Breathing problems

[Sandie7]

Hello everyone, I am new here, and also very new to diving - actually I'm probably not even "new" yet.

I went for my first dive (a diving baptism) a few days ago, and everything went wrong.

I began having trouble breathing right before I got in the water - I couldn't breath "fully" and felt extremely uncomfortable. I honestly didn't realize I was getting so nervous during the hours we were waiting.

Then my instructor told me to float, then to get my face in the water, mask and regulator on, and simply breathe. I felt a little better, but still couldn't breathe fully, with the regulator or without it. Then we started the dive, differently from the others, almost 1 meter at a time. I tried to concentrate on breathing, on relaxing. I guess I was about 5 minutes under water, maybe more, when I failed to grab the regulator and got water inside my mouth.

I know this sounds completely ridiculous to everyone here, but I didn't know what to do. My instructor tried to put the regulator back in my mouth and I refused. I simply moved to the surface as fast as could, with my instructor pushing air into my mouth. My lungs seem to be exploding. I just knew that the air I needed was at the surface and that was all I cared for.

After this, I couldn't complete the dive - I felt so sick and nauseated, it took me hours to feel a little better. I couldn't stop shivering. And the feeling of losing control so suddenly, the panic, the failure, was devastating. I am still feeling this way, and that's why I am asking for help here.

Later, I understood what had happened - apart from the anxiety. I had no idea how the regulator worked, and to me, when I "lost" it, it couldn't work anymore - it had water inside - if I tried to breathe through it again, I would breathe water. Sounds crazy, I am sure, but under water, in panic and desperately wanting to breathe, there would be no point in explaining that to me ...

My husband says it was a failure in the small briefing session we all (me and 2 others) had, with explanations about the equipment and general rules ...

I am going to try again this Sunday. My instructor is a nice man, and seemed very upset with what happened. He invited me to a new baptism, but this time starting from the beach. I know I have to go - I want to, I want to conquer this fear. But ... I seem to be more scared now than before.

Thank you in advance for anything that you can say about this ...

 

[SKMoss]

Well this is going to be an interesting post to follow.

Not sure what the "diving baptism" is all about.

Can you share more about the process you went through to learn to dive? No classes, no pool work on skills. The instructor just threw gear on you and took you to the bottom?

 

[oldenred]

Take it slow and at your own pace. Don't rush anything. Remember, these same skills you learn now in 5' and 20' might also end up being used in 50-150' where you won't be able to rush to the surface. Keep calm above all else. Until you can do that never go deeper than you can get up without air which is probably 10-20'. Might take a while but keep at it and if you want it bad enough you'll get there. Keep calm!

 

[Sandie7]

A "baptism" is a concept (around here, anyway), to try diving, simply to experiment it. As far as I know (which is not much), you go accompanied with a certified diver, all the way, for about 30 minutes or so. Calm waters, and only a few meters deep.

We all had some explanations about how the equipment worked, but that was all. I thought it was not much, but in a baptism all we need to care about is caring about the "ears" (not sure how to say this) and breathing (slowly and calmly).

 

[tbone1004]

so, not sure how scientific you are, and tomorrow I can draw a few pictures.

Inside of the regulator is a rubber diaphragm that is a one way valve, it only lets things out. Normally that is air, but water is free to go out when you exhale. When you inhale, you create a vacuum on this diaphragm which keeps it closed and the other one way diaphragm which is the big one in the front comes in towards you. Think of it like inhaling on a paper bag, it shrinks. This diaphragm has a plate on it that pushes a lever inside of the regulator. The lever opens a valve which releases the air from the first stage/bottle.

There are two ways of clearing a regulator when it is full of water which should have been explained to you prior to diving. First and preferred way is just by exhaling, exhale normally and this will be enough to clear the regulator of almost all of the water inside of it. Your next breath may be a little wet, but you're not going to be drinking anything, after the second inhale it will be dry again.
The second method is to push your tongue between your teeth to stop the regulator and hit the purge button on the front. This manually pushes on that lever and the pressurized air will blow the water out of the regulator for you to breathe, this is what the instructor was doing when the bubbles were blowing in your face.

If you have access to a pool, the best thing to do is with your mask off, just lay at the surface of the water and breathe through your snorkel, when you calm down, remove the snorkel, exhale bubbles continuously to mimic what you have to do on scuba and then exhale to clear the snorkel. This triggers the mammalian diving reflex which will cause you to relax.

Everyone has different reactions to situations like that and some are downright scary and you experienced a panic attack. The problem with this and the reason your instructor was upset is that this could have caused an arterial gas embolism or a lung over expansion injury, both of which are potentially fatal. This is why rule #1 of scuba is never hold your breath. Your epiglottis is much stronger than your lungs and your lungs can literally explode with the pressure differential in as little as 3' of water. This is a very real risk and people have died in 3' of water from holding their breath.

Now, this isn't something to be scared about, it is just a realization that you have to learn to conquer that fear and keep your self slow and relaxed with good technique. Nothing about diving should ever be rushed, you have all the time in the world, so just relax and everything will be ok.

 

[Dsix36]

Maybe my personal experience will help, maybe not.

My very first time in the pool was very difficult for me. I felt like I could not breathe and had to stand up and remove the regulator several times to catch my breathe. It was not to the point of panic since i could just stand up, but it was still very disconcerting. I had this issue for my first year of diving and learned to deal with it.

I found that I did not trust the equipment and subconsciously would not exhale fully. I always kept air in my lungs out of fear or something. This prevented me from getting the carbon dioxide out of my body and the excess carbon dioxide triggered my urge to breathe. Thus it was a vicious cycle that left unchecked always ended up badly for me.

I could never descend because my lungs were too full to sink and I was forced to add more weight than I needed. This was a crutch rather than a permanent solution.

In time I was able to relax and breathe slow, deep, and exhale fully. This is when things clicked and the fun began for me. Now, i am so relaxed underwater that I have to force myself to think about taking a breathe since I sometimes breathe so slow and shallow for it to become a problem in the other extreme.

Short version - relax and breathe naturally.

 

[TSandM]

This diving experience was doomed before you got in the water. You were already short of breath from nervousness, before you ever got there, and it's clear that either your instructor did not realize that, or did not care. You are clearly not someone who can be put through a short, superficial briefing, and have any fun at all in the water.

When we start our students, we do the swim skills first, so we see if they are comfortable in the water. Then we take them to the shallow end and spend probably a half hour working with mask and snorkel skills, until we are sure they have airway control and can blast clear a snorkel and clear a mask. Only then do they put on scuba gear and go underwater.

I think you need a much slower and more patient approach.

 

[industrious95]

Just a thought - were you wearing a wet suit? Was it too tight? That can create a hard to breathe sensation.

 

[Incident]

I have never experienced anything like what you described, so I cannot offer much in the way of direct relation, but one recommendation I can make...

Spend the next several days prior to your next dive visualizing in your mind how you want to feel (comfortable, relaxed, taking full deep breaths, calm, etc.). Do so in a relaxed state of mind. As you visualize the dive, if at any point you begin to feel agitated, anxiety, etc., focus on relaxing again.

If when you get back out in the water (or even before you get there), you feel the anxiety, recall how you calmed yourself down when on land and not diving.

You would be amazed at how helpful it can be to play out in your mind, in advance, your desired outcome, and then make it happen when presented the chance to do so in a real life scenario.

Diving is fun, and can be very relaxing. Visualize it that way in advance and then experience it that way in the water.

If it helps, breathe through a snorkel at home for a while. The feeling of the mouth piece, the sound of the air, etc. can really help you add a sense of realism to the visualization process.

Hope this helps and that you have a good experience next time.

 

[PhatD1ver]

When I was in my teens, I thought I was half fish, I freedived like nobodies business... but later in life, I continued to develop a renewed fear of the water, that I attribute to a near drowning in my early teens... when I first started diving, I experienced this very uncomfortable feeling you describe, and I admit I almost bolted for the surface both in the pool, and during my DSD dive...

I knew I needed to overcome it, and like Incident says, I found a visualization technique that helped me overcome it.... in my case, it was visualizing my instructor, who used very smooth motions and signs to teach each skill, think of an octopus with their arms swaying from the base to the tip in the way his arms and hands moved. Since, I've haven't experienced that feeling much as I've knotched each dive... and I'm, actually very comfortable in the water now.