mild discomfor

[Justwander]

I've completed OW and am in the middle of AOW, but still very new. I have some wierd things going on after diving that i'm unsure about.

1. at first when diving, i would get a feeling like acidity in my stomach that would last well into the next 10 hours after the dive was completed. this happened even in the pool at 10 ft. then i heard a capt say, eat a bagel before you come. so, i started to eat bagels and sure enough, it helped. what is that, that makes my stomach feel awful (not like puking) when I haven't had a bagel? and what else can i eat besides bagels.

2. yesterday, i dove three dives. some were a bit of distance but not too taxing and the depth never exceeded 30 feet. by the time i got home though, i thought I'd pass out from exhaustion standing up. what makes it so exhausting? is it normal? and really, the swim was not strenuous at all!

3. today, i dove a deep dive of 100 ft and consumed air quickly. then i went to a pool to practice my buoyancy. again, i was tired and am about to go to bed. but the wierd part is my breathing post diving seemed a bit wierd. i can't describe it, but it almost feels like i'm still breathing from the tank. is this normal?

any input would be helpful. I'm not considering quitting by any means, just interested in what my body is doing.

 

[Justwander]

please mentally add a t to the subject 'discomfor'

 

[Damselfish]

As far as being tired - diving does tend to be tiring at first - it gets better but even once you're more experienced a nap will often seem quite tempting after a couple of dives. Between moving around heavy gear, struggling into wetsuits, swimming even if you don't think it was a hard swim, being in cold water - just lots of activities going on you unlike what you may normally experience.

Also, you might want to pay close attention to your ascent rate - keep it to 30 fpm or less, especially nearer the surface. This is harder when you're new and still working on bouyancy control but important. Many people say they feel much better when they slow down their ascent rate. Some theorize that when people ascend too fast, and aren't really bent but feel kinda like crap, they really have a sub-clinical case of DCS,

Many people need to watch what they eat when diving, I'm not one of them so I haven't paid much attention. But there are whole threads discussing the subject which you might look for or I'm sure someone will chime in.

 

[Belmont]

Not to scare you, but have your heart checked.
The bad feeling in your stomach, acidity reflux and feeling tired after a dive could and I say could be indicative of heart distress.
Good luck

 

[do it easy]

Regarding 1) Bagels- is there anything they can't do? I'm not sure what's going on here, so I'll defer this to someone else.

2) Swimming with the gear on can be tiring because of the density of water and the resistance of all the gear. Swimming slowly, getting your trim horizontal, and streamlining your fun toys might help.

3) As I doze off after a lot of time underwater, I sometimes feel like I'm drowning since I'm breathing without a regulator in my mouth. It's similar to sleeping right away after driving for a long time.

Lastly, you mention being tired after diving. Some of this can be normal or due to other factors, but one thing that comes to mind is a patent foramen ovale (PFO). A PFO is essentially a hole in the heart that could let bubbles in the blood pass from the venous side to the arterial side without passing through the lungs first. In a nutshell, it puts divers at greater risk for DCS, which is somtimes accompanied by symptoms of fatigue. Of course, your fatigue could be due to diving in 70f water in a bathing suit for 3 hours as well, but the consequences of having a PFO are grave enough and the fact that it's relatively common in the general population, make it something that you want to consider when you assess the risks of diving. Lastly, I'm not a doctor, a lawyer, a butcher, a baker, nor a candlestick maker. You should seek qualified opinions regarding your health, safety, and diving concerns.

Here's a recent thread about PFOs, not to be confused with UFOs, which cause other problems.

 

[markfm]

I'd look at ascent rates, like one of the first responses -- it makes a huge difference to do a really slow ascent as compared to what I was like when new. I often take about a minute coming up from my safety stop.

Also, I've become a big believer in a mid-depth period. On a wreck dive I do the one minute at half depth, and if I'm going outbound at 60 - 70', I'll tend to come back at 30' for at least 5 minutes. It just seems to work better -- I'm much more alert afterward.

 

[spectrum]

1. The stomach issue.... I really don't know. Having it bother you consistently for 10 hours even after pool work does sound like it could be something significant. By any chance have you been using the same regulator at all these times?

Females have a tendency to be floaty in the feet. By any chance do you happen to be swimming somewhat head down? I'm thinking stomach acid movement here. The divers solution to this is moving weight lower on your body. This could be anything from mounting the cylinder lower on your back to moving weights to different available locations, like belts, pull-outs and trim pockets or even adding ankle weights. The OTC solution is to try something like TUMS to control stomach acid while diving. Whether this works or not I'd the follow it up with a doctors visit. If your doctor is not dive savvy consider contacting DAN for a recommendation.

2. Post dive fatigue. You are a new diver and I assume this is all happening near home, NY, NY. While we are still in the summer water here in the northeast this is still cold water diving. While your wetsuit may be keeping you comfortable I can assure you that energy depletion is taking place. Getting in and out of a dive is a lot of work, The pacing and choreography that comes with experience can ease the burden but it's still significant work.

I can recall 2 dives where my wife and I both came home and crashed with exhaustion. In both cases we had made several trips to the surface from 30 feet or so. At least in the case of the first event the ascents were controlled but not as slow as I have learned is prudent. If your dive had significant yo-yo activity you would have had gas being driven in and out of solution. This can get to what I have seen termed sub-clinical DCS. At a microscopic level your blood is aerated and you feel and function like crap while it off gasses. This sounds like what you describe. How were your profiles on these dives. Even a lot of up and down in the pool if done carelessly will take a toll.

Three cold water dives in a day is not trivial. I did it once but they were over a 7-8 hour period as I recall. At that time I had considerable experience, we paced them and I went home feeling pleasantly tired but not spent. 4 dives a day in Bonaire is a walk in the park with a little prior experience. Don't let anyone tell you that your local diving does not count as a sport!

You make mention of buoyancy control and as such you may have already discovered diaphragm control as part of your diving skills. This is great stuff but it does add one more element of work to your diving as opposed to just sucking air down like most new divers.

So my guess is that you have been diving aggressively for a new diver. Repetitive dives in cold water and putting serious effort into learning to dive well. You may have also been returning to the surface more often or at a faster rate than is desirable. Most of this goes away with experience.

3. Breathing post dive.... This also reminds me of you really working on diaphragm control. If this is the case you will find yourself eventually breathing in a slower more deliberate way all around especially when at rest.

I'm happy to hear you aren't thinking of quiting, it sounds like you are off to a great start as an active diver.

Pete

 

[sberanek]

I like to eat pancakes before diving. French toast works OK too, but I prefer pancakes. The bagel is a very dense bread product and would give your stomach acid something to do besides slosh around and possibly give you reflux.

I echo all the others... you might want to see a doctor about your stomach issues. You might have a stress aggravated condition and you may not even realize you are feeling stress, but your stomach does. Just my thoughts.

--Shannon

 

[Justwander]

this has been helpful!
1. I do have floaty feet and thought I was just doing something wrong.I spend a lot of time wiht my feet over my head. when i went in the pool, i used ankle weights and it helped considerably. I will continue to wear these when I dive.
2. I have been ascenting too quickly and will definitely put more effort into slowing down. Also, during my dives, I frequently acented to discuss a technique to check in with my buddy verbally.
3. it was only the first pool dive, that i went in on a somewhat empty stomach, where I felt acidity all day after. since then, eating the bagel has solved the problem. I just don't understand why. I never have stomach problems.
4. I was diving in RI, where the water is a bit colder.
5. Apparently, I swim too quickly and need to slow down considerably as told by two different instructors. Even though I consciencly slowed down, I wonder now, if I need to slow down even more.

Thanks for your help everyone.

 

[spectrum]

Justwander,

1. See if you can get another experienced diver to help you with your trim. This will involve a weight check and the positioning of your weights and other gear. The ideal is that you hang in the water like a sky jumper in free fall. The only times you want to be head down are if you make a head first descent or to look under a rock. If Peak Performance Buoyancy is one of your AOW modules that should get you there but I would think they would have started with that.

2. Don't be afraid to be the last one up. Bring a slate to avert some trips to the top for communication. The closer you get to the top the slower you want to go. I know you have been in training situations and some dialog is required. When diving independently a very good pre-dive briefing with your buddy can pre-communicate most of the required info.

3. Being upside down may have a lot to do with it. Even belly down in a prone diving position may be a problem with thew wrong diet or an empty stomach. Most divers favor some sort of light bread breakfast, like English muffins. Most avoid greasy or high acid foods pre-dive.

4. Yea, heat loss is real. Even in the Caribbean divers will suffer from this in a silent way. While they may never feel cold during a dive they can become lethargic by weeks end.

5. Water is about 400 times denser than air and you are still conditioning yourself to deal with your gear. Slow down, this is all for fun. Especially under water you want to be thinking kick, glide, kick glide. I suspect that your trim issues (#1) are causing you to do a lot of swimming to control a position that you should be able to just be suspended in. You may be arching you back strenuously as well to force some torso lift as you swim your feet down. That stuff will wear anyone out. Have you been using more than your share of air?

Be sure to get your weight configuration ironed out so you have a nice natural horizontal trim, stock up on Bagels and dive, dive, dive.

Pete