Nauseated during dive

[Blackcrusader]

You could drown if you remove the reg, the debris will come out of the reg exhaust.

When people vomit they will have an involuntary inhale so if your regulator is not in your mouth you could drown
.
Inhaling water isn't much good for your lungs.

 

[chillyinCanada]

After vomiting into your regulator without removing it from your mouth, purge the reg a time or two.

 

[rob.mwpropane]

I'd put money on it that the stress of being new, maybe the surf to an extent all played a part. I remember having a few nauseous dives in the beginning. Don't let it discourage you. Take your time, relax... I promise it gets better.

 

[TMHeimer]

I agree with leaving the reg in your mouth for safety reasons. I have mimicked vomiting by first taking the reg out, faking throwing up, purging the reg then putting it back in. I don't recommend it and have no idea if I could do that without inhaling water in a real situation. I haven't thrown up since about 1982.

 

[scrane]

After my 16 year old son's first ocean dive he turned to me and said he felt sick. I told him we could skip the second morning dive. We sat on the beach and he said he felt better so we did the dive. He never had the problem again. I put it down to stress.

 

[rob.mwpropane]

After my 16 year old son's first ocean dive he turned to me and said he felt sick. I told him we could skip the second morning dive. We sat on the beach and he said he felt better so we did the dive. He never had the problem again. I put it down to stress.

I agree to that. I think it's something so new that our bodies are just trying to get accustomed to doing so much. How fast you descend / ascend. How much gear you wear, where is it all at. How hot is it topside coupled with heavy wetsuits. I'm surprised more people don't get sick their 1st few dives.

Brain on overdrive, but it gets way better.

 

[DogDiver]

If your going to barf underwater be sure to try to let photographers know ahead. Great photo opp fish and photographers will love you.

 

[boulderjohn]

After vomiting into your regulator without removing it from your mouth, purge the reg a time or two.

I only had this happen one time, after the only time I was ever seasick on the surface. Once I had control of things and purged the reg a time or two, I took the reg out of my mouth, took in a little water, swished it around a bit, spit it out, and put the reg back in.

BTW, I thought I was completely OK when I first hit the water. Then my buddy motioned me over to adjust the back of the neck of his wetsuit. I was over his back working, and when I was done, I reached around to show the OK signal. Just as he started to swim away, my seasickness came back with a vengeance, and he swam away from me with a cloud of vomit over the top. He never knew it.

 

[Diverlady13]

I did two shore dives for certification, and got really nauseous under water. Like, almost-puking-into-my-regulator nauseous. I think it was either the salt water I swallowed, the back and forth current, or both. Has anyone else experienced this? What did you do?

Fortunately, our final two certification dives are in a reservoir so I imagine I won't have this problem again. But it sucks if, every time I dive in the ocean, I get sick once I'm under.

I'm going to echo what others said about this potentially being stress related to some extent. Swallowing the salt water and the surge likely made it worse.

That said, if you are prone to sea sickness/motion sickness, I'd suggest looking into taking something like Dramamine (unless you have a medical reason that counter-indicates it). I am very prone to motion sickness and always carry the non-drowsy version of Dramamine with me. Bonine has also proved effective for me. I don't typically need it for shore diving, but if I'm going to be on a boat, I use it. It takes a while to take effect, so it's advisable to take the pill before bed the night before you dive. I take one the night before and one in the morning again so that I feel covered if we're diving all day or picking up late afternoon and night dives.

Also, make sure you're well hydrated and eat something before you head out. Don't drink a bunch of coffee (or anything really acidic) before going out. The acid can exacerbate the symptoms.

 

[chillyinCanada]

I agree to that. I think it's something so new that our bodies are just trying to get accustomed to doing so much. How fast you descend / ascend. How much gear you wear, where is it all at. How hot is it topside coupled with heavy wetsuits. I'm surprised more people don't get sick their 1st few dives.

Brain on overdrive, but it gets way better.

I have a friend who is an avid diver and he's sick on every single dive. He's never overcome it in 30 years.

Myself, I don't get seasick and enjoy surge. I've even been on a rolling dive boat during high wave conditions where most everyone but the crew were barfing. I knew that it could be contagious and so looked away. Easier said than done when the man next to me barfed into his towel. I swallowed hard and looked further away.

Oddly, the only time that I feel a very slight nausea is standing on a dock or a boat that is not discernably moving.