Saltwater stomach problems

[webjr]

A little background first...
I dive 50 to 75 dives a year, the vast majority of those are local freshwater. We typically make 2 Caribbean trips a year. Most of those a cruises, 1 day diving Jamaica, 1 Grand Cayman and 1 Cozumel. Freshwater dives, no problem. Saltwater almost always end the same way, feeding fish at the end of the dive. It always happens at the end of the first dive and throughout the 2nd dive. Someone suggested stress as a possible cause. I doubt that. The few stressful experiences I've had were freshwater and did not result in happy fish. Another possibility was seasickness. That doesn't seem to add up either. I've had plenty of long boat rides in big waves without problem. I recently took a trip to SoCal and had a wonderful time without incident! I did notice the water around Catalina is VERY UN-salty compared to caribbean water. Could it be that I'm just VERY sensitive to high salt content? Anyone else have this problem? And how can I fix it? The last time I was in Cozumel for a day I tried concentrating extra hard on keeping a very tight seal around my mouthpiece and even kept my lips slightly turned in. It worked! But my jaw was sore for days after!
Any ideas? HELP ! Please !
And yes, I've considered packing my bags and moving to Catalina but thats just not an option... at least not now. PS. I recently found out my mother will NOT swim in the ocean. She said she always gets sick at her stomach when she did. Hereditary?

 

[Chugwhump]

Is this just a leakage/swallowing the sea thing?
A Sea Cure mouth piece might help.
I have been using one for over 10 years and will not dive without it ever again.
Chug
Hope this helps.

 

[sjmueller61990]

when i was a kid and went swimming in the ocean and took in large amounts of saltwater, i tended to not feel so well after, could be from full stomach, the salt, im not really sure. if your only taking in small amounts of the salt water im not sure what the problem could be.

 

[Mikemccrsa]

Though I am no dr. I do know that salt water, in particular warm salt water is a very effective emetic. I would suggest paying close attention to the amount of salt water you may be ingesting and try to minimise it or dilute it by taking in suitable levels of fresh water as soon as possible after the dive.

 

[webjr]

Thanks for the replies folks...
The seacure mouthpiece might be worth a try. I've also considered looking for a cheap FFM. If I am ingesting water, I realy think it is a very, very small amount. Virtualy un-noticable, except to my stomach. I do however tend to be a very relaxed diver and since most of my dives are freshwater, I may just be TOO relaxed with the mouthpiece and realy not notice it. I'm having a hard time buying that explanation because I think I would notice if I swallowed a noticable amount of saltwater. The realy hard part is the only way to test a solution is to spend lotsa money on another trip...
Thanks again,
Frustrated Bill

 

[fjpatrum]

Thanks for the replies folks...
The seacure mouthpiece might be worth a try. I've also considered looking for a cheap FFM. If I am ingesting water, I realy think it is a very, very small amount. Virtualy un-noticable, except to my stomach. I do however tend to be a very relaxed diver and since most of my dives are freshwater, I may just be TOO relaxed with the mouthpiece and realy not notice it. I'm having a hard time buying that explanation because I think I would notice if I swallowed a noticable amount of saltwater. The realy hard part is the only way to test a solution is to spend lotsa money on another trip...
Thanks again,
Frustrated Bill

Or drink a few glasses of water with various levels of salinity to see what you react to and extrapolate from that. I find I actually swallow a reasonable amount of water (enough to not have dry mouth) on just about every dive, so far.

 

[Chugwhump]

Cheap solution perhaps would be a relaxing dive in a heavily chrlorinated FW pool, and check for leaks.
Chug
Just an idea.

 

[Chugwhump]

Cheap solution perhaps would be a relaxing dive in a heavily chrlorinated FW pool, and check for leaks.
Chug
Just an idea.

 

[PatW]

The water at Catalina Island (if you are referring to California) is about the same salinity as the Carribean. I wonder if it has anything to do with the water temperature. The Carribean is considerably warmer than Catalina.

This one kind of stumps me. Sea water is salty enough that you should not be able to ingest it without noticing it. I can not see any of it getting through skin or mucus membranes (or at least not enough to cause a problem). But ingestion is about the only thing I can think of that would be likely to cause you to feed your piscatorial neighbors.

 

[dolesorchard]

I have the same problem in the tropics, maybe not as bad as you. When I dive in the tropics, I nearly always feel ill after diving, even snorkelling. At first I thought it was sea sickness, but if I drink lots of water before and after diving, it is almost nonexistent. Just taking my regulator or snorkel in and out a couple of times is enough salt to do it.