Christi with Blue XTSEA Takes a TypeII DCS Hit (+)

[cicopo]

Good to hear that you're doing well & like everyone else I'm learning as we go through the updates. Work on the rest & recovery part, do the internet part when bored & time allows.

Larry

 

[Merfman]

Found this thread while in Key West last week but didn't have the energy to read it all on my phone. .. first off, big thanks to Christi for posting her experiences and I really hope you get well soon!

Thanks to everyone as well for their discussion regarding hydration. I've raced offroad motorcycles for the last 25 years and all this info is directly in line with what I've learned there... hydrate or die.

Thanks again Christi, I'm looking forward to your e-post! Get well!

 

[1KWIK_69]

Thanks to everyone as well for their discussion regarding hydration. I've raced offroad motorcycles for the last 25 years and all this info is directly in line with what I've learned there... hydrate or die.

I can back that up +1,000,000 !

When I use to race motorcross in the Summer, I would get severe arm pump and sweated buckets. My entire body would hurt from one weekend to the next. Switching from Mountain Dew to Gatorade was the smartest thing I ever did! The Cafein in MD was a killer, and even plain water didn't hold a candle to Gatorade or other sports drinks when it came to keeping my electolytes balanced so I wouldn't cramp. I found that with sports drinks, I would recover within a couple days instead of a week, and at the end of a race I no longer needed to pry my fingers loose from the hand grips.

Diving isn't even close to as stressfull on our bodies, but on really hot Summer days in CZM with lots of sweating involved, I still imagine that sports drinks might be better than plain water, at least in some cases.

 

[greylion]

I haven't been on the board in a couple of weeks and never knew this, I'm glad you're recovering. That's a scary event, don't ask me how i know, but mine was minor compared to you. Best of luck going forward.

Jim

 

[nodakdive]

Wow Christi, really sorry to hear about your hit, and really happy to hear that you're feeling better!! Thanks for posting about it. I truly believe your open honesty will save others from dealing with what you've been through. Thanks for that!!!!

I just got back from a 2 weeks and 2 days dive vacation, which included 9 days in Cozumel, diving
4 dives a day, 2nd and 4th tanks on Nitrox. I have a very conservative computer. I don't push the NDL time on it, I ascend very slowly, and do 5 minute stops at any opportunity. I'm still probably asking for trouble, and I should probably stop. Reading stories like yours is even more impetus to do so. Life is short, dive hard, but not so hard it shortens your life.

When I got trained to dive, in Cozumel, my instructor really stressed staying hydrated and suggested drinking something like Gatoraide in addition to drinking water. His suggestion was that water alone can have a tendency to "go right through you", which is the effect it has on me, but by drinking something like Gatoraide, it tends to "stay in you" a little better. This has been my experience. The shop I dive with is really good about offering water on the boat, both before and after the dives. I'm sure it's probably true of most of the shops on the island. I love this, and it makes me shudder when I see some of the solemn little faces on the boat turning down the water. On this last trip, I actually heard the divemaster tell a guy that he should drink some water, and that peeing in the wetsuit was no big deal. Here here. And I don't mind the solemn little faces looking at me like I'm weird when I down 2 bottles right before we roll.

I'm not a wetsuit pee'er either. But I make it through the first dive ok, in my wetsuit, and I dive without one on the 2nd and 4th tanks. Or I use a long sleeved shorty with a front zip and I unzip it in the middle of the dive or whenever. Luckily, (or not), I'm a big ole bear, and staying warm is usually not a problem. For others, this might not work.

I'm neither a doctor nor a scientist, so I wonder if there's anything to the "stays with you longer" comment, or is it just in my head? FWIW, I've added it up, and before the first dive, I've usually put well over 100 ounces of liquid in. This includes water (about 20oz before breakfast, 20 more on the boat), milk (12oz or more), orange juice (12oz or more), coffee (6oz), and Gatoraide (32oz or more). The bulk, as you can see, is water and Gatoraide. Before the afternoon dives, the coffee, milk and orange juice are substituted with Naranjadas, which I order two at a time with lunch. I'm going to get a T-shirt made that says "Clear and Copious" on it. That's my diving mantra.

Oh, and (Firstdive2005?), I was on a boat with someone staying at the PR. He was in bad shape after the first dive, throwing up through his regulator at the end of the 2nd dive, and we had to pull over 5 or 6 times from the Caleta to the PR for him to be sick. I was seriously worried the guy was going to make it. By the next day, he was right as rain. Don't know if there's any connection or if it was just coincidence, but thanks for posting about your illness. He didn't go, but I had no issue with suggesting to him that he go to the doctor if he wasn't feeling better in short order. The PR is the only place he had eaten. Glad you made it through your bout.

I used to cook in a restaurant where I was the kitchen manager. In the summer, I forbade anyone on the line from drinking anything but water (meaning no soda pop). I got sick of pulling people into the walk-in cooler by their feet. Forcing them drink only water put a quick stop to the pass outs. My silly theory was that pop was loaded with sugar, and it didn't hydrate them as well as the water did. This seems to be at odds with my new "water goes through you" theory. In the kitchen, we sweat so much in the summer that peeing wasn't an issue.

So, does water "go through you" more quickly than slightly more viscous liquids?

Oh, and I can't seem to find neoprene long sleeved shirts. I've asked at dive shops and they don't seem to know where you find them. Any help on that? Thanks!!

-Blair

 

[ggunn]

So, does water "go through you" more quickly than slightly more viscous liquids?

IANAD, but I am degreed in chemistry. I really don't think so.

 

[DandyDon]

Oh, and I can't seem to find neoprene long sleeved shirts. I've asked at dive shops and they don't seem to know where you find them. Any help on that? Thanks!!

Run a google searh for neoprene long sleeve wetsuit and you get lots of options, depending on thickness you want.

Your 4/day with 2 Nitrox sounds prudent to me. The second and fourth dives are often so shallow that I am more likely to use 1 Nitrox on the third tank, right after lunch, as it is often deeper than the previous dive - as this makes the adjust air depth shallower. Boat trips and dives vary tho.

As salty as pee and sweat are, I do like to salt my food heavier when diving.

 

[Brules]

Don I don't want to know how you know just how salty they are!!!!

 

[Craig66]

When I got trained to dive, in Cozumel, my instructor really stressed staying hydrated and suggested drinking something like Gatoraide in addition to drinking water. His suggestion was that water alone can have a tendency to "go right through you", which is the effect it has on me, but by drinking something like Gatoraide, it tends to "stay in you" a little better.

My silly theory was that pop was loaded with sugar, and it didn't hydrate them as well as the water did. This seems to be at odds with my new "water goes through you" theory. In the kitchen, we sweat so much in the summer that peeing wasn't an issue.

So, does water "go through you" more quickly than slightly more viscous liquids?

Oh, an

-Blair

Blair it is a very complex issue. Certainly in people and more specifically children, dehydrated with diarrhea, there is no question that a solution made of water, salt and sugar will correct dehydration. The sugar acts to activate the Sodium pump which in turn leads to water absorption. This is essentially what pedialtye is and in the third world is made by mixing water sugar and salt. However this is not necessarily the case in the case of a diver needing to drink in order to prevent from becoming dehydrated and in that case it is mainly water that needs to be taken in and replaced. At the end of the day as long as large volumes of fluid are passing your incisors you will be fine. If you can drink water that is no doubt best but if you are (as I am) in need of some other fluid vehicle (in my case diet coke) you are still way ahead of the game.

 

[DandyDon]

Don I don't want to know how you know just how salty they are!!!!

Wiki