Really Bad Headache after skindiving

[NCSU_Diver]

So I was at Lake Rawling Va. this weekend getting in some much needed dive relaxation. Saturday I did 4 dives including a 30 minute night dive that ended at 9:30. I woke up this morning fine and when checking my gear to dive again, I noticed my HP hose leading to my gauge consol was leaking between the nut and metal piece that attaches the nut to the hose. I didn't dive but went skin diving instead. Now after being out of the water for 8 hours, I've got a headache for the record books. Both sides of my head hurt at the temble and just past that bump behind my ears where the neck meets the skull (now that you've gotten a good mental image of a guy with HUGE bumps in the back of his head that look like chicken nuggets under the skin go ahead and laugh). Any idea of what might cause this??? I woke up fine this morning atfer my day of dives, all of which were well within rec limits. My computer showed me on at a max of 4 out of 8 bars of Nitrogen in my system and I didn't have any pains after diving. I sometimes get a headache because of the dry air but usualy that is just a few hours after I get out of the water. Could the skin diving have messed up my system somehow with the constant pressure changes or am I just having a routine bad headache???

Thanks for the help!

 

[dcoller]

I dont know what causing your headaches but I was diving in oz on a boat and for some reason every time I surfaced I had the worst headaches ever. It was definitly not b/c of decompresion. My conclusion was that it was probably dehydration.

 

[Web Monkey]

Call DAN and ask them.

The number in the US is 1-800-446-2671 (toll-free). Outside the US it's 1-919-684-8111

Terry

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So I was at Lake Rawling Va. this weekend getting in some much needed dive relaxation. Saturday I did 4 dives including a 30 minute night dive that ended at 9:30. I woke up this morning fine and when checking my gear to dive again, I noticed my HP hose leading to my gauge consol was leaking between the nut and metal piece that attaches the nut to the hose. I didn't dive but went skin diving instead. Now after being out of the water for 8 hours, I've got a headache for the record books. Both sides of my head hurt at the temble and just past that bump behind my ears where the neck meets the skull (now that you've gotten a good mental image of a guy with HUGE bumps in the back of his head that look like chicken nuggets under the skin go ahead and laugh). Any idea of what might cause this??? I woke up fine this morning atfer my day of dives, all of which were well within rec limits. My computer showed me on at a max of 4 out of 8 bars of Nitrogen in my system and I didn't have any pains after diving. I sometimes get a headache because of the dry air but usualy that is just a few hours after I get out of the water. Could the skin diving have messed up my system somehow with the constant pressure changes or am I just having a routine bad headache???

Thanks for the help!

 

[teknitroxdiver]

It's probably from CO2. I did it once, and yes, it was an absolutely killer headache. If that's what it is, take it easy and it'll be gone come morning. I don't know if it'll help, but if you've got an oxygen kit or a tech diver friend you might try sucking a bit of oxygen.

--Disclaimer: I'm not a doctor.

 

[Paco]

What about giving DAN a call?

 

[NCSU_Diver]

It's probably from CO2. I did it once, and yes, it was an absolutely killer headache. If that's what it is, take it easy and it'll be gone come morning. I don't know if it'll help, but if you've got an oxygen kit or a tech diver friend you might try sucking a bit of oxygen.

--Disclaimer: I'm not a doctor.

Well it seems that teknitroxdiver was the winner! It lasted till I went to bed now its fine. I checked what my dive computer said about my freediving and I might have just overdone it, holding my breath a little too much within a short span of time. Anyway lesson learned! Thanks for the help.

 

[pickens_46929]

Even after all things have resolved... please call DAN to provided the details. DAN is continually doing research and the more data that can be gathered the better off *everyone* will be in the future.

I suspect it was a combination of dehydration and then breath-hold diving after scuba diving. Wicked combination... almost guarantees a headache in my mind.

Again, contact DAN...

Dave

 

[FreeFloat]

One thing that should be pointed out.

Everyone knows not to freedive/skindive after scuba, but for those of us who enjoy doing both, the question may be more like, "... until how long after scuba?"

My own personal preference is to wait until my tables indicate I've had a long enough surface interval that my repetitive group is the same as if I hadn't scuba'ed at all.

Waiting til the next morning ought to do it - unless you went for a night dive then woke up early! In some cases, it's possible you could still technically be offgassing.




That said, my guess would have been dehydration. I can't count how often I've done the same to myself.

 

[vapovick]

could be off, but how fast was your ascent rate. I have heard of bad headaches before and the person who told me this said the computer was beeping like crazy bcause his acsent rate was too fast, once he slowed it down, he has not had any issues like this since..


./vapo