hyperventilation syndrome

[Braunbehrens]

snorkel = dead air space
snorkel + short shallow breaths = no o2 and no co2 exchange.

take long breaths and/or use the reg.

get to the bottom of the pb. try making it happen in pool undre supervision so you know what causes it.

 

[NurseShark]

Good questions everyone to suss out what the actual circumstances are. I agree with Walter & Braunbehrens. If your oxygen exchange is impaired by tachypnea & shallow respirtations (fast & shallow breathing) with the snorkel in your mouth then you are not moving enough air. The CO2 build-up would lead to the sensations you are describing (high CO2 causes anxiety, aggitation & restlessness & decreased mental capacity). Combine that with the memories of a previous bad experience & you've got a dynamite combination.
As Braunbehrens said - take long breaths concentrating on filling your lungs & really taking a long time to exhale, or use your reg. on the surface while you do some of the things Walter suggested in a controlled environment to increase confidence & ability to exchange your air more effectively using a snorkel. You might also want to talk to your buddy and ask that they descend with you & keep good eye contact on the surface (good buddy skills anyway, but often we are more careless on the surface).

 

[ouachita]

Hypo, hyper, underbreathing, overbreathing, whatever you want to call it the bottom line is it is an anxiety attack. I can speak from experience. Some common stimulus is triggering it whether it is being alone or being on top of the water on snorkle. Maybe it is even a combination of stimuli. There is some information on the web about visualization techniques, etc that may help. Although no anxiety attack is minor, at least yours appear to have something to do with being on the surface. Figure out your stimulus and you will be a long way toward solving your problem.

Good luck. Anxiety attacks are no fun.

 

[joed]

Thank you to everyone for your input. I will loosen my straps on my BC and believe that will help. Also slow controlled breathing and no more rushing around. Thanks for your help

 

[RiverRat]

Walter once bubbled...
..........and believe me, I'm not qualified to have an opinion, but it's starting to make sense to me.

First, I'll point out you are hypoventilating, not hyperventilating.

Thanks for clearing up hypo - hyper ventilation. In another post on anxiety I mention an incident on decent on my 1st of 4 OW dives this weekend. I got under about 10 - 15 ft. in the quarry, dark, no visual reference, my Apeks set to - (minus...what a dope). Buddy too far away. I felt stressed to begin with, lots on my mind lately with work, home etc. so was not in the best mental state for a dive anyway.
Whatever caused the over breathing, still not sure, overexertion, too tight belt/BC, anxiety etc. I was breathing fast and shallow. Could not get control over it. Felt like I was "pulling" hard on the reg and over breathing it, although I'm told hard to do on an Apeks. I'm sure I was "hypo" ventilating, too much CO2 and not enough O2 causing the out of air feeling. I went up, sat on shore for 5 minutes, then my instructor led me down the wall for a visual reference. Boy did that help! I regained control of my breathing and went on to a great weekend of diving! Just weird as it "came out of nowhere" as described with anxiety. I think as long as one understands their body and their mental and physical limitations, then you can overcome fears and handicaps for the most part. Now that I think about it, one "should" be able to regain breathing control on a reg (you would have to at depth or begin to surface). Unless you just can't get the volume of air you can get at the surface? I'm just curious as to how long would it take to regain breathing control at depth? I guess it depends on the diver's state, regulator, depth etc. etc.
Luckily for me I was not that deep, kept my reg in and decided to surface at a relatively controlled pace. Had I been deep and relatively unexperienced it would have been a little tougher as I wanted nothing more than to get up or out of the situation. I really did not know what was happening, was it the reg, etc. etc.
Although I "felt" panicked big time, I did not panic although I aborted the dive. I feel my instructors have done a good job so far. I think I'll work on becomming a more confident diver and ease into this sport until I better understand what happened so I'm prepared if it ever happens again.

 

[Walter]

"Now that I think about it, one "should" be able to regain breathing control on a reg "

It is. Slow down. Take deep slow breaths. That's all it takes.

 

[RiverRat]

Thanks "Old Man and the Sea"
I'm seeking wisdom as I embark on this new journey........

RiverRat