Sick underwater

[neve]

Hi,

I'm a new diver and has logged 14 dives since January. Out of those 14, five were problematic (not to mention embarassing) for me: I got violently sick uke: when I reach 5m to do my safety stop! ;-0 Don't ask me how I did it, it was not pretty.

My instructor/divermaster thought it was because of the surge at 5m (10ft) which caused me to bob up and down. I personally doubt this, because I could already feel my stomach turning in deeper waters.

The only way I can avoid this from happening is to dive with a totally empy stomach. Imagine having to deal with hunger pangs until all the dives for the day are complete! :croctears: I usually would just give up after the third dive for the day because I'd be so weak from hunger and exhaustion. I had to opt out of doing night dive during my AOW because of this.

Funny enough, this never happened during my 4 OW cert dives.

Does anybody ever experienced this or have any idea why? I've tried eating less (breakfast/lunch) before diving, but I still ended up feeding the fishes again and again!

I'm prone to seasickness, but I thought seasickness only happens on the surface?

I love diving, but I'd love it even more if I can do it without fasting. All comments are welcome.


desperate & embarassed neve

 

[Welshman]

Neve

That's bad luck. Are you sure you didn't have a bug of some sort. It seems odd that you didn't have a problem when you were obtaining your certificate.

Were these boat dives, and if so, how long was the trip out? What were the sea conditions? You say you are prone to sea sickness so could it have been the damage was done on the way out to the dive site?

I'm not a great fan of boats. When I'm diving from a boat I make sure that on the trip out I sit as close to the middle as I can and focus on something which is moving with me, for example I read a book and ignore the sea. Then I'm OK. One problem with boats is when you see the movement of the boat against the horizon - this can upset your balance mechanism and induce sea sickness. If you're not feeling well before you dive I'm not surprised that you might be sick during the dive.

Hope this helps.

Regards

 

[Wendy]

Whenever I would do a boat dive in the ocean I wouls start to feel sick on my safety stop and the minute my head would break the srface I would get the dry heaves (only threw up once). I figured it was fro the bobbing up and down on the stop (feeling the motion of the ocean more at this depth). tried different things like making sure I wasn't looking up at the boat moving on the surface when i was on my stop, focusing on something that was down like my buddy's fins, staring at my gauages, etc. This all seemed to help. I don't get sea sick on boats, I'd be 100% better once I was on the boat, but I would start to feel a little bad on my surface interval (which I call surface interval sickness). Now I take Bonine. One the night before I dive and one as I'm getting on the boat and I'm the happiest person on the boat! Maybe you should try this. I do think you should eat something, diving on an empty stocmach does cause me nausea. Just stay away from greasy foods and stick to dry foods non-salty foods.

Hope this helps you and don't worry, one day you will over come this.

 

[Viv]

I have a very similar problem. I can't eat before I dive. In my case it is very unlikely that it is seasickness because it happens during shore dives and quarry dives as well. I just can't eat and dive - when I do I start to burp during the dive and by the time I am doing my safety stop I feel like throwing up. Makes me wonder whether I am swallowing air while breathing through my reg.

Sorry that I don't have any solutions, but I feel your pain

 

[SeaGypsy]

The first year I started diving I got seasick a lot, but it seems the more diving I do the less prone I am to it.

When I haven't been out in a while or if I expect rough conditions I do take Bonine the night before and the morning of the dive.

There are many other tips for avoiding sickness and everyone seems to have different things that work for them. Mine are: don't eat a heavy dinner the night before, eat lightly in the morning - I like pretzels, don't drink orange juice or anything acidic, and don't sit where you're breathing fumes from the engine.

Good luck.

 

[DennisW]

I really don't have the problem, but I do know you can heave through your regulator. Like you said, it's not pretty, but it doesn't effect the operation. I have only gotten queasy during prolonged heavy seas and when there is diesel smoke coming back into the cabin. I found that I needed to eat a substancial meal to keep from getting queasy. A light meal was not sufficient. Hope you find the fix for your problem. Diving is just too much fun to get sick while your doing it.

 

[Green Mountain]

Fortunately,I've never have been sea sick. I always eat a lot before I dive. I eat alot after too! That's probably why my 6m wet suit looks like 2m after I squeeze into it.

 

[neve]

Many thanks for the replies, folks. It's comforting to know that I'm not the only one and that I don't have to give up diving.

Welshman,
I checked my logbook, and the first time I got ill was on my sixth dive. It was a boat dive and I had been feeling green around the gills because the sea was very choppy that day. I also got sick on the next dive.

There was no incident in the next three dives, probably because one was an early morning boat dive and the sea was not so choppy. The other two were dives in a controlled environment (the Underwater World shark tank), so it was an almost perfect diving condition.

The last three times I got sick were all shore dives, and there was light surge at the 5m (10ft) safety stop. When I surfaced, I was dry-retching for about 5 minutes or so.

I really can't pinpoint the cause... it's so frustrating!

Wendy,
What's in Bonine and is it a prescription drug? I have tried taking Dramamine half an hour before a dive and it didn't seem to work if I have food in my tummy. It only works on an empty stomach.

Has anybody tried the Scopolamine patch (Transderm-Scop)? Does it work? It's not available here in Singapore but I may get it on my next trip to US.

Thanks again everyone for your comments. More comments/advice are welcome.

neve

 

[JamesK]

is to pop a couple of Tums before a day of diving. I have really bad stomach problems, and a lot of food gets me very sick. I can get a very sour stomach, and the Tums help a lot. I do not have the throwing up problem, but it is not comforting to be in a cave and have to use the restroom.

I have no negative side effects with the Tums, and they are always good for a little extra calcium.

 

[seaangel]

I know how you have felt. I was never sick on or in the water until I went on my first boat dive with my dive shop. I have grown up on and around the ocean, been on many boat trips and never was sick. On the first dive I became queasy on the surface interval, I had taken a Bonine that am, but took another Dramamine during the surface interval. It subsided and the rest of my trip was good. This past January I went to my Dad's with my sister, brother in-law and brother in Key West to dive. I was sick the minute we stopped the boat and fed the fish too, everytime. Bonine the night before and morning of our dives did not help. I had a patch prescription with me so during our day off, I put one on for the next day. It worked. In Febuary I dove in Mexico wore one I never felt bad, so when I went on my liveaboard trip in March I wore one and again never was sick. Good luck. I know even though my patches have worked I still think about am I going to get sick this time or be able to have fun.
At any rate I kept on going cause I love to dive so much.