Sea sickness

[beechdiver]

Hi I have a question.

I an a PADI AOW with around 100 logged dives mostly in the Caribean. About a year and a half a go I dove in Mexico and ended up getting seasick underwater at my safety stop. Not pleasent but wasnt the end of the world either. a couple days later we went to a cenote and I started getting dizzy underwater but did not actually get sick. But started thinking something must be wrong with me. I came home and went to a ENT and had all sorts of tests ran he did the eply manuver several times and sent me for balance testing and every thing comes up normal So I just decided to take a year off from diving. I did go snorkleing about six months later and started feeling sick also. Is it normal to be more prone to seasickness as you get older ? I'm 44. My year off is up now and I plan on giving it a try again at the end of the month I was taking dramamine everytime.
I do remember having an ear infection a couple weeks before the first time but all my antibiotics were used up when I dove.
I feel like I will get sick easy again Its just dizzy feeling I'm getting evey so often while riding in a car sometimes or on a ski lift.
I still want to dive does anyone have any ideas ?

 

[doctormike]

Well, there is a bell curve for everything, and some people are just more prone to this problem than others... of course, this should only be concluded after your inner ear has been well examined, which it appears that it has. I don't know how extensive the workup was, but it sounds like you had a good evaluation.

The interesting thing is that your symptoms developed in an area where there probably wasn't much surge (a cenote). Surge is a common trigger for underwater seasickness, as opposed to the more typical type experienced on a boat which improves at depth.

If you can remember, did you try closing your eyes at the time? Did that make it worse or better? Was there any change in your hearing or ear pain at the time of the dizziness? There are some things (like an inner ear fistula) which might not show up when being tested at one atmosphere...

Mike

 

[beechdiver]

I dont remember closing my eyes. There was no pain or change in hearing. and out of 100 dives before I only got seasick once. THATS WHAT MAKES ME WONDER

 

[doctormike]

I dont remember closing my eyes. There was no pain or change in hearing. and out of 100 dives before I only got seasick once. THATS WHAT MAKES ME WONDER

That is odd... since you have a lot of dives without dizziness under your belt, it might have just been something transient at that time (like a viral illness that affected your inner ear)... Hard to say, I hope that it doesn't happen again!

 

[siikik]

Have you tried to dive in freshwater to see if you still get dizzy? This just happened to my wife our last dive but there was no explanation... not enough to call it a day, but on the second dive of the day, which, incidentally, was on the same cylinder, she had zero problems...


Ken

 

[cutlass]

The body ages. Things do seem to happen more beginning in the 4th decade. My Achilles tendon snapped right on schedule. But the worse beating came after being wheeled into my own ESS (emergency surgical services) unit... a mix of :shocked2: and

Vertigo and dizziness can have very diverse causes and be tough to figure out, if at all. An infection could precipitate a tendency for recurrent vertigo by altering the balance (esp. vestibular) areas of the inner ear. You also report this sometimes happening during non-diving activities; i.e. while in a car and on a ski lift. Have you noticed any pattern of what sets it off or resolves it; e.g. has taking that Dramamine been helpful? Is it like a moving or whirling sensation? Or is it more like a lightheadedness or "buzz"? The former tends to point to a sensory origin; either the sense organ itself or the interpretation/processing of signals. The use of Dramamine supports this angle. OTOH, the latter may indicate a metabolic or cardiovascular origin. Finally, do you think it's manageable as it is now? Time is sometimes the best diagnostician.

 

[beechdiver]

Yes I have been noticing some dizziness while doing non diving things but not to the point where sickness occurs. On the Ski lift I feel it sometimes I have felt it riding in a car and I have felt it running on a treadmill and it usually goes away pretty quick after I stop doing what makes it start. I hasnt really been to the point where I would take dramamine to ride in the car or go skiing or anything like that but I do think when I go diving the end of the month I will seek a prescript. for Scopace and see what that does. I would describe the feeling as not really lightheadedness but dizzy. If you've ever been really drunk and went to bed and the bed seemed to spin ( but on a much smaller scale) Its just like all of the sudden I get a seasick feeling very easy but it does pass quick. I dont know how else to explain it.

 

[Ed Hatfield]

I have experienced a situation similar to yours. I am a few dives short of 200. About a year and a half ago I noticed that I am more susceptible to nausia on boat dives whereas it never bothered me before. Now as a precaition I take a gravol before any boat dive. I just finished a 'live aboard' in the fall and I took gravol before bed (12 hour ones) and first thing every morning (non-drowsy organic ones). There were lots of people sick but I made it through the week and only felt poorly once. I have a full medical once a year and know that there is no medical reason for the nausia. Knowing that I have become more prone to it (age 54) and taking precautions has stopped the seasickness from interferring with my diving. I hope you can return to diving - it sure is a loss if you have to give it up.

 

[cutlass]

Drunk? I've spent a few wild-child, self-inflicted nights cuddling the toilet bowl

The problem seems to be motion-triggered -- suspended in water, swaying on a lift, pounding along on a treadmill, car riding. Try closing your eyes as doctormike suggested. That should reduce input-signal conflict or overload. An inner ear cause is still suspect #1 despite the clean one-time ENT exam. But I think that a change in vagus nerve tone should also be respected.

Usually, going to prescription stuff such as scopolamine is tried if it's felt that other OTC preparations, even herbal, have been ineffective. Dramamine(tm) and Bonine(tm) are quite commonly available and are different formulas; the former based on dimenhydrinate, the latter on meclizine. Be very careful of sedative effects -- I can't ok going in the water with any of these. Hopefully, you're also getting regular checkups and should report this symptom so that it can be monitored.

 

[beechdiver]

(Drunk? I've spent a few wild-child, self-inflicted nights cuddling the toilet bowl )

I love the choice of words my friend.

Maybe I'm making a mountain out of a molehill but I will try again at the end of the month and will see what happens.