to that problem is to get the CO2 levels down to a reasonable level which requires just breathing normally. If you're with a buddy, just get their attention and let them know you're having issues and just to stop and hold there for a little bit. Its hard to breathe normally when you're borderline panicked but breathing deeply will be the best way to get over it as fast as possible. Its important though to stop all exertion at that point or you wont be able to catch up with your breathing. Its good that you experienced it shallow and that you've gotten over it underwater - you'll be able to use that next time if it ever happens to you again. Just tell yourself, i've gotten through this before and its only temporary and it may help you think through it. The very best solution is to try not to exert yourself in the first place to get into that condition. If you recognize the feeling coming on earlier next time, you'll be able to catch it earlier and take care of it before it escalates as well.

I think this happens to more people than might admit it. Theres no question its no fun. Seems like you handled it appropriately though if you wanted to work through it (dont forget you were at most seconds away from the top if you were in an 8 foot pool).

steve

One of the best things you can do is to simply go to the gym regularly. Do some sort of intense cardio for at least 30 mins a day. Lifting weights 3 times a week is also a great idea.

You'll get more comfortable underwater as you dive more.