JeffG
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Is this a good place to bring up DIRFish_Whisperer:
Anyways...Ditto on the greasy food stuff. I love bacon...but when I dive, bacon doesn't like me. I keep burping the entire dive.
Nausea while diving
- Thread starter Samurai
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Anyways...Ditto on the greasy food stuff. I love bacon...but when I dive, bacon doesn't like me. I keep burping the entire dive.
destiny2010
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I took a course that was introduction to scuba(at the local pool). i really enjoyed it and can see myself taking the course and diving in the ocean. My problem is the first 15 or so minutes were good, shortly after that, i started feel ill. The longer i was swiming around the worst it got. Finally i just stopped. Not sure if it has something to do with the fact that i get motion sickness or if it was the air mixture or my asthma and poor lung function. I wasn't scare or anxious about the dive. I would like to be able to get certified but now worried i won't be able to dive and not feel sick.
My wife has the same trouble. She went to a GP who finally referred her to an ENT specialist. The Dr's said there seems to be an unbalanced condition between her ears and it was causing vertigo. He prescribed Zofran (zofran chemical name = ondansetron) and it took care of the nausea. No more problems.
Samurai,
It's been demonstrated that being upright (e.g. descending feet-first) in the water causes the pressure in the stomach to be greater than that in the esophagus... this can lead to reflux. Does she feel worse when she's upright in the water?
There was an excellent presentation on seasickness at the UHMS Northeast Chapter conference this past weekend. The presenter recommended ginger and cited a study that shows that ginger can relieve nausea as effectively as over-the-counter antiemetics. Though seasickness is pretty unlikely in a lake, it's still possible if your girlfriend is exceptionally sensitive. You might try some ginger tea or other preparation. OTC anti-emetics can cause drowsiness (so can the prescription ondansteron mentioned by another poster), so if she's going to use these, we advise caution. Try them on the surface for a couple of days prior to the dive to make sure they don't make her sleepy.
Finally, if anxiety is an issue, she's right to re-evaluate whether she wants to dive or not. If she's feeling anxious, not only can this make reflux worse (if that's her problem), it indicates that she's still uncomfortable in the water. Let her make the decision on whether to continue diving without outside pressure (so to speak) from anyone. If she chooses to continue, support her and encourage her to go slowly with her in-water training and not proceed until she's completely comfortable.
Regards,
Duke Dive Medicine
It's been demonstrated that being upright (e.g. descending feet-first) in the water causes the pressure in the stomach to be greater than that in the esophagus... this can lead to reflux. Does she feel worse when she's upright in the water?
There was an excellent presentation on seasickness at the UHMS Northeast Chapter conference this past weekend. The presenter recommended ginger and cited a study that shows that ginger can relieve nausea as effectively as over-the-counter antiemetics. Though seasickness is pretty unlikely in a lake, it's still possible if your girlfriend is exceptionally sensitive. You might try some ginger tea or other preparation. OTC anti-emetics can cause drowsiness (so can the prescription ondansteron mentioned by another poster), so if she's going to use these, we advise caution. Try them on the surface for a couple of days prior to the dive to make sure they don't make her sleepy.
Finally, if anxiety is an issue, she's right to re-evaluate whether she wants to dive or not. If she's feeling anxious, not only can this make reflux worse (if that's her problem), it indicates that she's still uncomfortable in the water. Let her make the decision on whether to continue diving without outside pressure (so to speak) from anyone. If she chooses to continue, support her and encourage her to go slowly with her in-water training and not proceed until she's completely comfortable.
Regards,
Duke Dive Medicine
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I've never been susceptible to seasickness on boats which is why it took me >50 dives getting out of the water feeling nauseous before I figured it out: I was getting motion-sick on safety stops. Popping a dramamine before a day of diving fixed the problem.
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