Dizziness and Nausea upon surfacing?

[Ann Marie]

The last couple of dives that my teenage son has been on he has complained of dizziness and nausea immediately after he surfaces. He has no problems while below the surface. Our ascents are slow. The feeling can last up to half an hour, then he is fine. We have been certified since Feb. This has just recently started withing the last month. It has now occured on 3 dives.

age: 16
medical hx: diabetes (blood sugar is slightly high {on purpose} before a dive and normal after), otherwise his health is great.
(We both carry cakemate icing tubes in our BC, just in case.)

Anyone have something like this occur to them before?

Thanks!

 

[dtdiver]

happens to me frequently...
there are a couple things i can think of:

1)ascending the final 10-15 feet too fast (remember the largest pressure differential occurs as you surface). you've got to allow the sinuses and ears time to equalize . the 15 feet to the surface period should be very slow and controlled.
resting on the surface for a minute (if it's not too rough) or two would be good also before climbing the ladder

2) climbing on to the boat, a change from a stable, under the water environment, to the unsteady rocking of a boat can cause this. if the boat is rocking the brain gets confused by the visual and motion cues >>> seasickness/ dizzyness result.

3) ear disequilibrium. if one ear experiences a drastically different pressure or temperature than the other you can get dizzy . if you've got a hood on and one side gets vented differently that could cause it.

is he hyperventilating from exertion? physical conditioning might be needed

my bet would be the first.

dt

 

[ArcticDiver]

A couple of other questions:

How's his skin color when the symptoms are present? Is it normal? Or, is he a bit pale?

Have you checked his pulse during this period as compared to normal?

Do the symptoms change with body position? That is does he do fine lying down but standing exacerbates the symptoms? In all three of these maybe the change in glucose levels is reulting in a shocky effect to him.

Are the dives he is doing now any different in depth, duration or water temperature from the dives before when there were no symptoms? Perhaps his body doesn't like the exra stress.

How much change in glucose levels is he experiencing during a dive? Are you now spiking the glucose levels higher than earlier? If so maybe his body doesn't like the big changes involved.

Could alleviation of the symptoms be in any way related to rehydration and food intake after the dive? i.e.: Do the symptoms go away, or nearly so, after he eats?

Just a few questions to help pin things down for you. After all this guy was diving normally and now something has changed. The question is: What?

If it were my son I'd try to get answers to these type questions and then have a serious talk with his physician about just whether he can continue diving and if so under what parameters.

 

[diverrick]

As a segway on AD's response, does this only occur when you are on a boat, or does it happen when he exits onto the shore? that might point to the boat being the cause, or eliminate it as a cause.
You might also ask him if he is tasting any salt in his mouth after the dive. Salt water, even in small amounts can and will make you ill. Nausea,headaches, dizzyness, and vomiting in more severe cases.
My wife had that happen to her, we changed her into another regulator, and the problem went away. Might be he is using a bad reg or has a poor seal around the mouthpeice. You didn't mention if he was using a rental or his own, so you might try using a different reg if you think that might be the cause.

 

[ShakaZulu]

I have the same thing, coming up is very uncomfortable for me. Will see if slowing it down makes a difference............

 

[Ann Marie]

I appreciate the info from everyone. His glucose levels have been fine when he takes them on the boat or on the shore after the dive. This has happened while both doing a boat dive and a shore dive. He doesn't appear pale. He doesn't like to wear a hood and hasn't for the last few dives. Maybe that is the problem. Next time we dive, I will make sure that he wears his hood and see if that stops the problem. If it doesn't I will see if I can find a doctor around here that is familiar with SCUBA diving.

Thanks again for all the input.

 

[MilkAndRelish]

Did you ever figure out the cause of the dizziness and Nausea? I'm suffering from the same thing.