Nausea after first dive of the day.

[ScoobaChef]

The last couple of times I have been out boat diving, I begin to feel a bit nauseous and dizzy a minute or two after I get back on the boat after the first dive of the day. This has happened twice so far about a month apart. It lasts for about 15 minutes and goes away and doesn't repeat itself after the second dive.

-both dives on 32%
-depth roughly 28m
-runtime 20-25 minutes
-slow staged ascent with safety stop

The first time it happened, I thought I had a bit of a reverse block in my sinuses, but today I appeared to be clear. Any thoughts?

 

[Duke Dive Medicine]

Do you have vertigo or ringing in the ears along with the nausea? You mentioned a possible reverse sinus block... if your middle ears were also affected, this could be alternobaric vertigo, which happens when one ear clears before the other. I'd also wonder about bad gas or CO2 retention.

Best regards,
DDM

 

[lostcajun]

With the info you have provided I would suggest that you have a check up. It's always good to get a doc to look us over once a year. This should include labs and blood work, especially for those who are over 50. Scuba may be putting some stress on your body that is revealing some issues that "normal" activity doesn't reveal. Also have the doc check ears and sinuses, heart rhythms, blood work, etc.

 

[ScoobaChef]

Do you have vertigo or ringing in the ears along with the nausea? You mentioned a possible reverse sinus block... if your middle ears were also affected, this could be alternobaric vertigo, which happens when one ear clears before the other. I'd also wonder about bad gas or CO2 retention.

Best regards,
DDM

No vertigo or ringing ears, it feels exactly like seasickness which I rarely get. Bad gas I can rule out because the gas came from different shops on each occasion and most recently, I was on a twinset, so I was breathing the exact same gas on the second dive.

Also, diving the same profile from shore gives me no problems at all, nor on earlier boat dives.

The reason I thought it might have been a block was the first time it happened, I had tremendous pressure behind my eyes along with everything else, that didn't happen this time.

It's more an annoyance than anything, but the very specific conditions it occurs under has got me genuinely curious.

 

[TSandM]

Do you have a headache as well? I get headaches and nausea from CO2 retention, if I have to work hard against flow.

 

[chillyinCanada]

I've a good friend who throws up after every dive. This has been going on for years. He just accepts it.

 

[ScoobaChef]

Do you have a headache as well? I get headaches and nausea from CO2 retention, if I have to work hard against flow.

It's a possibility. The two dives were rather strenuous, but I've done shore dives in worse conditions for longer durations without any issue. For what it's worth, I was also noticeably narced at the bottom.

PS: Se habla drysuit.

 

[robint]

Maybe low blood sugar? electrolytes?
When my daughter first got certified, she would get back on the boat after the first dive and feel ill... but she was young, very thin, and burned calories fast. We got used to it, had bottle of gatoraid and snack on the boat, she would eat and be fine for 2nd dive. This went on for 3 years, every time she dived. As she got older, she got over the ill feeling but now always eats as soon as she gets out of water... so don't know if it has really gone away or she has just learned how to fix it.