Vertigo in a pool???

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cougar

Contributor
Messages
187
Reaction score
6
Location
northern New Mexico
# of dives
500 - 999
':confined:')
I did a "discover scuba" thingy in a pool in Albuquerque, New Mexico...which although it is at 5,000 feet, it is 2,700 feet lower than where I live. This question is only for curiosity because it never happened again, but at the time I wondered if it would affect my learning to dive.

I had lunch about 12:15. The class started in the afternoon and we didn't get into the pool until 3:30 PM

We messed around with what was very unfamiliar equipment, learned to do mask clearing and ears and eventually ended up at 13 feet laying on the bottom of the pool. I thought this was way cool. Was sorta dispointed when the instructor started to take us gradually to the shallow end of the pool. Had a great time, no problems...swam slowly to the shallow end, stood up (no, not abruptly)...and damn near fell over. Major vertigo, nausea, my daughter said my color was terrible. I had the shakes and my EMT training said this looked a lot like hypoglycemia...but I'd eaten lunch, I was plenty hydrated and this is not a problem I have ever had. I let my daughter drive and an hour later we had dinner...sometime about the time we sat down for dinner I was improving and another hour later I was right as rain..

I've never been seasick and these symtoms have never reoccured, so I have no worries....but I am left with some curiousity as to whether I am the first and only person to get seasick in a swimming pool. **********(':scratch:')
 
I'm doubting hypoglycemia but I'm wondering if possibly you had an ear that wasn't quite equalized or if you had water in contact with an ear drum that affected you.
 
Verigo in the pool is actually not so rare. Sometimes on first experiance u/w one might have a difficult time focusing on the walls of the pool causing vertigo. With repeated exposures you should be able to adjust your vision.
 
I'm not a doctor. This sounds a bit like what my step-mother has experienced.

She sometimes has a sharp drop in blood pressure when she stands up. She describes it as a nauseous, lightheaded feeling. When it is bad, she can even pass out.

Her doctor called it a positional hypotension, and said it related to blood vessels in her legs failing to constrict and force blood up toward her head.

If it continues to bother you, please see a doctor about this. Treatments may be available, and it's better to check it out to be safe.
 
Drew--the condition you mention is what I know as orthostatic hypotension. Cougar seems to indicate this is not the case since she didn't stand up abruptly. You can also experience this by sitting up to quickly from a lying postion(this would apply more to your stepmother than you personally) Its pretty amazing how much of a drop in blood pressure there is. In my experience this seems to affect more women than men.
 
Not just standing up quickly but from a transition from a fully supported position in the water to a vertical position out of the water.

The advice now in rescue is to lift people out of the water in a horizontal position.

The question for Cougar, are you sure you were well hydrated? Dehydration makes it worse.

michael
 
The horizontal position when taking unconcious victims out of the water has been around for a long time, however becaus of lack of knowledge seldom practiced. This is to prevent blood rapidly draining from the vital organs and the brain. To lift a victim vertically from the water is like ripping a patient out of shock trousers.
 
Originally posted by pipedope
Not just standing up quickly but from a transition from a fully supported position in the water to a vertical position out of the water.
michael


Hydration...I tend to pay attention to...but the nausea and vertigo came on standing in water up to my neck...in fact it took me a bit to get out of the pool because the feeling was so weird. This does not seem to be an ongoing problem, it is just a bit of a riddle. As a medical professional, I tend to get very curious about things I haven't encountered before. It was also interesting that it took about an hour and a half to resolve and then vanished totally. If only a had a kit with me I would have checked my BGL, BP and a couple of other quick diagnostics. If an ear could have caused this...that could be a possibility. I was slower to get the hang of correct ear clearing than anything else. I've aprpeciated the speculation on this post. I try to learn from all mistakes. Thanks :confused:
 

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