Sick underwater

[Kat]

Neve,
On my OW certification I was seasick. I ended up uke: through my reg. I have taken Dramamine with varing results. I also have had that sick feeling as I go up. I thought it was part of the seasickness. As I tend to feel the current more near the surface. I do not have this problem when I shore dive. I also need to avoid eating before diving. Small snacks seem to be ok. That's why I eat everything I can find when I'm done diving. I will have to check out Bonine, it sounds like its pretty good.

 

[FredT]

Originally posted by Kat
Neve,
I will have to check out Bonine, it sounds like its pretty good.

It is a wonderful seasickness drug, but it is best to take it the night before the boat ride. Mechanism causes most people to want to nap for about 8 hours, then be good to go for the next 16. I try to take it 10 hours or more before the boat departs. This gives me a good night's sleep, and no motion worries the next day.

Another thing that helps motion sickness is to eat a small non-fat meal with light carbs before departure. This keeps blood sugar up during the dive, and doesn't sit too heavy in the gut. Save the sausage gravy biscuts and cajun omlet for after the boat docks. Avoid rice though. That stuff hangs up in the sinuses if the meds fail!

FT

 

[Laurence Stein DDS]

Neve,

FredT is not far off. First off I'm not an MD but a dentist. I've been diving for years.

FredT's suggestions for predive diet is correct--light breakfast, skip the fatty stuff.

I suspect the cause of your problem is related to your middle ear/inner ear/sinuses. On ascent, one of your ears probably doesn't equalize to the same extent as the other. The unequal pressure can trick your ears and set off motion sickness. The more dives you do the more congested you may get. Another possiblity is the temperature of the water. If the cold water gets into your ear canal, it can stimulate vertigo and/or nausea.

You might even want an ENT to check out your eardrums. While unlikely, a perforated eardrum can lead to real problems.

While I've seen it recommended for motion sickness, most of the medications available have drowsiness as a side effect. The patch can even cause hallucinations. All must be taken well before the onset of symptoms or even setting foot on the boat.

I'm not quite sure how wise it is to dive--especially deep--while taking these medications.

In the For What It's Worth Department, my wife stopped diving 16 years ago. Her last two dives spaced exactly three years apart. It's funny how morning sickness and sea sickness seem worse when they happen at the same time. Now she gets sick if she even sees a motion picture of a pitching boat, i.e. The Perfect Storm. This is a true story. My kids are now 16 and 19.

Hope you feel better--if you try long enough you'll probably get your "sea legs".

Regards,

Larry Stein

 

[art.chick]

That was a great post! I loved the part about your poor wife; amazing how these physical impressions stay with us!

 

[Laurence Stein DDS]

art.chick

"POOR WIFE"--I haven't heard the end of it for 19 years! Actually, they are great kids and we love them both.

CYa.

Larry Stein

 

[booga_roo]

You need to remmeber that even when you are at your safety stop you are still affected by all the balance issues. I know people who puke regularly on dives, not when they are on the boat but when they are on the bottom. You'd be surprised what your head gets up to without you noticing.

If its any consolation, I get puky if I spend too long on the surface bobbing around in choppy seas. And on the boat. and in surge. uke:

 

[art.chick]

That surface chop works on my composure, too!

 

[neve]

Hello folks,

Once again thanks to all who have replied.

I went to see an ENT specialist and he checked out my sinuses and ears. The result: everything looks normal. He is not a dive doctor but he thinks this condition is common among divers (he has seen 3 divers who have the same problem). Different people have different balancing mechanism and ability to equalise. I think Larry Stein was correct to say that my ears can't equalise at the same time, hence my inner balancing mechanism gets screwy.

My ENT specialist suggested that I try descending and ascending at a slower rate and equalising more often (I thought I equalise enough!). He also said that taking Dramamine 8 hours before diving can help a little, but it actually increases the chance of nitrogen narcosis (if you're diving deep).

BTW, I'm copying the whole thread into my PDA so I can bring it with me in my next trip. 14 days to go!! Woohoo!!

 

[Tartan Terror]

:samuria:

I suffer badly with sea sickness and have to use Quells (UK). Best advice I can give is:

1. You must eat & drink plenty of fluids. Reason being its better to puke than pull a muscle dry reching.

2. If your going to puke hold your reg in.

3. From personnal experience, if you do puke don't surface from directly below as you find you end up wearing it, thus no-one is that friendly or sympathetic when you get back on the boat.

If these sugestions don't work, I hope I've made you smile!!

 

[neve]

Hiay folks,

I should've posted this a long time ago after my trip (5-7 July), but better late than never!

I'm glad to report I was barf-free in all 5 dives. My trip report is here.

I've followed most of the tips offered by the dive-gurus in thsi thread, and it seemed to have worked wonders! Basically, this is what I did:

1. Take two Dramamine 24 hours before the first dive, and one more 8 hours before.
2. Get plenty of rest/sleep before the dive.
3. Stay away from from alcohol 24 hours before the dive.
4. Take my last meal at least 12 hours before the dive, and only eat again after all the dives of the day are done.
5. Drink PLENTY of water before, in between, and after dives. Hot tea or ginger tea also helps. Skip the milk.
6. If you absolutely have to eat (eg. if you're doing a night dive), have some dry toast with no spread. Dry crackers are fine too, but make sure the amount is small.
7. Ascend and descend very slowly, even slower than the normal rate. Tell your DM beforehand so he/she knows you have this problem and will wait for you while you slowly descend/ascend. This method helped me enormously because my tummy adjusts to the change of pressure at a slower rate, hence no gag reflex.

These methods have been tested and proven to work on me, but may not work on others.

Thanks again for all your feedback! I'm looking forward to more barf-free diving!!

Next trip: 9-11 Aug, Riau Islands, Indonesia