Coughin' under Water

[sarita75]

Hi all. When I dive, something about the compressed air makes me cough like crazy about .... hmm,.... probably 20 minutes or so into the dive. "Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink!" of course - so I am curious ....

(1) does this happen to alot of you?
(2) how do you deal with it underwater?
(3) any tricks/advice on how to avoid it?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Garrobo]

I carry a little squirt bottle with some fresh water mixed with some sore throat medicine in it and remove my reg and squirt some water in my mouth, slosh it around and then swallow it occassionally.

 

[sarita75]

That's a great idea. I was trying to think of a way to carry lozenges or something but figured they might get stuck in the mouthpiece.

 

[do it easy]

I get a dry throat when I use plastic regs, when I'm exerting myself and breathing hard, and somestimes when I'm diving in the winter. I usually dive with metal body second stages (Mares Abyss) that retain some of the exhaled moisture.

When I do get a dry throat, bubefore I have to cough, I usually take the reg out and flood it. It might be psychological, but this seems to put a little moisture back into it.

If I have to cough underwater, I leave the reg in and just have at it. I find it helps to curl my knees up a bit and tilt my head down, kinda like the fetal position.

 

[do it easy]

After writing that post, I got that broken record feeling and searched around the basement of Scubaboard-

http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=196315

 

[sarita75]

I don't think actually that I am overworking myself causing heavy breathing. I generally tend to take it really easy. I think, overall, that I tend to be a "dry" person (skin, eyes, etc). Didn't know if that same sort of attribute would result in a higher likelihood of developing coughs with compressed air.

 

[RonFrank]

I'm really not sure how to prevent coughing. When I cough UW, I just cough! Not sure how else to describe it.

Some divers do carry water bottles UW. I've never tried to drink water out of a bottle UW, but I would not imagine it would be difficult. I'd practice on a shallow dive before doing so deep however just to make sure your not going to create a bad situation.

 

[TheRedHead]

I've discovered that a little cough will clear my mask when slightly fogged. So, sometimes, I even cough on purpose.

 

[ScubaThor]

Until about a week ago, I never really had a coughing fit under water....but it happened to me. No big deal though...just kinda did what everyone else said: Just have at it. The coughing subsided after a minute or two and all was well...
Not sure what to do about a chronic issue though...lozenges might not be the best idea.

 

[sarita75]

I actually ended up coughing so hard on Sunday that I saw stars ... and no, not starfish. It gets a bit frustrating, but is never anything that I can't resolve. I guess I would just like to not have to deal with it fullstop.