nausea and headache while diving. What cause it?

[ppatrick]

Hello fella divers,

I went diving with my friend in a quarry (Height Quarry in Kankakee IL) last Sunday to try my new diving gears. The first two dives in the morning were good but the last two dives after lunch were terrible. I had a headache around the back neck area and nausea. What could cause these? My dive partner told me that my headache could be because of tension. Tension? I felt quite comfortable underwater. My new BC worked much much better than rental BC (easier to control buoyancy). … Nausea was another big pain. I felt like I wanted to vomit but I didn’t. The feeling went away after I got out of water for only couple hours. Honestly, the nausea problem bothered me more than headache. My dive partner couldn’t guess why I had bad nausea. Could it be because I ate too much (one cheese burger and a hotdog) and waited only 30 min before hitting the water? Could it be that I unknowingly overheated my body? Water temperature at depth that I dove was about 70 degree and I was wearing 7 mm one piece (Henderson Hyperstretch). Could it be the bad air? The dive shop gave me a different tank for my afternoon dive. So I didn’t have to wait for the air fill. Both headache and nausea happened after lunch. However the air had no smell… It would be nice if I know the cause of it. So I can prevent it from happening again.


Please advise,
Patrick

 

[sasscuba]

How many times have you done 4 dives in a day. Sometimes my body just cannot do 4 dives a day. I sometimes get a bad headache if diving too often. I would say if it persists to see a doctor.

 

[truck1]

Did you drink enough clear fluids between dives?You could have had combination dehydration,overheat scenario.Either one or both could do it.Also,like stangscuba98a said,you could have over done it.Especially after a greasy meal like a cheeseburger.

 

[abitton]

Another thought... Quarries can get cold... Were you wearing a hood? I've had nausea from diving in 70 degree water without a hood. Seems the temperature differential with the inner ear can cause nausea. Needless to say, I now wear a hood most of the time in this neck of the woods!!

Alex

 

[dumpsterDiver]

hot dog and cheese burger and then go diving in 30 minutes? I can't imagine why you might feel sick! I bet there was soda and chip somewhere in there also. Would you go for a bike ride after eating that? I wouldn't be able to.

When diving, I avoid any significant portion of meat and also cheese and definitely hot dogs. I try to eat small quantities of complex and simple carbohydrates and drink water. If it is hot I will drink diluted apple or grape juice or maybe diluted gatorade. I also will eat cookies, maybe an apple or some pretzels which don't upset my stomach.

With a belly full of cheeseburger and dog, I would be very susceptible to puking if I unexpectedly had to do any kind of emergency exertion. I try to eat easily digestible carbohydrates during the dive day.

 

[ppatrick]

Thanks everyone for advise. I never thought of dehydration. I remember drinking one liter of water and one liter of Gatorate. I don't remember feeling thirsty. Could I get dehydrated without feeling thirsty?

Overdone? It shouldn't be. I used to do hiking and snow boarding all day long. Yeah I felt tired but never had a haedache or nausea from any sport activities. Is four dives in one day too much for most people? I didn't go deep at all (around 20 feet to 45 feet).

Could I be overheated without feeling hot? Do we rule out the bad air? I felt perfectly fine when using the first tank for the first two dives. It was the last two dives with the second tank that got me headache and nausea.


Thanks,

 

[sasscuba]

Thanks everyone for advise. I never thought of dehydration. I remember drinking one liter of water and one liter of Gatorate. I don't remember feeling thirsty. Could I get dehydrated without feeling thirsty?

Overdone? It shouldn't be. I used to do hiking and snow boarding all day long. Yeah I felt tired but never had a haedache or nausea from any sport activities. Is four dives in one day too much for most people? I didn't go deep at all (around 20 feet to 45 feet).

Could I be overheated without feeling hot? Do we rule out the bad air? I felt perfectly fine when using the first tank for the first two dives. It was the last two dives with the second tank that got me headache and nausea.


Thanks,

Diving and hiking are two totally different things.

 

[truck1]

Thanks everyone for advise. I never thought of dehydration. I remember drinking one liter of water and one liter of Gatorate. I don't remember feeling thirsty. Could I get dehydrated without feeling thirsty?

Overdone? It shouldn't be. I used to do hiking and snow boarding all day long. Yeah I felt tired but never had a haedache or nausea from any sport activities. Is four dives in one day too much for most people? I didn't go deep at all (around 20 feet to 45 feet).

Could I be overheated without feeling hot? Do we rule out the bad air? I felt perfectly fine when using the first tank for the first two dives. It was the last two dives with the second tank that got me headache and nausea.


Thanks,

As far as dehydration goes,you can feel not thirsty and be dehydrated.The way some one told how to determine dehydration is 2 ways for the lay person.
Watch your urine output.If you drink 1 gallon of water and you dont feel the need for the restroom,you are probably on the way to dehydration if you are not already there.
2.Look at the color of your urine.If it is dark yellow/orange, you are dehydrated.It should be clear.
as far as bad air, were all of your tanks filled at the same time or different times?did you use 2 tanks and refill them?Also, it is not out of the realm of impossibility that you were in a position you are not normally in and when your headache arrived, it brought nausea with it.Ive had that happen before.

 

[nerobanchee]

I felt perfectly fine when using the first tank for the first two dives. It was the last two dives with the second tank that got me headache and nausea.

How long were the dives? 15 minutes? Were you only using 2 tanks all day? Did you just split up the air for 2 dives? Just wondering. Is your mask new? Maybe it was too tight... If you were wearing a hood, maybe that was too tight. Do you think it could have been sinuses? That will give you a headache. Do you smoke cigarrettes? I would blame the cheesburger and dog for the nausea... sounds like the culprit to me. Try stretching before diving next time, maybe that will help...

 

[ScubaThor]

Sure it wasn't from the blue gills biting you?