IVC
Contributor
I don't post often, so let me know if I'm in the wrong forum.
Over the weekend, I was part of the PADI Wreck class and we went to HMCS Yukon which is in Mission Bay near San Diego, at around 75-100 feet. The water was in the seventies at the top and quickly went down to 55 on the wreck. Visibility was pretty poor, typical for the area. I dove a 100 HP steel air (my 133 Nitrox has to get tumbled for some minor rust) and a relatively thin 5/4/3 wet suit (I don't get cold, but I had a 7.5 as a backup on the boat in case I wanted it for the second dive).
Everything was fine and fun until we started our ascent along the anchor line. As we started going up, I started feeling pain in the plexus area on each inhale, similar to heartburn or the feeling when the food gets stuck on swallowing. It made breathing a bit difficult as I was also being squeezed by the wet suit and the hoodie. It felt as I needed to burp or vomit, but couldn't. I had to concentrate hard on just breathing, staying calm and making sure I maintain my correct rate of ascent, then correct depth during the safety stop. I had plenty of air left, around 1,400 at that time, so I didn't have to worry about that. It didn't help that I was close to my NDL at the bottom and my computer (Perdix) indicated a 5 minute safety stop, so I had two extra minutes of "fun" breathing at 15 feet.
As I surfaced by the bow of our dive boat, I was looking to see whether I'd feel better - I didn't. something in my plexus area was still bugging me big time. My cummerbund was pretty tight (not sure it contributed to the problem), so I loosened it. It was a bit of relief, but not enough. I was holding to the bow line with one hand making sure I didn't suck any water. My buddy (dive master candidate) surfaced with me and asked me whether I was okay. I said everything was fine and I just needed a breather. After a few moments, when I didn't feel better, I told my buddy that I didn't feel well and that my suit was too tight (that's how it felt). He offered to tow me to the stern which I reluctantly accepted. In retrospect, that's precisely what buddies are supposed to do so I was very thankful to him. At the stern, I got on the ladder and climbed by myself (most of my diving is off of boats, so I'm pretty automated and efficient when it comes to getting back on the boat), but I told the captain that I didn't feel well and needed to sit down and take off my gear that was creating pressure.
After about a minute, I felt like vomiting so I went to the lee side and felt a contraction coming. It was pretty violent, but nothing but air came out. It sounded like a massive "vomit roar" with absolutely nothing but air coming out. The moment the air was released, I felt completely normal. All the plexus pain was gone, all the uneasiness was gone, it was all back to normal in less than 3 seconds.
Before releasing the trapped air I told the instructor that I was likely done for the day and that I wouldn't risk the second dive. It's unusual for me to back off, but I have enough experience to know not to push through certain type of pain (sharp, indication of potential injury) or certain types of discomfort. After I felt instantly better, I decided to make the decision about the second dive a "going concern" and decide as we got deeper into our surface interval. I was actively monitoring myself and since I felt completely normal for over half an hour, I decided to go for the second dive.
The second dive was fun and without any problems. I was monitoring the situation and ready to act if anything unusual happened (if my buddy was another student I would've stayed on the boat - I can't potentially ruin someone's learning dive if I know that I had an issue on the first dive).
Anyone else had a similar experience? Any tips on how to prevent it from happening? I've had in the past situations where I'd cough or burp into the regulator at depth, but never when the air gets stuck to the point that it takes a few minutes on the boat before I can get rid of the (likely) swallowed gas.
(A quick background: I have 39 dives, AOW/Nitrox/Deep/Night, just got back from St. Thomas where I did 5 consecutive 2-dive days, never had any kind of issue before, conservative and deliberate with monitoring my air, actively working on buoyancy via breathing, dropping extra weight I carried early on, practice regulator switching on every dive, etc.)
Over the weekend, I was part of the PADI Wreck class and we went to HMCS Yukon which is in Mission Bay near San Diego, at around 75-100 feet. The water was in the seventies at the top and quickly went down to 55 on the wreck. Visibility was pretty poor, typical for the area. I dove a 100 HP steel air (my 133 Nitrox has to get tumbled for some minor rust) and a relatively thin 5/4/3 wet suit (I don't get cold, but I had a 7.5 as a backup on the boat in case I wanted it for the second dive).
Everything was fine and fun until we started our ascent along the anchor line. As we started going up, I started feeling pain in the plexus area on each inhale, similar to heartburn or the feeling when the food gets stuck on swallowing. It made breathing a bit difficult as I was also being squeezed by the wet suit and the hoodie. It felt as I needed to burp or vomit, but couldn't. I had to concentrate hard on just breathing, staying calm and making sure I maintain my correct rate of ascent, then correct depth during the safety stop. I had plenty of air left, around 1,400 at that time, so I didn't have to worry about that. It didn't help that I was close to my NDL at the bottom and my computer (Perdix) indicated a 5 minute safety stop, so I had two extra minutes of "fun" breathing at 15 feet.
As I surfaced by the bow of our dive boat, I was looking to see whether I'd feel better - I didn't. something in my plexus area was still bugging me big time. My cummerbund was pretty tight (not sure it contributed to the problem), so I loosened it. It was a bit of relief, but not enough. I was holding to the bow line with one hand making sure I didn't suck any water. My buddy (dive master candidate) surfaced with me and asked me whether I was okay. I said everything was fine and I just needed a breather. After a few moments, when I didn't feel better, I told my buddy that I didn't feel well and that my suit was too tight (that's how it felt). He offered to tow me to the stern which I reluctantly accepted. In retrospect, that's precisely what buddies are supposed to do so I was very thankful to him. At the stern, I got on the ladder and climbed by myself (most of my diving is off of boats, so I'm pretty automated and efficient when it comes to getting back on the boat), but I told the captain that I didn't feel well and needed to sit down and take off my gear that was creating pressure.
After about a minute, I felt like vomiting so I went to the lee side and felt a contraction coming. It was pretty violent, but nothing but air came out. It sounded like a massive "vomit roar" with absolutely nothing but air coming out. The moment the air was released, I felt completely normal. All the plexus pain was gone, all the uneasiness was gone, it was all back to normal in less than 3 seconds.
Before releasing the trapped air I told the instructor that I was likely done for the day and that I wouldn't risk the second dive. It's unusual for me to back off, but I have enough experience to know not to push through certain type of pain (sharp, indication of potential injury) or certain types of discomfort. After I felt instantly better, I decided to make the decision about the second dive a "going concern" and decide as we got deeper into our surface interval. I was actively monitoring myself and since I felt completely normal for over half an hour, I decided to go for the second dive.
The second dive was fun and without any problems. I was monitoring the situation and ready to act if anything unusual happened (if my buddy was another student I would've stayed on the boat - I can't potentially ruin someone's learning dive if I know that I had an issue on the first dive).
Anyone else had a similar experience? Any tips on how to prevent it from happening? I've had in the past situations where I'd cough or burp into the regulator at depth, but never when the air gets stuck to the point that it takes a few minutes on the boat before I can get rid of the (likely) swallowed gas.
(A quick background: I have 39 dives, AOW/Nitrox/Deep/Night, just got back from St. Thomas where I did 5 consecutive 2-dive days, never had any kind of issue before, conservative and deliberate with monitoring my air, actively working on buoyancy via breathing, dropping extra weight I carried early on, practice regulator switching on every dive, etc.)
