Vomiting during a dive

[BartBe]

Atticus once bubbled...
Sorry Bartbe, I should have looked at your location first.

So, how is the diving in Belgium?

hehe... no worries I kinda tought it was an American thing

What the diving in belgium is like... i'll let you know once I start...
I only start my course next week but i'm one of those overly worried guys that just has a million questions about the subject before anyone even gets the chance to explain anything to me.
I'll probably suffer a nervous breakdown before i even get a chance to get in the water

Looking forward to it though... (The water that is )

 

[ddown]

I had a bad Fied Grouper for Lunchg I think on a nice reef just lost it but never surfaced fought it for a long time . Found out it's better to hold onto regulator and let it rip!!!

 

[Wreck Wench]

In addition to the acid reflux issue....you can also get a reverse squeeze which can result in getting sick under water or in my case...usually on the hang line. I've found this condition happens to me frequently if I sleep directly under an a/c unit. I also tend to get VERY sea sick in general. No matter how bad you feel on the boat....you WILL feel better in the water! (The trick is to get someone to help you get your gear on and throw you in cuz I am usually too sick to do it myself!) Occassionally if there is alot of surge or current....and there is a lot of particulate matter flowing....I have a tendency to lose it as well.

So at this point you are probably worried about even getting into this sport....so let me clarify a few things:

1. I never get sick in Caribbean diving destinations.....only on day long, choppy, dive trips. (Most people I know find the same thing.)
2. I really love diving and yes it is worth getting sick over, or else I wouldn't do it. (Besides each dive puts me closer to finally getting my sealegs!)
3. If you do puke.....you usually feel better especially underwater. Sometimes I'll swallow a bit of saltwater if I'm sick underwater just so I'll puke and get it over with....that is on the rare occassions I get sick underwater now that I know to avoid direct a/c; not to eat acidic or greasy foods before diving, etc.
4. If you do have to blow....so to speak......clench your teeth onto your mouthpeice and drop your head downward so gravity works to your advantage and keep 'blowing' so to speak even after you think the physical process is over with. It may help to hold the regulator in your mouth as well. By doing this....I always get a good clean purge.....only breath back in air when I do gasp for breath again.....and it also helps people to not see it as much by aiming downward vs. forward. (Although I'm too sick at the moment to care....it saves a lot of razzing back on the boat when I am feeling better!)

Hope this helps....complements of "The Queen of Green" aka Wreck Wench

 

[DandyDon]

Wreck Wench once bubbled...
I also tend to get VERY sea sick in general. No matter how bad you feel on the boat....you WILL feel better in the water! (The trick is to get someone to help you get your gear on and throw you in cuz I am usually too sick to do it myself!) Occassionally if there is alot of surge or current....and there is a lot of particulate matter flowing....I have a tendency to lose it as well.

I know how rough it is on those waters, but you do it time and time again? uke: Wow, you're tough!

Would/could the skipper let you drive the boat once in open waters? I've never know anyone to get motion sickness while driving a car, and I'd bet that being the operator would help with the mind over illness thing.

I've never been seasick (affected, but not really ill), and when I think back - I got a lot of experience as the driver of small boats on the rough, windblown waters of West Texas lakes before getting on my first dive boat. Then, too - there were all those hours on a tractor, plowing rough dirt. Maybe I was well prepared?

On the times I have felt ill, I found two actions help me when watching the horizon wasn't enough:
(1) Sleeping - which I guess takes my mind off of the problem, so I won't dwell on it; and
(2) Smoking - which is bad, but it sure helped at the time.

The one time I've seen a diver regergitate in the water was in a shallow dive with a strong, six foot surge. Watching fish jump forwards and backwards was too much for him. I guess all those years in the saddle, watching cattle, helped me condition, too?

But I do do two preventatives:
(1) Antihistimine to keep the ear tubes open, helping iwht equalizing and motion challenges both; and
(2) Antacids, as I do have reflux problems - after a big meal, or when diving slighly head down.

Hang in there, and :moon: don't forget to wave at the other boats.

 

[diverkim]

I vomited once because of a hangover. I removed my reg to vomit. I didn't want any pieces hanging around inside my reg.ut:

 

[Wreck Wench]

Perhaps this is the REAL POLL in this thread.....if you have ever puked in your regulator....did anything cling? And if so....was it enough to be a problem?

I've had the misfortune of losing it in my reg a number of times. In every event I've had nothing cling....of course I continue to purge forcefully after the 'event' so to speak....to insure that anything left over is forced out. I'm envious as I can't remove the reg first....I'm usually feeling way to sick to actually have the presence of mind to "remove regulator, lose contents of stomach, return regulator, and then breathe normally".

I'm just happy that when its over and I start to feel human again that the reg is still in my mouth.....I'm still breathing.....my leg or arm is still wrapped around the hang line and all is still well in the diving universe!

 

[cavemanxxx]

Reef Guy

can you explain more about this. I have it too.........

Atticus. I'm in the same boat as you . I started getting sick towards the end of my first dive, and would be unable to complete my second dive (I was doing a lot of two tank boat dives at the time). I'd feel very sick at the bottom and safety stop, then puke on the boat and feel better.

 

[Bonnet Ray]

I have been told many times that once I get in the water I will feel better...NOT. The last time I was sick on board, waiting at the surface to descend and on the way down. By the time we got to the bottom I was dizzy and had to call the dive. I spent the rest of the day laid down feeling very sorry for myself. It took a while to learn that if I am sick on top it is no better underwater and I am best to sit the dive out (usually over the side of the boat).

Now I take meds for the seasickness and haven't had a problem since. I've just spent a week on a liveaboard in the red sea which I couldn't have done a year ago. Next we are off to the Brothers (and I shall take extra strength for emergencies although I won't be able to dive if I have to take them).

 

[FFMDiver]

Can anyone relay their experience of puking into a regulator at depth? Did it make you quit the dive, was it a scary experience etc. Thanks
:voskl1:

 

[GrierHPharmD]

I've only done it once or twice, and I kept the reg at the edge of my mouth. I know that PADI says to puke through the regulator, but I turned my mouth sideways and didn't have any trouble. Rinsed with a little seawater, put the reg back in, and went on with the dive.

Now I don't eat or drink too much within an hour or two before diving, and I haven't been sick any more.

Hope it helps,
Grier