Any tips for a noobie?

[myw824]

Hey!
I am VERY new to this world - still need to complete my last confined dive and open water dives for PADI certification. I had been wrong in thinking I would love it from the start. As soon as I got underwater, I felt some fear and a feeling that I would guess claustrophobics feel in tight spaces. My husband, who is an advanced open water diver, wants this to be "our thing" - traveling the world and diving together. I would love that to happen. As the first training weekend went on, I definitely got more comfortable, more buoyant, and started having fun! I still feel like a lot of the comfort comes with being able to surface in an instant if needed.
I am not at all claustrophobic and my husband feels like I had issues for a couple reasons that can easily be overcome - I had to wear 2 wetsuits in the pool (shorty over a 7/5mm full body because I was shivering) and the first day we had to skip lunch before the pool sessions and I was likely exhausted, also making me feel breathless. I dunno - I just felt like it was hard to breathe and was even disappointed when they checked my regulator only to tell me that it was breathing just fine. My ribs felt sore with breathing for a few hours after, again because I feel like I had to put such an effort into breathing.

I plan to finish my last confined dive in early April and then do my open water dives in St. Thomas at the end of April. I plan to get my own wetsuit and my husband thinks it will be much better in 79-80 degree tropical waters and I won't have to wear 2 wetsuits!

Any tips for me? Can my issues be overcome? I do not feel that I am being forced into this - I just hoped it would come more naturally.

Any thoughts would be so appreciated. I just want to be like one of you!!

M

 

[uncfnp]

I have always been very active and love new experiences and challenges and had been swimming since I was 4. I am very comfortable in the water and expected no problems leaning to dive. I have absolutely no claustrophobia. But from day one in the pool I would feel like I could not get enough air from the regulator. Intellectually, I knew I was breathing just fine. In fact, I knew that I was hyperventilating. I recognized this so forced myself to work through it. It was bad enough that I briefly questioned if I could continue and I never give up on a problem! It took awhile but by the end of the pool sessions this feeling had resolved and now "I'm a fish."

Don't give up or focus to heavily on the sensation. Try to relax and take slow easy breaths. And if you haven't yet, talk to your instructor about it. Your husband, with his expectations, my unintentionally be adding to your stress.

BTW welcome to the wonderful world under the waves!

 

[hroark2112]

Don't go to open water until you're comfortable in the pool. If it takes a few extra pool sessions, do it. It's totally worth it for your comfort & safety.

There is NO shame in extra practice. If you truly want to do it, just take it slow and you'll learn to get comfortable.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Some anxiety is normal. Judging by your post I'm going to hazard an opinion. You need a suit that fits properly and I'll bet some if not most of that hard to breathe feeling goes away. Wetsuit fit is critical and a poorly fitting suit can soon make the best diver a miserable, uncomfortable wreck. I can wear a BC two sizes too big or too small. Deal with a poorly fitting mask, or use a less than great reg - but if my suit doesn't fit - forget it. I want out.

 

[Imla]

Stop for a second, and think about what you are doing...

You are getting submerged in an environment that is just as hostile towards survival as outer space...

Your instincts are finely tuned from birth to avoid potentioal dangers and threats to survival. It is only natural to feel some of the feelings that you describe.
In my opinion, the fact that you are aware of them, yet manage to work through, is a very good sign of your ability to control responses to fear.
You stop, think, and act... which is good for a diver.

My first open water dive was in a drysuit, with thick undergarments, in the summer in Norway. We had 27C in the air, and 17C in the water. It was hot and claustrophobic on land even before I got my mask on. Getting under water made it better though.
We all have some issues that we need to work on. In part due to our instincts that we are not supposed to be under water in the first place.

Regarding the hard-breathing regulator, as a previous poster commented, you may have been hyperventilating. Your wetsuit can also have been too tight across your chest, and caused resistance to breathe even if the reg functioned properly. Most people find diving a lot more fun with own gear.

Diving in warmer water will most likely feel easier, and less constricting.

Good luck on getting certified. Don't give up.

 

[myw824]

I am so happy already to have joined this forum! I work with patients everyday and know that if the underlying issue is anxiety, no amount of teaching I do will get through to them until the anxiety is managed. I need to trust my gear, and I sure as hell need to get a wetsuit that fits!
After reading your posts, I am SO encouraged. I love to hear that others had a hard time in the beginning, it really is reassuring.
I will NOT give up and soon enough, I will be a diver. Keep the suggestions coming!

 

[TSandM]

We are not programmed to have to work to breathe. Normal breathing is so close to effortless that we don't even notice doing it. ANYTHING that increases work of breathing is noticeable, and rental regs are generally not tuned to breathe really easily, because it makes them more likely to freeflow. When you add a constricting suit, you have an uncomfortable student.

I'm surprised they put you in that much neoprene. Was the pool not heated? I made it through my OW class in a 3 mil wetsuit, and I'm a major cold wuss. (Of course, nowadays, when teaching, I'm in a 5 mil.)

If your ribs hurt, something was definitely not right. Diving shouldn't do that.

 

[theduckguru]

What was the temperature of the pool where you were training?

 

[myw824]

Darn, I don't know the answer to that. I do know that my husband was in 0.5 mm full body and felt cold and 2 other men were in shorty's and had to wear thicker shorty's the second day.

---------- Post added March 19th, 2013 at 12:10 PM ----------

thanks for your reply! I really do hope most issues are resolved with a better fitting wet suit - and only ONE suit!

 

[Bratface]

Welcome to St Thomas when you arrive in April. The water temp should be 78-80 degrees by then. We have no thermocline and since you live in Philly, you will probably be plenty warm in a 3mm suit. The sun will be shining so you will be warm during the boat ride and surface interval.

I wasn't a comfortable new diver either but I loved the sport. There is much more to see in the ocean than in the pool so you will be enjoying that and not concentrating on feeling cold or too anxious.