Snorkel Giving Me C02 Poisoning?

[huffnpuff]

I have a snorkel purchased at Academy Sports, part of a "U.S. Divers" set. I had been swimming laps in the pool, driving hard every fifth lap while wearing the snorkel, a mask purchased separately, fins, and diver's gloves.
I had repositioned the snorkel to the left side of my head one day about a week ago.
It did seem as if I was having additional trouble getting my breath after the fifth lap, forcing me to do the back stroke for a lap so I could breath some air unencumbered.
Later, in the locker room, I thought I was going to pass out. I had this experience again after I had lifted weights for around thirty minutes...intensity, on a scale of 1 - 10, 10 being the most intense, about 6 or 7.
Let me say at this point that I do have five stents in my heart, but I am typically athletic, and I have noticed an increase in my stamina.
I haven't had any chest pains, but my breathing has been infrequently shallow.
My question: Could this be C02 poisoning?
After laying off swimming for about five days, these bouts of dizziness went away. I ran at the track last night and experienced no difficulty breathing at all, and again, no chest pains. This seems to confirm C02 poisoning, doesn't it?
Is there a snorkel out there that virtually eliminates the chance of this poisoning while swimming hard laps?

 

[knotical]

Without medical credentials, I cannot diagnose or rule out CO2 poisoning, AKA hypercapnia. Suggest you share your experience with your physician to be sure it is not something serious. It might be totally unrelated to the fact that you were using a snorkel.

A snorkel adds to your normal “dead air space” so you will re-breathe an increased amount of CO2. So the next time you snorkel, whether for fun or exercise, focus on complete exhalations to clear out more CO2 from your system.

There is no snorkel that can eliminate dead air space.

 

[Nemrod]

I am a lap swimmer, usually as much as ten miles per week. I swim a crawl stroke and I do not use aids except for training. The snorkel is a restriction to your breathing. Recently, while playing around, I tried several regulators while at first on my elliptical and then on my bike mounted on a fluid trainer. No regulator, none, could allow me maximum performance and all acted as a restriction to my breathing, and to be specific, I could not exhale sufficiently through them to purge my lungs completely for the next breath, without having to resort to exhaling partially through my nose. With nose clips on I went anaerobic at around 15MPH if I recall and without I was able to sustain and not go anaerobic until well over 20 MPH sustained.

Here I am with a double hose regulator which performed best, along with my Titan LX. I also ran a Conshelf XIV, SP BA 109/MkV and a few others. I am 60 yo, or just shy of it:

The point of my testing was simply to investigate flow volume and most particularly exhaust effort/restriction. I fully understand that for example, in the water in a swim position the double hose regulator has water pressure assisting the lungs to exhale and with a single hose water pressure acts against exhalation, just the opposite for inhalation thus the need for a powerful Venturi in a double hose regulator. Do not bog yourself down in all of that, my point is that no regulator I have at my disposal (and I have over 50), could satisfy my throughput much above 15 MPH without my going anaerobic. I suspect the snorkel would have a similar effect and in fact, I know it does because I have done some testing, swim testing, enough to know it does. I have used a snorkel lap swimming while training for long distance shore dive swims, actually many different types over the years. There is some CO2 latency but mostly there is the restriction in breathing by the tube and it's length.

If I were you, I would lose the snorkel and learn a proper crawl breathing technique. You can use your fins if you insist though in a proper crawl, much of the thrust is generated by your arms.

N

---------- Post added February 11th, 2014 at 07:33 PM ----------

There is no snorkel that can eliminate dead air space.

Actually there is. I am not cognizant of one ever manufactured but many years ago I made a snorkel that used an exhaust valve, as many modern snorkels do to purge water but I also added an intake valve to prevent exhaust out of the tube, about two inches from the mouthpiece and just slightly removed from the exhaust valve, but reversed, opposite. Thus air could only flow in the tube and exhaust went out under water through the exhaust valve. I used an old Nemrod snorkel for the experiment. The experiment was successful in that it worked and there was very little dead space but the small valves I used were very restrictive. Nonetheless, if I was of the mind, I could build a snorkel with very little to essentially no dead space eliminating CO2 retention in the tube. I did not further pursue my experiment because it was quickly apparent, that any snorkel diameter and valve diameters that would be sufficient to not cause a restriction to my breathing would be impractical as a useful snorkel. I was about 18 when I performed those tests.

Also, I too suggest, just in case, given your medical history, should you see a doctor, just to be sure. Us old folks, I can over do it too. I worked out hard Saturday, too hard. There is this "girl", probably 28, triathlon type. Well, I do those too (or did) and she sometimes races me. I usually let her win, because it is kind of we pretend she is not racing me but she is, because I know she is, I see her glance back to make sure! But, I got tired of her thinking she was faster, so I put the hammer down Saturday past and opened the throttles up and gave her a lesson. But, the result is, I did not feel very good and I am still feeling a little under as a result. I got my own lesson, old people should not try to humiliate young people even if they are girls. Or, I should grow up, that is what my wife says.

N

 

[huffnpuff]

Without medical credentials, I cannot diagnose or rule out CO2 poisoning, AKA hypercapnia. Suggest you share your experience with your physician to be sure it is not something serious. It might be totally unrelated to the fact that you were using a snorkel.

A snorkel adds to your normal “dead air space” so you will re-breathe an increased amount of CO2. So the next time you snorkel, whether for fun or exercise, focus on complete exhalations to clear out more CO2 from your system.

There is no snorkel that can eliminate dead air space.

I have considered the psychological impact of breathing through a snorkel. It's like I tell myself, "Okay, you're breathing through a snorkel. Keep your breathing deep, and rhythmic. So I breathe accordingly. This is not natural breathing.
In addition, I removed the (Surely there must be a name for it.) "cork" on this "dry" snorkel, which is supposed to seal off the snorkel were the wearer to submerge. I trimmed off any ragged plastic. Now I suppose it is a "wet" snorkel. I don't intend to submerge anyway, and there is a purge valve.
My original intent was to wear a snorkel and mask so as not to swallow any of this nasty public pool water! :yuck:

 

[Doctorfish]

Retaining CO2 as a result of an increase in dead space in the breathing circuit should only cause you problems for a few minutes. If you have healthy lungs and kidneys, any transient increase in CO2 should be dissipated quickly once off snorkel. If it took days for bouts of dizziness to go away, I suspect something else is going on here.