13 replies to this topic

[Landlocked Dive Nut]

We were all taught during our OW classes how important it is to avoid dehydration while diving. But, how many of us (other than the esteemed medical professionals in our membership!) think about hydration other than to relieve the dry mouth after a dive? How many of us know if we're truly getting enough water to help us avoid a DCS hit? Breathing a single standard-sized tank of compressed air saps your body of nearly a full cup of water alone, since your body has to humidify that air to 100% before you can breathe it efficiently.

The best way to combat dehydration is to drink plenty of water. Avoiding drinks with caffeine or alcohol in them, as those both increase urine production which speeds up dehydration, is also a good idea. If you do drink in the evening on a dive trip, make sure you continue to drink water, too.

But, how much water is enough? Forget about counting glasses or ounces of water. There is one very easy way to evaluate your hydration status: look at the color of your urine. For the diver's pee test, your goal is "clear and copious". The yellow color of urine is largely due to the nitrogenous waste product, urea. So, the darker the color, the more concentrated the urine. And the more concentrated the urine, the more dehydrated you are. The way you dilute your urine is by drinking more nonalcoholic or noncaffeinated fluid. Notice how yellow in color your morning urine is? Best thing as a diver that we can do is get the water into our system as soon as we can in the morning, to start the hydration process.

So, next dive trip, drink a full glass of water in the morning before you get your morning cup of java and keep it going throughout your dive day. After every dive, when you get back onto the dive boat, don't just "wet your mouth" with one of the tiny paper cupfulls.....replace that 8 ounces of water you just lost breathing that tank of compressed air, plus a little more to allow for normal evaporation lost through the skin from wind & sun exposure. If your buddy isn't drinking enough water, remind him or better yet, bring him some so you aren't put in the position of watching your buddy take a DCS hit.

Perhaps it's safest to assume that every diver will be somewhat dehydrated at some point during the normal dive day, because it comes with the territory. We should be proactive & take whatever actions we can to reduce its effects. Don't listen to your level of thirst as an indicator: drink plenty of water, more than you think you need, even if you aren't thirsty. And watch your urine color to make sure you're "in the clear"....

[Mermaid Lady]

Good info.

I learned the "pee test" nearly two decades ago from my doctor when I had bladder related surgery.

[Quero]

It's great that you posted this as a reminder to everybody how important hydration is!

Here in the tropical part of the world where I work, it's more than just the super-dry compressed air that contributes to dehydration. People who aren't used to the climate tend to sweat a lot, and that's a big contributor. And then because it's hot here, people love to sit on the bow of the boat and let the wind cool them. The wind works to dehydrate as well. And they love to soak in the sun's rays between dives, especially when they're visiting during winter from a cold climate. This also adds to it.

So in addition to reminding my divers of the mantra "hydrate, hydrate, hydrate," I also give them a plastic bottle of water and tell them to have it in their hand to sip from whenever they're not in the ocean during a dive. I find that drinking from a cup (and we have the big ones) satisfies the thirst enough that they don't remember to drink more, but with a bottle in their hands, which they refill when it becomes empty, they do drink quite a lot of it before the first dive and throughout the surface intervals.

There is one counterargument that I have to deal with fairly frequently, though. And that is that some divers try to drink as little as they can manage so that they won't feel the urgency to pee during the dive or before they can wiggle out of their wetsuits. Lots of people mistakenly think it's better to avoid the "pee problem" by not drinking fluids. After a little "re-education" I get most of them to down a bottle (half a liter) before each dive , which seems to be enough to produce pale pee in just about everybody.

[Capn Jack]

Good pointers.

Sad to say, but one of the major dehydrators is another favorite vacation activity - drinking copious amounts of alcoholic beverages. While this has some desirable side effects, such as making ugly members of the opposite sex much more attractive, it really does take a lot more fluids out than however much you pour in.

There is a large body of evidence that dehydration is THE most common unifying factor in Decompression Sickness events - and no small amount of anecdotal evidence that alcohol was a contributor to that dehydration.

And now - on a lighter note - I submit for your viewing pleasure a persuasive - pro-ToKillYa advertisement.

Attached Files

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Edited by Capn Jack, 22 February 2009 - 07:53 PM.

[shadragon]

Good comments. I try to start hydrating the day before. If it takes 24 hours for N2 to leave your system, then it seems logical to hydrate a day in advance.

[ddierolf]

I agree, hydration is very important. I have cramped up on the surface heading back to the boat a few times. Makes for a long painful swim especially in current!

[Landlocked Dive Nut]

Of course, I forgot to mention that you have to get out of your dive suit once in a while to actually see the color you're producing! Peeing in the wetsuit doesn't give you much feedback!

[ddierolf]

Of course, I forgot to mention that you have to get out of your dive suit once in a while to actually see the color you're producing! Peeing in the wetsuit doesn't give you much feedback!

I guess you haven't been on boats I have been on. Believe me, some peoples wetsuits give "ALOT" of feedback that they peed!

[BeachJunkie]

Hydrate or die. The Army motto. Since the days of basic training and forced hydration it's been one of the things I'm constantly thinking about. And the pee test if used here too. We even have "test" sheets hung above all the urinals to that you can guage your level of hydration haha. I haven't really been on any dive trips so constant diving and worrying about alcohol consumption hasn't been an issue. I'm looking forward to it though. Definitely something to think about.

[Quero]

Hydrate or die. The Army motto. Since the days of basic training and forced hydration it's been one of the things I'm constantly thinking about. And the pee test if used here too. We even have "test" sheets hung above all the urinals to that you can guage your level of hydration haha. I haven't really been on any dive trips so constant diving and worrying about alcohol consumption hasn't been an issue. I'm looking forward to it though. Definitely something to think about.

You haven't been on dive trips? Time to get wet! And no, I'm not talking about "forced hydration" LOL.
(If you need a "nearby" place to dive during your R&R, think of us here in Thailand. I've had a few of our compatriots come down for diving both from Iraq and Afghanistan.)

[hambergler]

All this being said, you can be overhydrated. Your body is the best indicator of your state of hydration. Does the roof of your mouth feel salty? Is your pee hard yellow and stinky, yellow, pale yellow, or clear? Any of the middle stages, and you're okay. There is such a thing as overhydration.

One thing that many people forget is the level of electrolytes in your blood. You may be peeing clear and every thirty minutes, but you may also be critically low on your salt and other electrolyte levels; remember that you carry an ocean inside your body, and that the ocean is salt water. Not only salt, but Potassium and other electrolyte chemicals are important.

We had a race weekend several years ago, and it was over 100 and everybody was drinking plenty of water and all that, but one of the guys felt really bad after the raceday was over, and decided to visit the ER; he was lethargic and felt bad, and couldn't figure it out. He got to the ER, and one of the nurses gave him a Pedialyte frozen bar. He perked right up, and in 10 minutes was good to go.

[Scubatooth]

all of the good rules of hydration have been mentioned. couple of other points if your mouth is getting dry or you feel abit thirsty you about a quart low at least. if your the type that cant go through the day without your caffeine then at least drink 3x the amount of water you did caffeinated beverages to dilute it down to even out.

rules of thumb for how much you need to drink to help out
Dry mouth or beginning of thirst ~1qt low
Minor headache ~2qt low
Major headache approaching Migrane status 3qts low - it would be advisable to stop what ever your doing and get in the cool and/or shade

As long as your sweating things are good if you have stopped sweating and you have any of these symptoms above, seek professional attention as you are now baking your body and brain and your suffering from heat stroke. This is why im around, at work if we see something like this standard drill is two large bore IVs and put in 1-2 liters of fluids and see from there if we need to get more aggressive from there (cutting off clothes, wet towels, ice packs, etc).

side note on sports drinks - there good but really high in sugar and salt, if you can dilute them down 50% it will do you much better then straight. also if you can add a extra tsp of baking soda to a quart for extra electrolytes. If anyone wants me to post the World Health Org rehydration formula i will. WHO juice is based off the original formula of Gatorade which didnt have anywhere near the amount of sugar the current version does.

For diving i start a flush routine a week before I go on a trip to dive. At that point the caffeine is cut out to bare min (like the 3am Dr. Pepper or Coffee at work) and i double the normal 1-1.5 gallons of water a day (My partner gets annoyed the number of times a day we have to stop so i can go on a normal day). I keep this up all the way through trip until i get back home as most trips involve flying so keeping hydrated will greatly reduce the risk of DVT as well as help keep waste products out of the body which can lessen the potential for DCS, it wont help with the bubbles but will make sure your circulating volume is very good (which will also lower your Blood pressure as well since the body is free of alot of waste products that can cause organs not to operate at peak efficiency).

IMHO and FWIW

Tooth

[BeachJunkie]

A bit off topic but popped into my head... Tooth, ever give any "australian IV's" ? We've had to cork a few guys over here. Our medics will find just about any twisted way possible to hydrate someone. The way they see it, if you were dumb/lazy enough to take a hydration hit, you deserve it.

[Scubatooth]

BeachJunkie - I know what you mean . I havent done one (I know of 3 medics that have done it and 2 were female medics ) but i have threatened to do that, and thats as far as i needed to go to get a IV established. The Drunk got a little belligerent and that is when I whipped out the 14ga IV needle and when he saw the size of the needle passed out showing me a good external jugular that i was able to sink a 14 and get fluids on board. We got 2 liters on board by the time we got to the hospital 8 minutes later, and they ended up giving him and 3 more plus a electrolyte cocktail before sending him home many hours later.

Yeah medics; we are a twisted bunch that you really dont want to tick off because were certifiable with papers to prove it. With that said we can also be your best friend when it hits the fan.

Edited by Scubatooth, 23 February 2009 - 02:35 AM.