15 replies to this topic

[shadragon]

Due to the long weekend I was able to get out diving Sunday and Monday. Sunday was a killer day with viz upwards of 60-70 feet and I got in a pair of decent dives. Was looking forward to Monday as we were going to do Cathedral, a series of beautiful swim through's and caverns including a decent one called Devils Throat. One of Bermuda's best dive sites.

On Monday, I spent 49 minutes going between 12 - 43 feet at the deepest part of the first dive. Series of ups and downs with left and right turns. These were gradual with no great deviations in depth. Nice slow ascents and descents behind an instructor and two beginner divers. I was at the end of the line. Half way through the dive I started to develop a mild headache. I don't usually get headaches and had no issues with clearing my ears so I dismissed it initially. This was in the front of my head, not sinus related, but further back. As the dive progressed I began to feel worse and when I got back to the dive boat I dropped off my gear and immediately asked for aspirin as it was too painful to keep my eyes open. I took some ASA and could feel nausea rising. Did not throw up, but it was close. Started to develop minor vertigo and I lay down on the deck feeling terrible. The headache rose to the most painful level I have ever experienced and I simply could not get up. I did not do the second dive obviously and by the time the boat got back to the dock the aspirin had kicked in and I was feeling much better. After rinsing my gear it was gone.

I was attended throughout by crew members and fellow divemasters. The boat Captain said it was "Shallow Water Sickness" and he had suffered the same thing on the same site, but to a lesser extent. I did some research on Google and found several articles on the phenomenon. The changes in direction and depth confuse the inner ear and all of the symptoms I suffered were described. In my almost 200 dives I have never run across this before and I am very glad I made it out of the water before it hit me full force because I would have been in trouble with the headache / vertigo / nausea combination. We were surrounded by coral heads and rescue in those conditions would have been challenging. That is if anyone noticed I was indeed missing being at the back of the line.

The way to defeat it (According to the captain) is a series of short safety stops where you pause momentarily during ascents to let your system equilibrium recover. I wanted to let everyone know about this and if you experience a headache in the water it is time to call the dive. If you wait for it to go away you may wait too late and suffer for it. I have no idea how many divers have suffered this, but I hope my experience assists someone else in the same situation.

[Victoria]

Wow! I haven't ever heard of that one. Thank you for sharing your experience, Simon.

[scubaski]

I would check with DAN to see if there's a article and /or phone them.

[shadragon]

Did that first thing.

[uwfan]

Hmmm, now I'm wondering what caused my headache when I did my checkout dives some 14+ years ago... Thanks for the info Simon and glad you are feeling better!

[diverdeb]

Just curious, you didn't mention O2. Did you go on O2 on the boat?

[shadragon]

Just curious, you didn't mention O2. Did you go on O2 on the boat?

No O2. I had no other DCS / AGE symptoms and once I lay down it felt better.

[damselfish]

Are you sure the tank mix was good?
Thanks for the info. ~ D

[shadragon]

I was the only one with issues and we all filled off the same compressor. I trust the air source as far as that goes.

[Hipshot]

One thing that struck me right off the bat was that the changes of depth in shallow water involve the greatest percentage pressure and O2 partial pressure changes in the shortest of times. For example, in ascending from 33 fsw to the surface at 1 ft/minute, one goes from 0.42 to 0.21 atmospheres O2 in a little over 30 seconds. That's a 50% decrease in O2 partial pressure. Now, from the sound of it, you were making a number of depth changes, albeit slowly, during a relatively short period of time. Do you think that there might have been some physiological stress that could have caused or contributed to the problem? Just a thought.

Rick

[damselfish]

ahemm um Yeah I was thinking that same thing Rick! That partial pressure thingy! hehe.

[BeachJunkie]

I had this happen to me this past weekend. While not as severe. The headache was splitting! Cruising around and through all the stuff sunk in the quarry you don't really give much thought to depth. I think it was the 727 that got me though. going from 15 to 50 then back up the tail and around the bird up to the Cobra helicopter. Lots of depth change in relatively shallow water. Didn't know there was an actual name for it. Definitely sucks. Certainly something to think about. Glad it didn't end up worse for you.

[shadragon]

This just in from DAN:

Headaches can be a hazard in the diving environment and anyone who suffers them routinely from diving is oftentimes advised to discontinue diving until the cause is identified and remedied.

Attached is a copy of Dr. Cronje’s article from Alert Diver magazine that talks specifically about headaches and diving.

Again, thanks for your E-mail as well as your membership support. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate in contacting this office directly.

Article is below - FYI

Attached Files

•  Headache___Diving__Cronje_.pdf   105.08KB   85 downloads

[Landlocked Dive Nut]

Excellent info, and thanks for this thread!!! I too have gotten occasional headaches & nausea underwater and have been given all kinds of advice on how to manage my "mask squeeze". I never thought twice about the nausea since I'm prone to it, but I never figured out what caused the rare headaches, which would go away fairly quickly after surfacing & sitting still with my head in my hands for a few minutes. I never tied my symptoms to that type of shallow dive (<50 ft weaving in and around coral formations), but it makes sense as I go back over my diving history and consider my inner-ear sensitivity. This topic gives me more insight on the issue, and I will test it in Bonaire during a couple of shore dives on arrival day after my orientation. If I feel it all coming on in Bonaire, I can test to see if the solution works for me.

[scubaski]

What's the solution??

So head ache 1st then nausea or nausea then head ache ?

You know I'm a propondent of Myclinne. I use some every night when diving, due to some nausea when diving in sites with surge and ocean conditions. I've seen a group ( i think all family members) pop a couple of TUMS antiacids just before diving in. I can see the logic of reducing stomach acid if you have a likelyhood of nausea above or below the surface. Ss