newby worries

[lilsas]

Hi,
As a mother's day present I got a certificate for a basic scuba class. I was excited about it but am now finding three things. 1. I am having problems with my ears and equalizing.
2. I seem to have motion sickness once underwater.
3. Panic attacks.

I have always had problems with motion sickness not in the usual way though, I can ride boats, cars, planes etc with no problem but put me in the water with a mask on and I end up sick as a dog, I even have this happen when playing video games that are 3d, I feel light headed, headachy, tired, like I am going to throw up. We were in the bahamas last year and the second day of snorkeling after an hour or so into it, i was sick as a dog and the water was CALM!!!! I ended up laying on my towel and practically crawling to the car and slept for hours , the whole day and night was ruined. Now just starting class my second pool dive was horrible, I already felt anxious about it and truthfully just the smell of the mask is enough to turn my stomach now. By the end of class night I was so dizzy and nauseated and even now today almost 24 hours later I still feel funny. On top of it I had an panic attack episode, weighted at the bottom. My mask started to fill up, when I tried to clear it I didn't breath out my nose I breathed out my mouth so my mask totally filled up with water, I panicked when some water went up nose, couldn't find the button to inflate my b/c and by the time I got up to the top I was coughing up water. If this had happened in deep water I would have drown for sure.

After that my dizziness, and headache and sick stomach were 1000 times worse. I had taken meclizine before hand to help with the motion issue but it didn't. As far as my ears go they don't equalize well even though I had no head congestion at all. which may be partly why I am getting sick too.

Most of the motion sickness i have heard of comes from the boat ride to the diving spot not after being in the water. Between this and panic attacks and my ears I am wondering if there's any hope for me to dive at all. I really want to go down for shark teeth! Right now I am a nervous wreck about even completing the class because of all this. I am so afraid of merely a 30-60' dive next week to finish off the class. What do i do???? Does anyone have any advice? Should I even attempt this like this? HELP I don't want to let my family down!

 

[Cave Bum]

First and foremost, your comment about letting your family down is incorrect. It sounds like you are assuming that's the way they feel. I'd bet they don't. I'd bet they're far more concerned with your safety!

ANY DIVER CAN CALL ANY DIVE AT ANY TIME FOR ANY REASON. (No explainations required!).

Diving is very safe but it's not for everybody. With what's going on, you might want to see if you can fix the problem before you continue. We had a fatality locally here in North Florida that turned out to be due to vertigo. Vertigo and balance problems in general underwater can be very dagerous.

Now back to your equalibrium problem, which this most likely is. It sounds like an ear problem, maybe a perforated ear drum. I'd call Divers Alert Network {1-800-446-2671 (toll-free)}. They are a non-profit diving research agency, free to the public and they are there to answer medical questions and address medical emergencies. Give them a call or check them out on-line at: http://www.diversalertnetwork.org/

Be safe and have fun in the water! Bruce

 

[Cavs42]

I know you're going to get great responses from people more knowlegeable and experienced than me, so I don't think I'll try to give you advice on the medical-ish side f this problem. What I will advise you is that you shouldn't be forcing yourself into diving so as not to "let your family down."

I know there will be some dissapointment if you feel you can't finish the training, but if you are prone to panic attacks and nausea while underwater, maybe that's not the best place for you to be right now. I know I'd feel worse if I gave my mother a dive package for mother's day and she forced herself into a situation she wasn't ready for and got hurt as opposed to realising that maybe she should have taken her time and gotten used to the pool dive environment before trying open water...

Just my opinion and yours may differ, but be careful and make decisions based on the big picture instead of what's happening right this second.

 

[Cavs42]

ooh... and welcome to :sblogo:!!

 

[tk trekers]

I think one of the most important questions you need to ask yourself is, "Do I really want to do this?"

Don't do it just for your family or anyone else for that matter as you already mentioned about letting your family down.

There are motion sickness medications you can take, have you tried any?

You might want to look at some clear skirted masks if you don't have one so that it feels more open to you. I know there is a big difference between my black skirted mask and my clear skirted mask. Also, check into some different brands of mask to see if there is one that "smells" better to you. If the smell of the silicone is bothering you, you could possibly try using something like a mint toothpaste or something along those lines that would give you something better smelling, I'm sure someone will chime in with something that can help with this.

Many of the drills and exercises should be practiced until you are comfortable with them. If you aren't comfortable, you aren't ready for your OW dives. A friend of mine had some of these same issues you mentioned from a near drowning experience she had many years ago and by working with the instructor one-on-one, she was able to overcome her problems and had a very successful OW experience.

If this is something you really want to do, talk to your instructor and let them know you need more time, there is no shame in that.

 

[Schizlor]

When you say "Panic Attacks", are you only referring to the incident in the pool where you panicked while doing the mask-clearing drill? Or are you prone to panic attacks in general? Have you had them on land or in otherwise non-stressful situations? When out of the water, in stressful situations, do you sometimes get the same panicy feeling? If it was only due to stress from being in an unfamiliar environment doing a task which can be particulary frightening to a novice diver, that's one thing. If you get and/or are being treated for panic attacks on a regular basis, you might want to reconsider diving as a hobby. You are also, as others stated, going to want to attempt to deal with / overcome the issue with nausea in the water before you attempt to do any dives outside of the pool.

And, as has already been stated, do not for one second let the feeling of letting your family down lead you to do something you are uncomfortable with. Doing such things in diving can be extremely dangerous.

You could probably talk with the shop, and see if they'll credit you with the classroom time so you can go on your own to try and get more comfortable in the water first. Then go back and finish the pool skills. If you are then comfortable, you can attempt the open water certification dives. If you continually have this physiological response (ie, it's not just a mental barrier to overcome) no matter how much exposure you have underwater, you'll likely want to abandon the certification process altogether. We go diving to have fun, and if you're not going to have fun diving there is no reason to pursue it further. (especially not for someone else's sake)

Hopefully the problems are largely mental and can be eliminated with practice and exposure to the environment in a controlled setting.

Good Luck and be safe!

 

[boulderjohn]

You have already received an unusually large amount of very good advice in only a few posts. I want to emphasize the previous advice to contact the Divers Alert Network. The first thing you want to do is find out if there is any kind of existing medical condition. What DAN will most likely do is give you a list of doctors in your area who can give you good advice.

By the way, do you have the free DAN student membership?

 

[TheScubaBOB]

I'll repeat the matra, Don't do it if you're not doing it for yourself....

I can't really address the ears & motion sickness issues but I have direct experience with underwater panic attacks.

First, please unerstand there is a big difference between panicking and having a panick attack.

I have twice experience Claustrophibic Panick Attacks underwater.

The first one was during my second pool session. There were 8 students & 1 instructor in the pool. My buddy & I were kneeling at 10 ft with the instructor and the 6 other students were swimming around us in circles. Something in me just screamed "Get out of here!!!" and bolted. There were too many people doing too much is such a small space.

The second one was duing my first open water check-out dive. We ascend to the 20ft platform and I'm doing just fine. We start out on our swim, heading first to the quarry wall. Then I feel my weight belt shift from my waist down to my hips (which makes it feel like I'm being dragged down). I pause & look towards the surface which only make me feel like I'm sooo far from it. Then I look ahead just in time to see the diver in front of me fade from view. So I try to speed-up to catch up to him. I get to the group where they have paused at the wall and I'm over-exerted now, great.

So my breathing becomes a little erratic. Suddenly the full hood I'm wearing feels like it's closing in on me! I recgonize what's happening- a Claustrophobic panic attack! I try to calm my breathing but just can't. In fact it starts to get worse. Now I start thinking about getting out of here, can I make? That's when I know I have to get to the surface before it gets worse.

I head up! As soon as I'm at the surface I must clear the stuff off my face, I need to feel un-confined to stop the panic that is rolling through me. I remove my mask and spit out my regulator. Then I want to inflate my BCD but I hit the wrong button and start to sink. The DiveMaster saw me surface and followed me up. He surfaces and sees my mistake, grabs my inflator and gets me buoyant quickly. once I'm laying onmy back, we remove my hood & loosen the straps on my BCD

Once we get back to shore we make some adjustments to my gear. Most of my weight is moved to the BCD so my weight belt only has 8 lbs on it and I shed the hood.

I'm able to make-up the botched dive and complete all of the other dives without a problem.

I know the root cause of the panick attacks and have addressed then to the best of my ability with gear and mental preperation.

Since then I've:

--> Dove as deep as 106ft in the ocean.

--> Completed AOW Certification.

--> Completed Rescue Diver Certification.

--> Logged over 30 dives without having another attack.

But then diving is something I want to do for myself.

 

[bleeb]

Hi,
As a mother's day present I got a certificate for a basic scuba class. I was excited about it but am now finding three things.
1. I am having problems with my ears and equalizing.

Assuming no underlying medical issues, quite a few people have found the (long) video hosted on this site helpful in improving their ability to equalize.

 

[cdarroch]

First and foremost, don't worry about letting your family down!! They are more concerned for your safety (and fun!) than getting their money's worth on their certificate. The ONLY reason to dive recreationally is because you enjoy doing so - I'm sure your family simply hopes to share their pleasure with you.



I can offer a bit of advice to you, though you've gotten some great tips from others already...


1. EQUALIZING
Do you find it's one ear and not the other that gives you problems? If so, try tipping the problem ear towards the surface, stretching out that side of your neck and opening you eustachian tubes a little more, then pinch&blow (lightly, of course). This really helps me - from day 1, my right ear has been slower than my left. You can even give yourself a little massage right below/behind the earlobe as you do this - again, this helps me sometimes, particularly on repetitive dives. Sometimes you inadvertently push a little water up inside those tubes, which can create temporary difficulty equalizing - as a habit, I tend to exhale from the nose a little before I equalize to prevent this. remember never to force an EQ, but try all kinds of different tips&tricks until you find something that works for you.

2. MOTION SICKNESS
3d video games, eh? Similar reaction to diving? In that case, maybe you could try what helps me. I don't get motion sickness underwater, but after awhile playing some vid, particularly a first-person one, I get disoriented, dizzy, and even have visual disturbances. I wouldn't say it happens often, but it does happen. There is NO SCIENCE behind what I am about to say, at least not that I'm aware of, but... I treat this like seasickness. What I need is a concrete reference point. It seems that my senses tell me "you're moving" , while my brain says "no, you're not" - does not compute, just like vertigo. At that point, I have to do one of two things: look away from the screen at something solid, and just stare at it for about 10 seconds to reestablish my sense of self, or actually get up and walk around the room while staring at one specific object. I would relate this to diving in the sense that if you're close enough to the bottom, you can try the same thing - pick an (unmoving) object, stop moving yourself, and just stare at it to reestablish your sense of direction. This is kind of like staring at the horizon to ease seasickness. I don't know if it'll work , but it's worth a try!

3. PANIC
It's difficult to address this issue because it's highly situational. What triggers your anxiety? the others here have given some GREAT advice on this topic, but it would be even more helpful if you could identify exactly what's happening when you start to feel afraid.


Good luck with everything! I sincerely hope that you come to enjoy this sport as we do... if not, though, that's OK - you'll always have the memory, and the confidence that comes from being frightened by something, and doing it anyway. Way to go!!