DC53
Guest
Ok, here it is. At this point I continue to have a choking or gagging problem. I thought it would go away in time but at this point I have over 100 dives, well more than half in freezing cold low visibility water, frequently near or below 100 feet, some time in limited overhead environments, all comfortable and "no problemo". And I still have the problem.
Usually it takes a while to get going but then feels exactly like a gagging sensation. (I have a very strong gag sensation normally with even light pressure on the back of the tongue; doctors hate looking down my throat. Also I have a nasty chronic post nasal drip that even ENT has not been able to get rid of.) The dry heaves will start and only with the most intense concentration can I get it to go away without actually bringing something up. I am not nervous or challenged when it occurs in terms of the dive itself.
Interestingly it is more on the ascent when I can feel my chronic post nasal drip acting up a bit more and I cant swallow it like I do normally. So I turn down the flow on the secondary reg hurry before I start gagging! and remove it and swish some ambient water and swallow a little. Most of the time this gets rid of it for a while with only 3 or 4 boughts of dry heaves. I'm not out of the woods yet, sometimes it may start up again.
Dry heaving uncontrollably for a couple minutes and then being at risk of it again in a while is not only painful and disconcerting, but I am in no mood or shape to handle emergencies or task loading if this were to occur by chance at the same time so there is a safety issue here as well as a comfort one. It is unrelated to dive stress, being as likely/unlikely to occur in beautiful lazy clear warm water as in diving the murky 95 foot bottom of a freezing quarry under lights in low visibility and maybe going inside or underthings while I'm down there. More often going up and more often later in the dive; those are the only factors I can identify.
For what it is worth, I am otherwise completely comfortable and enjoy being underwater; it's almost a (legal) high for me. Also, have good buoyancy control for the most part, stay practiced with my skills, and have a SAC rate consistently under 0.5, usually around 0.45 SCFM if all is going well.
So I am wondering if I should go to a full face mask. The ability to briefly breathe in through the nose, momentarily close the mouth, and then swallow secretions in the back of the throat takes this problem away, reliably, predictably and invariably. I am tech savvy in general, do not mind being underwater with mask removed (except for the blast of icy water), and can afford any of the commonly available FFMs.
Is this a way to go or is there something I am missing. No one I speak to seems to know what to do. Any ideas? If I go with a FFM, any recommendations on models (other than the one with the separate face mask where you cant inhale through the nose before swallowing secretions?) Does the Ocean Reef Neptune Predator deserve the good reviews? Other ideas entirely?
Thanks!
Usually it takes a while to get going but then feels exactly like a gagging sensation. (I have a very strong gag sensation normally with even light pressure on the back of the tongue; doctors hate looking down my throat. Also I have a nasty chronic post nasal drip that even ENT has not been able to get rid of.) The dry heaves will start and only with the most intense concentration can I get it to go away without actually bringing something up. I am not nervous or challenged when it occurs in terms of the dive itself.
Interestingly it is more on the ascent when I can feel my chronic post nasal drip acting up a bit more and I cant swallow it like I do normally. So I turn down the flow on the secondary reg hurry before I start gagging! and remove it and swish some ambient water and swallow a little. Most of the time this gets rid of it for a while with only 3 or 4 boughts of dry heaves. I'm not out of the woods yet, sometimes it may start up again.
Dry heaving uncontrollably for a couple minutes and then being at risk of it again in a while is not only painful and disconcerting, but I am in no mood or shape to handle emergencies or task loading if this were to occur by chance at the same time so there is a safety issue here as well as a comfort one. It is unrelated to dive stress, being as likely/unlikely to occur in beautiful lazy clear warm water as in diving the murky 95 foot bottom of a freezing quarry under lights in low visibility and maybe going inside or underthings while I'm down there. More often going up and more often later in the dive; those are the only factors I can identify.
For what it is worth, I am otherwise completely comfortable and enjoy being underwater; it's almost a (legal) high for me. Also, have good buoyancy control for the most part, stay practiced with my skills, and have a SAC rate consistently under 0.5, usually around 0.45 SCFM if all is going well.
So I am wondering if I should go to a full face mask. The ability to briefly breathe in through the nose, momentarily close the mouth, and then swallow secretions in the back of the throat takes this problem away, reliably, predictably and invariably. I am tech savvy in general, do not mind being underwater with mask removed (except for the blast of icy water), and can afford any of the commonly available FFMs.
Is this a way to go or is there something I am missing. No one I speak to seems to know what to do. Any ideas? If I go with a FFM, any recommendations on models (other than the one with the separate face mask where you cant inhale through the nose before swallowing secretions?) Does the Ocean Reef Neptune Predator deserve the good reviews? Other ideas entirely?
Thanks!