Cold water causing nausea

[turtle_guy]

Up here in the pnw the water is cold. I used to dive it without a hood because the hood was just uncomfortable and restricting. But after longer or colder dives i would feel slightly sick. now i wear my hood and it doesnt happen. I want to know if the cold of the water is to blame or somehting else perhaps. thank you for your help.

 

[TSandM]

Nausea is not listed anywhere I can find as a symptom of hypothermia, but in my one personal experience with it, nausea was definitely present.

Of course, one could also get nauseated by swallowing sea water, or from long periods of time on the surface with water movement, or from breathing diesel exhaust from the boat . . . Nausea is an extremely subject and nonspecific symptom.

 

[turtle_guy]

Thanks the reason I asked is it seems to only happen when I dive without my hood. Without it I dont get cold even if my drysuit becomes a dampsuit. And the times i've been hypothermic i wasnt nausus at all(caused by snorkeling in a cotton shirt).

 

[DocVikingo]

Hi turtle_guy,

Do you experience any vertigo or dizziness in association with the nausea?

Is there anything different, besides water temps, about in the dives you do with and without a hood?

Regards,

DocVikingo

 

[turtle_guy]

nope nothing different and yes a little vertigo

 

[ohmdiver]

And I thought I was the only one...

This happens to me. It even started in the pool when I was taking classes. 30-40 min in and my stomac was ready to heave. I was allowed to finish the course pool work as long as I could hold things down, I was the 1st to do the skills and when I got
to feel ill I would bail.

When we got to the open water, we 1st did a snorkle and weight check. I was fine. When we started the dive it hit again and I bailed. This time I was gagging by the time I hit the surface. My instructor had me see an ENT before letting me in the water. We tried all sorts of stupid things, smaller mouth piece, sudafed, diffrent types of hoods, even oversized gear and wetsuits. Even tried a lycra hood in the pool. It seemed the hood helped and I was forever in the pool. We started the open water dives in September, in November I did my final open water dive with no sickness with a heavy drysuit hood, so I always wear a hood. I would experiance some nausea but it usully would fade or go away once I would burp. Nearly 8 years of diving and I only had to walk away from a second dive a handful of times. Then this year I made my 1st dive trip to the Keys. I was fine on the ride out, and ok as we dove, but every time we were in the surge it would come back sick as hell and greener than should have been humanly possible. I was wearing my lycra hood there. Every thing I would try failed. In the ten days I was there I never did a second dive.

ABout 4 years ago I stopped wearing a hood in the pool, never had a problem, dove in the tank at Disney with no hood for 40 minutes not even a twinge. Hit the open water in the keys and I was done.

Now in all this time I never (I swear) felt any vertigo. The motion on the boat was not a problem and I was actually was more comfortable sitting on the bow with my eyes closed. - one time while being very sick I was able to walk all my gear across a rocky point, approximately 300 feet in a fairly straight line, according to my instructor who at that time told my wife it wasn't vertigo if I could do that. (they were now on the surface watching me walk away)

At one point my instructor came across an article that stated that some divers ears have a hard time adjusting to temperture changes. This is the only thing I have ever heard on this subject.

I would be interested if any proffesionals diving and/or medical have a better explaination....

 

[DocVikingo]

Hi turtle_guy,

Given report of nausea associated with some vertigo, it's possible that you're experiencing alternothermic, or caloric, vertigo. This is the thermal equivalent of alternobaric vertigo, a well-known phenomena that occurs when a diver experiences differential middle ear pressures during ascent. Unequal vestibular stimulation often results in vertigo, which in turn may cause nausea.

If one of your ears is being more exposed to cold water than the other, unequal middle ear temperatures can result. This could be due such things as the position of the head in waves or water on the surface or surge u/w, mechanical obstruction of one ear canal, anatomical differences between canals and other factors. Use of a hood not only reduces the amount of water entering the auditory canals, but also increases the temperature of the water that does enter.

Can't say for sure, but it's a defensible hypothesis.

In any event, you've found a way to prevent the nausea and that's the most important matter.

Regards,

DocVikingo