racerrex9727
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I got open water certified by PADI over the last two weekends, yay. I did pretty well although I sucked my oxygen twice as fast as my two other co-trainees. The instructor playfully made fun of me that I "needed to find my zen." The dives took place in a lake with very poor visibility no greater than 5 feet. It freaked me out at first. I managed to push through though and even started to enjoy it. The fourth final dive with my buddy went really well and I got certified. The instructor said I looked awesome and everything I did was perfect (although my air was 45% depleted for a 25 minute, 27-foot dive).
I took a peak performance buoyancy class immediately that same day following our open water certification. When I geared up and was walking down to the lake, I felt off. My chest was tight and I loosened my BCD trying to breath normally. I could not tell if it was sickness or nerves. I jumped in anyway and proceeded to the descent point. I was already feeling a little out of breath.
This was my fifth dive. We descended only about 14 feet for some trim exercises and I was already having problems. I struggled to stay neutrally buoyant and was struggling to breathe through my regulator. At first I told myself I'm just getting excited and need to slow down. I slowed my breathing but it only got more strained. I felt like my regulator was not giving me enough air. After struggling to stay on task and not thinking clearly, I signaled my instructor something was wrong and I was going to surface. I went up and met two instructors who told me to just breathe and ultimately swam with me to shore.
I told the instructors helping me that I must have a cold, so I dismissed myself from the buoyancy class. At least I pushed through enough to get my open water certification. I had somewhat strained breathing for the rest of the afternoon, and I started to get dizzy and had a sharp earache. I went to the urgent care and they said my right ear was blocked and gave me decongestants to prevent an infection.
I was sick with a moderate cold for two days. Logically, I had sudden problems on my fifth dive because I got sick. But I can't help but think it was psychological because a cold does not stop me from doing other things. I did freak out a little and was struggling to pull myself together. No matter how much I tried to slow down it just got worse and my ability to think clearly declined. The water was closing in and crushing me in a claustrophobic manner. The regulator was simply not giving me enough air.
The experience was so unpleasant it made me question if I wanted to dive again. Can something as simple as a cold cause a dive experience to go suddenly awry like this, especially when I already had four successful dives?
I took a peak performance buoyancy class immediately that same day following our open water certification. When I geared up and was walking down to the lake, I felt off. My chest was tight and I loosened my BCD trying to breath normally. I could not tell if it was sickness or nerves. I jumped in anyway and proceeded to the descent point. I was already feeling a little out of breath.
This was my fifth dive. We descended only about 14 feet for some trim exercises and I was already having problems. I struggled to stay neutrally buoyant and was struggling to breathe through my regulator. At first I told myself I'm just getting excited and need to slow down. I slowed my breathing but it only got more strained. I felt like my regulator was not giving me enough air. After struggling to stay on task and not thinking clearly, I signaled my instructor something was wrong and I was going to surface. I went up and met two instructors who told me to just breathe and ultimately swam with me to shore.
I told the instructors helping me that I must have a cold, so I dismissed myself from the buoyancy class. At least I pushed through enough to get my open water certification. I had somewhat strained breathing for the rest of the afternoon, and I started to get dizzy and had a sharp earache. I went to the urgent care and they said my right ear was blocked and gave me decongestants to prevent an infection.
I was sick with a moderate cold for two days. Logically, I had sudden problems on my fifth dive because I got sick. But I can't help but think it was psychological because a cold does not stop me from doing other things. I did freak out a little and was struggling to pull myself together. No matter how much I tried to slow down it just got worse and my ability to think clearly declined. The water was closing in and crushing me in a claustrophobic manner. The regulator was simply not giving me enough air.
The experience was so unpleasant it made me question if I wanted to dive again. Can something as simple as a cold cause a dive experience to go suddenly awry like this, especially when I already had four successful dives?