CO2 retention...signs and symptoms

[kanonfodr]

Greetings, all. While I haven't experienced a CO2 hit underwater, yet, or even gotten close I believe, I do run a lot and I'm starting to pay more attention to my breathing cycle. One thing I notice, especially on today's 8.4 miler, is that unless I am paying really close attention to my breathing cycle, I end up feeling rather short of breath. Could you consider this an episode akin to CO2 retention?

Ultimately, I have found that if I focus on my exhalation, the shortness of breath dissappears, until I get out of sync with my breathing again. Then it's back to my strategy of close the eyes, breath WAY out, and breathe in deeply.

This actual thought just occured to me today, but I have been experiencing this phenomena almost all my life when doing cardiovascular exercises. Not really worried about it, especially since it didn't get in the way of finishing the run in just over an hour. I'm more looking to see if I can associate one with the other, for better knowledge in later diving.

Peace,
Greg

 

[Bubbletrubble]

Yeah. Shortness of breath, headache, and confusion are all symptoms associated with CO2 retention. Probably the most common symptom of CO2 retention reported by divers is headache. Clinical signs of CO2 retention include: flushed skin, rapid pulse, additional heart sounds, muscle twitches, hand flaps, reduced neural activity, and elevated blood pressure.

If you don't have a history of asthma or other airway disease, then the way that you're currently dealing with it seems OK.

There are some good threads on CO2 retention here on ScubaBoard. Use the search function if you're interested.