Tired after Dive

[havnmonkey]

Diving is a strenuous activity; lifting tanks and gear, checking equipment (mental workout), using muscles you don't use while on land (swimming), breathing at depth puts more strain on your diaphragm. The sun and water will kick you in the stomach more than you think.

 

[Crawl79]

I agree with everyones suggestions. I go back to the Nitrox. Last year at the FG Bank diving air I took a nap during all intervals. This year on Nitrox didnt feel the need for any sleep.

 

[Tagerisatroll]

Sounds like your in very good condition, what you might want to consider is that if you have a High muscle mass you are going to be burning more O2 than some of us tubby fellows which will lead you to feeling tired after the dive. While your using O2 more effecently than us your also going to use up your reserves better too, so after the dive your going to feel tukered out. Which makes you want to go nappy I read a article about it once about competive swimmers that would actually not practice the day before the competition to store up energy in there Muscle to give them an edge in the race.

But me I'm just out of shape when I take a nap after two boat dives its because I'm a wimp and I'm fricking tired.

 

[Rogue_Diver]

All the posts seem right on. Just curious, are you taking anything for seasickness that could be adding to the problem?

 

[stevetim]

Before jumping to conclusions on what makes you want to take a nap so badly after diving...
What are your predive routines including the night before(if you dive primarily AM)? How many hours of sleep do you get before dive day?
What do you eat before you dive? Do you eat and rehydrate after a first dive?
You mentioned a hotel stay. Are you sleeping well since it's a hotel room?
I think you get the point.
There is way too much you haven't disclosed about yourself for anyone to make a good diagnosis of your situation. Maybe a physical checkup is a good idea.
Being on a boat here and breathing dry air sure can kick your butt no matter what kind of shape you are in.
Where do you dive homewise?

 

[sasscuba]

Nitrox is not the cure all for everybody. Air or Nitox I have always been a little tired and can tap a 1-2 hour nap in the afternoon after 2 dives in the morning.

 

[dive_lover88]

on normal dive trips,i normally dive 4 tanks on the 1st day(conservative dives) and during the SI i would sack out. I agree that it's kinda physically exterting on the body,so no you might feel tired. This maybe one of the reason so dont discount the other underlying causes.
Just my 2 bubbles worth.

 

[Lamnid]

well of course it could be anything for why you feel tired - like all the good points that have already been made by people. Personally - if i do 2 dives a day I'll feel shattered afterwards. It is quite a strenuous sport in the fact that the tiredness sorta sneaks up on you. I mean, I don't usually feel tired until I sit down to have lunch between dives and then i'm like "gotta take a nap!"

 

[jiveturkey]

I know you might not experience this in the same way in Key Largo, but cold water makes me tired. Since I started diving dry my fatigue level has gone way down. I have so much more energy after a dive and its the only thing about my diving that I've changed in the last 2 years.

 

[Quero]

Post-dive fatigue is very common. An explanation I was once given that makes sense to me is that a diver will have microbubbles remaining in the tissues after a dive, even when staying well within the no-decompression limits. The more dives in a short period, the more nitrogen is loaded, and the more microbubbles may be present. Off-gassing all this nitrogen taxes the system in some way, causing fatigue. This explanation supports the reports of divers that diving with nitrox reduces post-dive fatigue.

We may throw around heavy terminology like "sub-clinical DCI" pretty freely when we consider fatigue, and in fact, studies have shown definitively that there are microbubbles present even in divers who practice slow ascents, make deep stops, and generally dive conservatively. With that information, it seems likely that all of us have some greater or lesser degree of "sub-clinical DCI" after every dive.