A freindly reminder about diving after traveling.

[Christi]

For those unaware, flying dehydrates you!

A dear friend of mine spent the first evening of his five day trip in the chamber doing a table 6 from inner ear DCS after a pefectly normal conservative single dive.

Culprit: Dehydration, lack of rest from traveling, age

In case you are wondering, symptoms present almost immediately upon surfacing:
Nausea
Vomiting
Dizziness
Cold sweats
lack of strength
loss of balance
glassy darting eyes
tingling in the extremities

Anyone suffering these syptoms upon surfacing from a dive should be given O2 and taken to a hyperbaric chamber as soon as possible.

By the way, he was not diving with me because I did not have an afternoon trip going out, but this is absolutely no fault of the dive shop/divemaster, so please don't start speculating. This was a clear case of fatigue and dehydration and age which makes the first two things even MORE important! Remember computers and tables are designed with young, healthy navy divers in mind AND what you do on the surface is JUST as important if not more than what you do in the water.

This was just posted as a reminder to my fellow divers that HYDRATION and REST are KEY to diving safely! I know so many people only get a few chances a year to dive the warm tropical waters, but make sure safety is first! If you can't wait to hit the water...make sure you are super hydrated and rested. This is not an experience I wish on anyone!

 

[mccabejc]

Thanks. By the way, I'm curious: how much "age" are we talking about here?

 

[miketsp]

..snip..
Culprit: Dehydration, lack of rest from traveling, age
..snip..

Just curious what was the age to be considered a contributing factor?

Any details available on the profile dove?

My wife & I, late fifties, just got back from a trip where we had a few hours trip to the airport, spent 9 hours in the plane, maybe slept 2 of them, 2 hours to get through immigration & customs, sightseeing all day, slept 3 hours, got up at 03:00 to catch the 06:00 flight and then got on the boat exhausted 3 hours later for our first dive to 25m.
No ill effects - BUT we drank a LOT of water in the 48 hours before flying and throughout the journey.
I'd say that dehydration is the major contributing factor, the others just aggravate.

 

[AevnsGrandpa]

The age questions is good too, but I have read over and over about making sure you are hydrated.

How do you know? Do you just drink enough water till you have to pee all the time?????

Jeff

 

[BigJetDriver]

The age questions is good too, but I have read over and over about making sure you are hydrated.

How do you know? Do you just drink enough water till you have to pee all the time?????

Jeff

Jeff,

As someone who goes through this ALL the time, because of what I do for a llving, the answer is simple. When you pee a lot, and the urine is relatively clear, you are drinking enough water.

Rob Davie

 

[BigJetDriver]

For those unaware, flying dehydrates you!

A dear friend of mine spent the first evening of his five day trip in the chamber doing a table 6 from inner ear DCS after a pefectly normal conservative single dive.

Culprit: Dehydration....

In case you are wondering, symptoms present almost immediately upon surfacing:
Nausea
Vomiting
Dizziness
Cold sweats
lack of strength
loss of balance
glassy darting eyes
tingling in the extremities

Anyone suffering these syptoms upon surfacing from a dive should be given O2 and taken to a hyperbaric chamber as soon as possible.

Remember computers and tables are designed with young, healthy navy divers in mind AND what you do on the surface is JUST as important if not more than what you do in the water.

This was just posted as a reminder to my fellow divers that HYDRATION and REST are KEY to diving safely! I know so many people only get a few chances a year to dive the warm tropical waters, but make sure safety is first! If you can't wait to hit the water...make sure you are super hydrated and rested. This is not an experience I wish on anyone!

Christi,

I appreciate your posting this story, because it points up one area that few of our fellow divers take into account, especially on the way to that long awaited meeting with white sand beaches, coral reefs, and pretty fish!!!

You make an excellent point about the tables themselves, and how they were derived. Few professionals in the industry even think about that. It is hard to grasp the concept that our dive tables were formulated by bending goats, and then by bending crash-test dummies (aka Navy divers).

Age is not so much a central problem here, nor strangely, even rest, EXCEPT in the way that they affect the circulatory system. The real key, as you have correctly pointed out, is HYDRATION.

An older diver who is in reasonably good condition, and is well hydrated, will have less problems than a younger diver who is thoroughly dehydrated, all other things being equal.

The key again is good hydration as a means to keeping the body's blood flowing smoothly and efficiently to all parts of your system.

Rob Davie :doctor:

 

[O2BBubbleFree]

The age questions is good too, but I have read over and over about making sure you are hydrated.

How do you know? Do you just drink enough water till you have to pee all the time?????

Jeff

Jeff,

There was a recent thread that discussed hydration pretty thoroughly:

http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=85408&highlight=hydration

What I got out of it is that peeing isn't a good indicator. If you get dehydrated, then chug a lot of water, you will pee a lot and still be dehydrated.

I have some large veins I monitor. If I'm dehydrated the veins get smaller (low blood volume). For instance, I drank a cup of coffee and a 500 mL bottle of water this AM, went swimming over lunch, and am finishing off another 500 mL bottle of water right now. My veins are still smaller than normal as I type this.

 

[pilot fish]

For those unaware, flying dehydrates you!

A dear friend of mine spent the first evening of his five day trip in the chamber doing a table 6 from inner ear DCS after a pefectly normal conservative single dive.

Culprit: Dehydration, lack of rest from traveling, age

In case you are wondering, symptoms present almost immediately upon surfacing:
Nausea
Vomiting
Dizziness
Cold sweats
lack of strength
loss of balance
glassy darting eyes
tingling in the extremities

Anyone suffering these syptoms upon surfacing from a dive should be given O2 and taken to a hyperbaric chamber as soon as possible.

By the way, he was not diving with me because I did not have an afternoon trip going out, but this is absolutely no fault of the dive shop/divemaster, so please don't start speculating. This was a clear case of fatigue and dehydration and age which makes the first two things even MORE important! Remember computers and tables are designed with young, healthy navy divers in mind AND what you do on the surface is JUST as important if not more than what you do in the water.

This was just posted as a reminder to my fellow divers that HYDRATION and REST are KEY to diving safely! I know so many people only get a few chances a year to dive the warm tropical waters, but make sure safety is first! If you can't wait to hit the water...make sure you are super hydrated and rested. This is not an experience I wish on anyone!

This is scarying the hell out of me. That's me, age, travel weary, unrested, good but not pefect hydration, and eager to dive. I dove this past trip after I landed. Everyone says, free welcome shore dive when you arrive. Everyone gets up way too early to fly to the places we dive. Is it best we never dive after arrival? Will shallow be alright 60ft or less?

 

[Mako Mark]

sports drinks such as garotade help rehydration significantly more than just water.

 

[TCDiver1]

This is scarying the hell out of me. That's me, age, travel weary, unrested, good but not pefect hydration, and eager to dive.

IMO, you can be tired and old as dirt but if your eager & alert enough to dive i say go for it. Just be darn sure your properly hydrated. Hydration is the one reason a diver should never get bent. Its completely within our control.