Enhanced air...does it help fatigue?

[Painter]

I am new to diving, 12 dives total.

I took a trip to Key Largo recently and planned on doing a two tank trip in the morning and a two tank trip in the afternoon for the three days that I was there. At the end of the first day, though, I was so wiped out that I didn't even want a beer (very rare for me). I only did the morning trips for the next two days and was just fine. Though I enjoyed myself I was a bit disappointed because one of my goals was to get in as many dives as possible to build confidence and experience.

I read somewhere that using enhanced air can lower the fatigue felt at the end of a dive. I wonder if I would have been able to handle the four dives in one day if I had been using nitrox?

Some background. I am almost 65, a bit overweight, but in reasonably good condition...excercise bike three times a week...and otherwise in good health except for a physical disability that doesn't affect my ability to swim (but the bike is the only good way for me to get aerobic excercise). Maybe just putting in more time at the gym would be the answer. Opinions?

 

[Landstander]

I haven't noticed a bit of difference in fatigue level, between dives using ordinary air vs nitrox. Can't speak for anyone else, naturally.

 

[AJ]

There's no scientific evidence of less fatigue using EAN. You being exhausted has probably more to do with inexeperience in diving.

 

[macado]

Some people claim it does but it's very subjective thing. As I can recall there is no scientific basis for this however I am one of those people that think it can make a difference if used properly. A lot of times when people are tired / fatiqued they *could* be experiencing sub-clinical DCS but often people just do not realize how hard they're working on a typical dive.

Alert Diver | Air, Nitrox and Fatigue

Easiest way I've found to fix this (in addition to diving nitrox) is to slow your ascent rate dramatically. 30ft/minute ascent and an extended "safety" stop of 5 minutes do wonders for me. "Deep" stops are controversial but some people also feel that they help too.

With that being said, 4 dives a day is a lot and you'll find many people in that same situation would also be very tired. People do not often realize how much energy they're exerting on a typical dive, let alone 4 dives in one day.

In a nutshell, there are a multitude of factors that could cause you to be more fatigued...overall inexperience, how much you were swimming using your hands, your buoyancy, body heat loss, dehydration, etc.

Having said that, I would recommend learning Nitrox if you haven't yet; It is very popular for those who do multiple dives a day. When used properly it can make your dives safely, lower your N2 loading, increase your NDLs (if you're not limited by gas usage) and can even help shorten surface interval duration if you desire.

 

[fjpatrum]

So far the biggest factor I've seen in my fatigue has been the water temperature. If it's cold I get wiped out. If it's warm I don't. The nitrox dives I've done were specifically done on nitrox to reduce fatigue but I ended up not doing nearly as many dives as I was expecting so hard to say one way or the other but I suspect it didn't make any difference.

 

[Storker]

There's no scientific evidence of less fatigue using EAN.

This is a subject that pops up every once in a while here on SB, and that argument is often repeated. However, the studies you think about are far from perfect. They don't take into account the 'fatigue' that comes from insufficient offgassing, which again can lead to sub-clinical DCS. I dive mostly in cold water, so my offgassing is already somewhat compromised. Extended safety stops, s-l-o-w ascents from my SS and benign, almost triangular profiles all help me to avoid that zombie feeling I rather often get after a couple of deep-ish dives in a day. Interestingly, nitrox has the same effect. Coincidence? I think not.

Also, clinical studies have shown that the amount and duration of bubbles in the blood stream varies wildly between individuals. Don't dismiss the possibility that some of us - probably a lot of us out-of-shape geezers - are more prone to sub-clinical DCS - and thus post-dive fatigue - than others.

You being exhausted has probably more to do with inexeperience in diving.

Quite possible and even probable. But don't summarily dismiss that there's also a bubble effect.

 

[tursiops]

There is no question in my mind....it definitely helps me. I'm in your age group, and also a bit overweight.
i have 2000+ dives, so i don't think inexperience is an issue. I rarely work hard on a dive, and my low SAC rate confirms that.
There is no scientific study that shows it helps, and only really poor pretty-much-irrelevant studies that show it has no effect. So the jury is out, but if I am asked to testify, I am very sure that it lessens my fatigue. I have done the same dives, with and without.
For me, the lessened fatigue shows up on multi-day, repetitive dives. I can easily do 4-5 dives a day in Bonaire or on a liveaboard with Nitrox, but can barely get through two dives a day on air.

I get a little tired of folks who poo-poo the fatigue-lessening aspects of Nitrox based on their personal experience or on studies they haven't read. Just as i won't claim that my positive experience should be true for everyone, they should not claim their negative experience is true for everyone. And they should read the studies before quoting them!

So, they only way you can tell for sure if it helps you is to get certified and try it. It may work for you, it may not. Good luck!

 

[James R]

I definitely feel less fatigued diving Nitrox on trips (I don't use it locally) vs air. I usually do 4-6 dives a day over 7-14 days with my camera rig, which is not small by any means, and experience/comfort is not an issue.

So if you're diving one or two dives a day over a couple days, then maybe you wouldn't notice much difference. For me, that isn't how a dive trip goes.

I want all the dives I can get to justify that ridiculous amount of camera gear (read: money) I dive with.

 

[lamarpaulski]

I did five dives in one day when I was 19 years old and it trashed me, as I recall. If i had spent the equivalent time body-surfing or swimming I probably would also be shot. Three a day now is about it... absent a compelling reason..I am 58. I think fitness is a major player and ironically also your newness to diving too. Once you really relax in diving the effort decreases.

 

[Bob DBF]

Enhanced air...does it help fatigue?

Depends on how you define fatigue.

The latest study I've seen (I know of two so far) said no help with fatigue, however their data showed that the subjects using consistently felt better after their Nitrox dives, and that it might be caused by reduced sub-clinical DCS. Now if you are like me and not all that discerning, you might think it was reduced fatigue.

If I have a choice, I use Nitrox on more than two dives a day and on multi day dive trips as I can notice the difference. For a two or three dive day trip, air is just fine, it might make a difference if Nitrox was more available and cheaper in my area.




Bob
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It isn't called geezer gas for no reason.