First lesson today, now I'm freaking out! Some questions...

[Puchinita5]

Hi guys. Sorry that this is such a long post.

I just had my first first Open Water classroom lesson yesterday and pool lesson today. I went into this thinking it would be fun and easy and now I'm really panicked. I think what is also making me nervous is that our instructors today said that we got through everything we were supposed to so we are not doing a second pool dive tomorrow as scheduled. So my next dive will be a real one. He said it won't be a deep dive, I think he said 23 feet. But STILL! I'm worried that I'm going to drown, pop a lung, blow out my eardrums because I'm by no means a comfortable scuba diver yet. They said I was doing fine, but I didn't feel like I was doing fine!

Here is a list of my concerns and I would appreciate any advice you can give me!

1) During the first 10 minutes of the lesson, I inhaled water (and then coughed for a few minutes). For the rest of the lesson, I definitely kept getting anxiety because I thought it would happen again. I know that it is supposed to take practice to get used to breathing underwater, but since I inhaled the water I can't seem to feel comfortable. My instructors also told me I tend to breathe fast because they think I'm anxious. (which i am!) In the shallow end of a pool, at least I knew that if I chocked I could just quickly lift my head out of the water and then cough to get the water out of my lungs. But I'm really worried that I will accidentally inhale water when I'm actually on a dive and at a greater depth. What do you do if you choke underwater!!!???? This really really really freaks me out.

2) Water in my nose. I don't mean inhaling it this time. But I felt like every time I cleared my mask I still had water in my nostrils, which made me want to constantly breathe out of my nose out of fear of inhaling it. I know you are not supposed to breathe out your nose, but I felt like if I didn't breathe out my nose I would have inhaled water more than once today.

3) Buoyancy. I suck at it. I feel like I was either sinking or rising too fast and totally against my control. I often struggled with sinking at all actually. Is it possible at a depth of 20-30 feet to pop a lung/eardrum because you ascending/descending too fast? I just don't feel I can quite control my speed yet. But since our dives are going to be relatively shallow, do I need to be worried?


4) Biting on my mouthpiece. So the instructors said it was really important for your ears that you "hold your nose and blow out your ears" on the way down and "bite down" or yawn on the way up. But I felt I was ALWAYS biting down really hard on my mouthpiece, even why descending. My jaw is actually pretty sore. Am I going to mess up my ears?

5) I'm about as strong as a 5 year old. Is it normal that I find the equipment EXTREMELY heavy? I was the only one in class today that couldn't lift the tank off the ground to help the instructors store them when the class was over. Is this really bad?

6) Holding my breath. Again, I'm TERRIFIED I'm going to pop my lungs. Growing up I took ballet classes and was told repeatedly that I was holding my breath which would make me face turn bright red. I was totally unaware I was doing it. Maybe it was because my feet were in pain, but now I have that in the back of my head and I'm worried I will hold my breath under water even though I know I'm not supposed to. I obviously don't hold it forever, because, I do in fact need to breathe. But sometimes I think I forget for a second, especially if I'm concentrated on something. I mean really, ARE MY LUNGS GOING TO EXPLODE!?


I know my biggest problem, not just in scuba diving , is that I tend to over-think and panic. But knowing that doesn't help me to stop doing it, LOL. I'm sure with more practice I'll get the hang of it. But I guess my biggest question is, do I need ot be worried about hurting myself/dying on a 20-30ish foot dive? Or are problems like "popping a lung" more for deeper dives? Because I'm okay doing a few shallow dives and then doing deeper dives when I start feeling like a pro.

Incase anyone knows these sites, I will be diving the Blue Heron Bridge in Palm Beach for my first dive, and Pompano Beach for my second.

 

[BVickery]

From what you told me, I'd go down to the shop your getting cert'd through and tell them what you told here. If I wasn't certified already I'd want to know who this instructor is to stay away from. Sounds like he just goes through the skills and doesn't care if the student mastered it or not.

The thing about buoyancy is there will be a change between salt and fresh, and it takes a few dives to get it dialed in (along with trim).

The gear IS going to be heavy, your slinging upwards of 30+ lbs of steel or aluminum onto your back.

 

[koyote1111]

Bottom line...just doesn't sound like you feel comfortable doing an ocean dive quite yet. It might also be helpful to review the written materials about equalization and lung overexpansion. Both are indeed possibilities on a shallow dive.
Perhaps an option for you would be to schedule a private session to review the skills that were taught in the pool...? No harm in doing so

 

[TSandM]

I would go to the shop through which you booked the class. Tell them you are extremely uncomfortable and anxious in the water, tried to tell your instructor that, and he didn't listen AND decided not to offer you the second day in the pool which you were supposed to have had. Sometimes shops don't know what the instructors are doing with such things.

Do NOT do your open water dives until you have settled these issues. Yes, you can get hurt on a 20 foot dive, and what is going to do it is panic. You need MORE pool time, until you are comfortable with your mask, with clearing it, and with purging a regulator. Freaking out with a little water in your throat is a recipe for a bad outcome to a dive, because from time to time, you WILL get water in your mouth or throat. You can cough and even vomit through a regulator, if you need to; you have to believe this at a visceral level to be safe.

Again, do NOT do your open water dives while you are this anxious. Do talk to the shop and politely demand that you get the additional pool time that you paid for (and pool time, unless the shop owns its own pool, is a big part of the cost to the shop of offering a class, so there's a lot of incentive to minimize it). All your issues can be gotten through, if you take a slow and methodical approach to them, but rushing classes won't get it done.

Edited to add: I couldn't climb out of the pool with an Al50 on my back when I got certified, and buoyancy eluded me for quite a long time. Read the journal of my open water class that's linked in my sig line . . . there is hope for all of us!

 

[oly5050user]

Hi guys. Sorry that this is such a long post.

I just had my first first Open Water classroom lesson yesterday and pool lesson today. I went into this thinking it would be fun and easy and now I'm really panicked. I think what is also making me nervous is that our instructors today said that we got through everything we were supposed to so we are not doing a second pool dive tomorrow as scheduled. So my next dive will be a real one. He said it won't be a deep dive, I think he said 23 feet. But STILL! I'm worried that I'm going to drown, pop a lung, blow out my eardrums because I'm by no means a comfortable scuba diver yet. They said I was doing fine, but I didn't feel like I was doing fine!

Not enough pool time.How many hours was this? Was it 4hours,or 6 hours??Or more? You are NOT ready to do any openwater dives from what I read and need more time.Some people CAN be ready in 4 hours of pool time,many cannot.

Here is a list of my concerns and I would appreciate any advice you can give me!

1) During the first 10 minutes of the lesson, I inhaled water (and then coughed for a tes). For the rest of the lesson, I definitely kept getting anxiety because I thought it would happen again. I know that it is supposed to take practice to get used to breathing underwater, but since I inhaled the water I can't seem to feel comfortable. My instructors also told me I tend to breathe fast because they think I'm anxious. (which i am!) In the shallow end of a pool, at least I knew that if I chocked I could just quickly lift my head out of the water and then cough to get the water out of my lungs. But I'm really worried that I will accidentally inhale water when I'm actually on a dive and at a greater depth. What do you do if you choke underwater!!!???? This really really really freaks me out.

You must develop "airway control", choke underwater and shooting up is very bad.Most issues can be solved underwater as long as you have something to breath.If your instinct is to shoot to surface DO NOT go on your training dives.

2) Water in my nose. I don't mean inhaling it this time. But I felt like every time I cleared my mask I still had water in my nostrils, which made me want to constantly breathe out of my nose out of fear of inhaling it. I know you are not supposed to breathe out your nose, but I felt like if I didn't breathe out my nose I would have inhaled water more than once today.

water does not go up your nose unless you look up-gravity causes it to go into nose--or you actually inhale thru your nose.It is ok and totally acceptable to exhale thru your nose.

3) Buoyancy. I suck at it. I feel like I was either sinking or rising too fast and totally against my control. I often struggled with sinking at all actually. Is it possible at a depth of 20-30 feet to pop a lung/eardrum because you ascending/descending too fast? I just don't feel I can quite control my speed yet. But since our dives are going to be relatively shallow, do I need to be worried?

Yes you should worry about it.You can get an expansion injury,or worse from as little as 4' of depth.Most damaging injuries are caused in the 30' to surface range-exactly where you will be.

4) Biting on my mouthpiece. So the instructors said it was really important for your ears that you "hold your nose and blow out your ears" on the way down and "bite down" or yawn on the way up. But I felt I was ALWAYS biting down really hard on my mouthpiece, even why descending. My jaw is actually pretty sore. Am I going to mess up my ears?

Equalizing or clearing your ears and sinus'es is not difficult.Trick is not to over do it ..The harder you try the more difficult and damage you can do.Going up should really be a no issue,as clearing pretty much happens on it own as ascending.The only time ascending and ears hurting is an issue is if you
pushed yourself too hard to go down, or used a decongestant and it wore off at depth.DO not use decongestants.

5) I'm about as strong as a 5 year old. Is it normal that I find the equipment EXTREMELY heavy? I was the only one in class today that couldn't lift the tank off the ground to help the instructors store them when the class was over. Is this really bad?

Use a smaller tank.No reason for you to use a large 80 cu ft tank if you are that small.
The facility teaching you should have smaller tanks for student use if needed.
Hell, I am 6' tall and weigh 170lbs and ALWAYS use a small 63 cu' tank when in Bonaire and still come out after everyone else does.I may at times use a standard 80 cu tank if diving deeper than 80' or want to stay longer .

6) Holding my breath. Again, I'm TERRIFIED I'm going to pop my lungs. Growing up I took ballet classes and was told repeatedly that I was holding my breath which would make me face turn bright red. I was totally unaware I was doing it. Maybe it was because my feet were in pain, but now I have that in the back of my head and I'm worried I will hold my breath under water even though I know I'm not supposed to. I obviously don't hold it forever, because, I do in fact need to breathe. But sometimes I think I forget for a second, especially if I'm concentrated on something. I mean really, ARE MY LUNGS GOING TO EXPLODE!? I know my biggest problem, not just in scuba diving , is that I tend to over-think and panic. But knowing that doesn't help me to stop doing it, LOL. I'm sure with more practice I'll get the hang of it. But I guess my biggest question is, do I need ot be worried about hurting myself/dying on a 20-30ish foot dive? Or are problems like "popping a lung" more for deeper dives? Because I'm okay doing a few shallow dives and then doing deeper dives when I start feeling like a pro.
Incase anyone knows these sites, I will be diving the Blue Heron Bridge in Palm Beach for my first dive, and Pompano Beach for my second.

Holoding breath and ascending will cause a lung expansion injury.Staying at a constant depth will not.Just breath normally ,just like you do when sitting at home watching tv..no big deal..

As I recommended do not go on ow training dives until YOU feel comfortable about the experience.Sounds like your instructor is rushing things because they do not to pay for additional pool time it could cost him, or on some kind of crazy schedule and do not care about your experience with this activity.Your ow training dives are supposed to be fun.If worried about it or nervous it cannot be a fun experience and will absolutely turn you off of diving.If that happens and it is something you truly wanted to do your instrucor failed at his job,YOU did not ..

 

[tstormdiver]

I agree, you do not sound comfortable at all with your skills. You have no business going to your open water dives until you are comfortable. That is one thing I very much dislike about shortened/ condensed classes. I prefer to give my students plenty of time to get comfortable. I made the mistake with 1 student (so far & hopefully the last) bytaking him to his Open Water dives too soon. A few more pool sessions would have done him justice. I just tried to work with him in a buoyancy class. He was still very uncomfortable & struggled. A lesson learned on my part. To answer your questions,
1. you can do anything htrough your regulator (cough, sneeze, vomit,.....) that you can normally do.

2.You can breathe out your nose through your mask (just not in). I do it all the time, I'm a nose breather.

3. Yes, you can injure yourself at those depths, buoyancy control will come with time & comfort. Take your time & relax.

4. relax, your ears will typically clear themselves on the way up, unless you have congestion or a physical problem that prevents it. Yawning through the regulator may help a little. Shouldn't have to clamp down on it.

5. Yes, the equipment is very heavy at first. In time you will get used to it.

6. Just breathe deep, full inhale & exhale. Your lungs will automatically adjust as you breathe.

Talk to your instructor(s) about further pool sessions to help you gain some comfort & confidence.

 

[soltari675]

Definitely ask your shop for more time in the poor. Voice your concerns. If it is a good shop, they will be more than happy to have more pool time for you to get comfortable with the basic skills. If they won't, get your money back and go to another shop.

As for quick answers.

1. You can cough underwater if you feel the need. Keep your regulator in your mouth and just cough. The air you cough or spit is purged just like any air or water. It's ok.

2. You may breath out your nose as much as you want. It might get annoying after a bit, but you have to do it sometimes anyway. To prevent mask squeeze. After a bit of practice, you will learn that your nose is fairly safe from water and relax. If you ARE getting water on your nose regularly, you need a new mask. You should be able to submerge and not get a drop of water inside.

3. Buoyancy will come with practice. It's hard to master. While descending, clear your ears often. If you are dropping too fast, add some air to your BC to slow down. This is also a sign you are over weighted. When coming up, focus on your breathing to make sure you don't hold your breath. If you have air in your BC, every 10-15 ft or so on the way up, let out a little air. If you are still going top fast, dump more air until you stop. Then start again slowly. Remember, you can ALWAYS surface.

4. Wiggling your jaw and such will help your ears pop on the way up. However, I've learned that coming up is much easier. Ears tend to pop on their own pretty easily. If you do feel some pain, stop and descend a few feet and try to pop your ears. They likely will, then ascend more again. If you feel them popping, you are fine.

5. Strength is another thing that will come. Water takes off the weight of your gear in the water. Just have some nice guys to help on the surface. Maybe work on some weights in a gym a little.

6. I saw a person here on Scubaboard say to ascend no faster than your slowest air bubble. You can use this method to judge both your ascent speed and your breathing. If there are no bubbles, you're holding your breath. I'd say use this until you are comfortable to make sure you are breathing.

Just some ideas.

 

[Blue Sparkle]

I agree that you should insist on your second pool session. Not that you should have to, but it sounds like in this case it has become necessary (since they cancelled it).

Although private pool time (paid for by you) would probably help you, I don't see why you should have to do that since you still have "paid for" pool/instructor time coming to you. If you finish that and still need more time, then maybe.

Other posters have gone through your questions in detail so I won't add more, but as they mentioned Yes, you can get into trouble (lungs, ears) at 20'. So for that reason you should feel clear on these facts (maybe read your book again), and should be comfortable with ear-clearing and knowing how to keep an open airway. Otherwise you could get hurt.

Blue Sparkle

PS: You have company in your "weakness." I have a hard time with the weight of the gear too (luckily that's only on the surface).

 

[Puchinita5]

Thanks so much everyone for the replies! I hunted down the dive shop's email address and am going to request a second pool session. Although I may just be overreacting and did fine in the pool session today, better safe than sorry!

I was wondering also, at some point early in the lesson (after we had practiced breathing and clearing our masks), we all took off our gear to get our fins to move to the deeper end. At this point, a guy accidentally put on my gear and I put on his. We didn't really notice till later and for whatever reason we never switched (I'm socially awkward and really shy, lol, and even though I was thinking I really really wanted my vest back, I never said anything since the guy didn't ask to switch back).

I wondering if the vest was probably too big for me and maybe weighted differently so that it was making me struggle a lot more than I would have if I had my original vest on. In an intro dive class, are all the vests the same or did they give me a smaller one at the beginning? Since I was one of the last ones to arrive, I'm not sure if the tank I used was MEANT for me or if it was just the last one left. Could that have contributed to my difficulty with buoyancy?

 

[Frosty]

I agree totally with the posters above. End of the day regardless of why you are worried.You need to get over the concerns before moving to a propper dive.That seems to poit towards another pool session.
RIGHT NOW I wouldn't be too worried about strenth. it sounds like you came out of the water wrung out.You probably felt like you had run a marathon.Once you get comfortable it gets much easier.
If it helps I'm not a physically weak person but at the end of my first OW training dive I struggled to get into the boat I was that tired out. Now I don't even think twice about lugging 15l tanks and all my gear around.