Headaches, nausea, vomiting upon surfacing, NOT seasickness!

[DandyDon]

I gotta check the box, it's at home. I recall the box says "same active ingredient as sudafed" but it's their CVS generic brand.

Sudafed is a brand name and can include a variety of drugs. It's the contents that matter. This is a common problem, with consumers recognizing brand names, packagers playing on that, people taking otc meds without knowing what they really are. Happens a lot with decongestants and antihistamines.

I've tried a lot of antihistamines with no real preferences, but my decongestants will be pseudoephedrine!

 

[piikki]

Have you ever gotten anything remotely like this with anything other than diving? Like even with swimming when pollen is very high

I am thinking about the 'starting from the neck' that you mention and any possibility of it being migraine or (neck)strain-related (which it does not really sound like on first hearing but the sinus mess might be obscuring something too). Do you ever get it after some other physical activities where you strain your neck, for example?

Also, if you do have sinus issues maybe popping the pills is not the best way. If it's a recurrent/constant issue and even if you do not have a drippy nose etc something like Nasonex seems to work way better for some of us. Clogged up passage ways certainly can end up in nice headaches, and nausea is a easy next step at least for me. The neck thing can be related or additional strain from technique. I did Sudafed and Alavert (works better than Sudafed for me for some reason) for awhile and have now moved to Nasonex. Way less sinus issues with diving. Worth bringing up with ENT for trial at least.

 

[Troutmaster]

I gotta check the box, it's at home. I recall the box says "same active ingredient as sudafed" but it's their CVS generic brand.

I will bet you a cold beer it says "Same as Sudafed PE"

 

[DandyDon]

I will bet you a cold beer it says "Same as Sudafed PE"

I bet the word pseudoephedrine is nowhere on it. Since Sudafed took their name from pseudoephedrine, I see it as deceptive marketing to sell anything else under Sudafed but it seems legal.

The efforts to make pseudoephedrine difficult for unlawful drug makers to buy in bulk cut into their sales so they took the easy road. Put phenylephrine in a box marked Sudafed and hope not many notice. Seems like maybe it worked here until he got down.

 

[idocsteve]

Have you ever gotten anything remotely like this with anything other than diving?

Nothing remotely like this with anything other than diving.

I will bet you a cold beer it says "Same as Sudafed PE"

I'll post exactly what it says on the box later on tonight.

 

[mgunnycappo]

I haven't read all of the other replies so maybe someone else covered this. If you are certain you didn't have CO2 toxicity and the air fill wasn't bad then you may be looking at TMJ, a disorder with the jaw. This can come from clenching your teeth on your mouthpiece.

My wife is a dentist and sees these issues with the more serious cases of TMJ...nausea, headaches, ringing in the ears, dizziness, etc. There are definite treatments for this.

Since this seems to be reoccuring with you I would look into this possibility. Obviously you should seek the advice of a medical doctor/dentist for treatment but look into this as a possibility.

Good Luck

 

[Gombessa]

Just to turn the qualitative factors quantitative and get on the same page, do you have a computer log of your dive that you can post, or if not can you describe more fully what your ascent was like? I've known a few people who said they do very slow ascents which in reality seemed a bit rushed to me (>30fpm kicking straight up from the safety stop).

 

[idocsteve]

Just to turn the qualitative factors quantitative and get on the same page, do you have a computer log of your dive that you can post, or if not can you describe more fully what your ascent was like? I've known a few people who said they do very slow ascents which in reality seemed a bit rushed to me (>30fpm kicking straight up from the safety stop).

I have an Oceanic VT PRO AI computer with downloadable feature. I've never used it but I think I'll check into that. I got the disk and cable kicking around somewhere. You're right, it could be I'm hurrying that ascent after the safety stop. That would certainly explain the rapid onset of nausea at the end of a dive...

ETA I found the CD I hope I can find the cable it's $90!

 

[Rhone Man]

Sounds a lot like Hybercapnia, but you say that your breathing is steady. Quite hard to diagnose illness/injury over the internet, but that would be my best guess from a distance.

 

[String]

Yep id go for hypercapnia. CO2 retention. Every aspect of the description leads me to think this.