How much easier is Nitrox 32% / EAN32% on your body?

[Grizz1288]

Not a ton of experience with Nitrox yet, but I can attest that after doing multiple multi-dive days in a row, I tended to get a headache after the first few dives with air, no such headaches have occurred on Nitrox. There could be a plethora of different factors involved here but just my personal experience so far.

Cheers!

 

[dewdropsonrosa]

After the first morning dive in Cozumel last Friday, I had a horrible headache (that I'd had from the night before but a little less pronounced before the dive) and I had gotten a bit motion sick floating on the surface after the dive. Bottom depth was around 80-85 FSW and dive time was roughly 45 minutes or so on air. I felt bad enough after that I opted not to make the second dive that morning, instead sitting on the boat and trying to relax as best I could with the pitching and rolling, which was fairly normal. After getting back to shore I talked to the dive operator and explained that I'd called my 2nd dive due to a serious headache (which was at that point near migraine status) and it was explained to me that I should've switched to Nitrox because the increased O2 in the mix (the average of all tanks tested was 30%) would actually help ease my headache and make me feel a bit better. It sounded like it made sense but without having tested it, I don't know if it would've worked or not. So is there any truth to that? Would diving EAN actually help with a headache due to the increased O2 content?

Firstly, I think skipping the dive when you had a severe headache was an excellent decision. Diving safely requires full attention and effort (especially if sh-- hits the fan) and that's hard to do with an aura, nausea, or throbbing brain-veins.

Secondly, I can offer anecdotal evidence on headache improvement, dependent on the cause of the headache. A recreational diver on a recent charter ended up doing a bounce dive to 100' due to equipment issue that required immediate ascent. Even though he observed a safe ascent rate, he hyperventilated due to the stress and developed a headache (likely due to CO2 retention). After the equipment issue was fixed, he decided against going back down. Somebody offered him an EAN50 deco bottle and after ten minutes, he reported that the headache was gone.

I can't think of any mechanism where oxygen administration would make a difference for a migraine headache or one caused by blunt-force trauma (tank to the head, ladder to the head, etc.)

 

[Graeme Fraser]

I have a question regarding Nitrox vs Air and how it makes you feel. After the first morning dive in Cozumel last Friday, I had a horrible headache (that I'd had from the night before but a little less pronounced before the dive) and I had gotten a bit motion sick floating on the surface after the dive. Bottom depth was around 80-85 FSW and dive time was roughly 45 minutes or so on air. I felt bad enough after that I opted not to make the second dive that morning, instead sitting on the boat and trying to relax as best I could with the pitching and rolling, which was fairly normal. After getting back to shore I talked to the dive operator and explained that I'd called my 2nd dive due to a serious headache (which was at that point near migraine status) and it was explained to me that I should've switched to Nitrox because the increased O2 in the mix (the average of all tanks tested was 30%) would actually help ease my headache and make me feel a bit better. It sounded like it made sense but without having tested it, I don't know if it would've worked or not. So is there any truth to that? Would diving EAN actually help with a headache due to the increased O2 content?

And to keep this on topic....I have noticed no decrease in tiredness from diving EAN vs Air over multiple dives.

CO2 retention could've have been the issue. Were you diving FFM? Not saying that was the cause, but could the dead air space have contributed?

 

[Addicted2H2O]

CO2 retention could've have been the issue. Were you diving FFM? Not saying that was the cause, but could the dead air space have contributed?

For most of my rec dives I do typically dive a FFM, yes. But as I stated my headache started the evening before, I believe as a result of multiple factors to include, sleep deprivation (30 minutes in more than 24 hours), lots of back and forth motion from tides on a shallow dive Thursday afternoon after I arrived, and lack of caffeine the morning of the dive since I do have somewhat of a dependency on it. I have no doubt that the increased pressure from diving and possibly the dead airspace in the mask contributed that that some, too. And I believe motion sickness made it exponentially worse since I don't do well floating on the surface before/after a dive, especially in warmer waters, which I believe had bottom temps of roughly 85F. I was able to stave off the headache with some rest, food, and a good amount of Ibuprofen come time for the night dive. The water seemed to be considerably cooler, too, which I think helped some too. But still, I did that first dive and all successive dives on air. Two fairly deep dives Saturday morning (94FSW bottom 1st and 75FSW 2nd on the Felipe Xicotencatl) and no headache or nausea at all, both diving my FFM. So I can't conclusively say my FFM contributes to that but I certainly can't rule it out either. I'd have to go back and dive a standard mask & reg setup for additional qualitative data.

 

[scubadada]

...Even though he observed a safe ascent rate, he hyperventilated due to the stress and developed a headache (likely due to CO2 retention)...

Hyperventilation does not usually lead to CO2 retention. Think anxiety attack and breathing into a paper bag

 

[dewdropsonrosa]

Poor choice of words on my part. The issue is that his breathing pattern most likely contributed to CO2 retention.

 

[rjack321]

Poor choice of words on my part. The issue is that his breathing pattern most likely contributed to CO2 retention.

Or the FFM with larger than a normal 2nd stage's dead air space.

I don't get the interest in FFM, especially in someplace like Cozumel. If you need one for comms or contaminated water sure use it. If you are just going for a recreational bimble its a whole lot of complications for little value. (ditto for doing a 45min 60ft CCR dive lol)

 

[Sevenrider860]

You really should go back and look at those studies that DAN references. They are hardly compelling. As much as I like and respect DAN, it serms to me they are cherry-picking and overstating the evidence to bolster their opinion.

@tursiops
I have not looked at the methodologies DAN used or the demographic variation of their test subjects for these studies. If you feel they were invalid I respect that opinion.

My memories of the Scientific Method date to schooling 40+ years ago! I assume that DAN would conduct studies following established norm and procedures. I am not seeing where DAN gains an advantage if divers use air versus nitrox, so I would be surprised if there is a preconceived bias against nitrox in the studies. But I don’t have knowledge or basis to state there is no bias.

Maybe we need NEDU to run these studies!

 

[tbone1004]

@Sevenrider860 I doubt you will get them to run anything like that. They don't particularly care, so someone would have to fund it other than them. No valid scientific reason to study it.

 

[outofofficebrb]

I don't care what others or DAN says on the matter...it is a fact that I feel different after nitrox dives than air dives, and in a good way. It isn't psychological because this is something I "heard happens" - this was a discovery I made on my own prior to discovering Scubaboard, etc., and I had enough of a sample set (even using the same dive site with similar conditions) to gather this. It isn't up for debate as I know how I feel and how I prefer to feel. I don't care what others choose to dive unless you are my buddy. Mr. OOO tends to get headaches after repetitive diving on air, but does not experience this with nitrox, strangely. By repetitive, we go 20-30 at a time but he sees this only after a few.