Puking under water

[AfterDark]

I would have thought something this important would be taught in OW class.
I was lucky I heard people talking about it before it happened to me. knowing what to do saved me from what would have been panicky at 60 feet.

We were taught it in the class I took but then diving classes were different in 1968. We were taught how to hold the mouthpiece with our teeth while leaving our lips loose, providing some space around the mouthpiece while gently pressing the purge to provide a steady flow of air to keep the 2nd stage clear. It takes a very light touch that takes practice and a diver cannot do in a panic.

 

[boulderjohn]

Sea sickness is often "cured" by getting in and under the water. It is like a miracle, ya jump in feeling sick and in a few you realize you feel fine!

Here is a story some readers might appreciate.

I was working on my Instructor Development Course with another student, and the plan was for us both to brief our Course Director (pretend student) on the issues we had been assigned on the boat. When we entered the water, I was supposed to be the instructor first, then we were just to dive for a while, and then the other student was to become the instructor before we got back on the boat. The boat moored and began pitching about in the waves. Both my fellow student and I were instantly seasick. The Course Director said we could wait for another dive, but we both said we would go ahead.

Once in the water, I felt perfectly fine, and I did my portion of the dive as instructor with no problem. When we started the just plain diving portion of the dive, the Course Director called me over to correct a minor problem with his wetsuit zipper. I hovered above his back while I worked on it--we looked like a plane being refueled in air. When I was done, I reached around him to signal OK in front of his face, and he started to swim off. At that second, all my seasickness returned in full force, and I puked mightily, with the puke spreading out in a cloud over his back as he swam away. He never noticed.

 

[OnTheMark]

Sea sickness is often "cured" by getting in and under the water. It is like a miracle, ya jump in feeling sick and in a few you realize you feel fine! Surge has got a few buddies sick while diving, but the only time I've been witness to u/w vomiting was when a buddy got reverse squeeze, broke his eardrum and got vertigo. He claimed I saved his life, but I think he would have made on his own.

 

[OnTheMark]

After puking I felt better and felt much better once in the water; less tossing and churning than the boat.

 

[BoltSnap]

From personal experience, I have puked three times underwater and once at the surface in my life. Once was diving at a shallow site around Cape Ann in MA, once in Fiji and twice in Libya. The two times in Libya happened on the same day on the same dive, first on the bottom and the second on the surface after I came up from the same dive. The first time in MA I had good breakfast before the dive, I was popular with the fish that were nibbling on my breakfast right by the second stage exhaust. I am glad that I had something to eat for breakfast before the dive and it wasn't something greasy. The event that took place in Libya was a couple of weeks ago and I didn't have anything to eat at all before the dive. That was the worst thing not having breakfast before the dive, I had nothing in my stomach to vomit except stomach acid fluids which was nasty and it felt like my stomach was about to come up out my mouth, the worst feeling ever. Always eat something before the dive and make sure that it is little sweet and not greasy or spicy. Lots of fluids also. Of course, chew your food and eat soft food that doesn't need too much "chewing" to dissolve. Pancakes with bananas and syrup are great with fruit juice.

You may get the urge to spit out your second stage from your mouth while vomiting, don't spit out, just hang on to it with your lips and it will all be OK while hanging on on a rock on the bottom making sure that you aren't rising.

 

[TMHeimer]

I would have thought something this important would be taught in OW class.
I was lucky I heard people talking about it before it happened to me. knowing what to do saved me from what would have been panicky at 60 feet.

Good point I never considered. From this thread it seems a serious enough topic to at least be mentioned in OW course. And I've noticed here on SB that a fair % of divers do at times get seasick.

 

[OnTheMark]

You may get the urge to spit out your second stage from your mouth while vomiting, don't just hang on to it with your lips and it will all be OK while hanging on on a rock on the bottom making sure that you aren't rising.

This seems to be a common commit to ensure you're not rising, stay at the bottom and don't try to acend, etc., Which I will follow this advice but I'm wondering the logic behind this precaution?

 

[Wingy]

You know ive been reading all the responses, we've had this discussion many times over here, other forums, on LOBs etc and almost all the responses relate to sea sickness being the cause of puking. Not sure if this is a whole other thread to start or if medical people are reading this thread but I've only gotten seasick once in my life, in a river, with about 45000 nautical miles under my belt - my issue is sudden onset violent migraines that occur midway to the latter part of a dive. I have a bad habit of diving a tiny bit deeper than a lot of other people so I have considered pressure, but theres no correlation between the depth they have come on at, be it 15m or 35m, so ive ruled that out. Im a chronic migraine sufferer and have been all my life, not just underwater, and im not lucky enough to be one of the people who get an aura warning of an impending migraine. On land I have about 25 minutes between feeling that pain in my head and taking medication which stops the progression to puking, underwater there is about 3 - 5 minutes before going..oh no..and puking.

It doesn't overly bother me, DAN said they didn't see migraines as contraindication to diving nor has any doctor ive seen for dive medicals, I just puke my way gradually to the surface and try not to offend any of my fellow divers who ive puked near and then retreated to my cabin to puke and sleep when I can get to my medication. I dont get migraines any more frequently diving and travelling than I do at home so I'd be curious to hear if anyone else has this annoying issue.

 

[AfterDark]

After puking I felt better and felt much better once in the water; less tossing and churning than the boat.

Your brain stops getting mixed signals once you're in the water which makes you feel better.

Sea sickness is like vertigo , but vertigo can be much more severe, at least in my experience with both. I spent a day face done on my bed in my house no boat involved, getting up only to stumble to the bathroom to dry heave and then stumble back to my bed. I've never been that sea sick, if I start to feel sea sick I stare at the horizon until I feel better. The worse thing I can do is get my gear setup while the boat is moving, if the brain can't process the movement of the boat with what the eyes are seeing trouble will start. I take breaks and stare the horizon if I really need to tend to something while underway.

 

[AfterDark]

This seems to be a common commit to ensure you're not rising, stay at the bottom and don't try to acend, etc., Which I will follow this advice but I'm wondering the logic behind this precaution?

After vomiting a human will take a deep involuntary breath, if you do that 4 or 5 feet from the surface while on the way up you could cause injury to your lungs.