Tire Gas and Bottle Hunting Are Killing Me

[H20doctor]

poor tom, being picked on by dive friends who love him

[kdupreez]

Tom,

There area a hundred and one things that could produce some kind of perceived self diagnosed sub clinical symptoms and combined with our individual physiology and even physiological factors that per day per dive can influence us or just plain being a new diver working hard on a dive, it all matters..

Hell, I remember my first months of diving had me down and out for the count and after every dive it felt like a ran a marathon.. This was purely because of stress, cold, working hard, etc... I felt the EXACTLY same after a few hours of skiing for the first time 12 years ago and it had nothing to do with "nitrogen loading" and was surely not sub-clinical DCS.. I was just plain tired and exhausted after a hard stressful day in shallow cold water as a new inexperienced open water diver.
There are many many things to consider and the best we can do is probably be more conservative and make changes to the things we can control.

Thermal stress, dehydration, CO2 buildup, Nitrogen loading, being tired, working hard on the dive, fast ascent rates, aggressive dive profiles etc. etc. All have an impact..

This things that I could offer in my limited years of experience that I empirically can vouch for helping me feel less tired after dives are:

- Eat a something decent before a dive, slow releasing proteins + some short term carbs works well for me
- P-Valve and Hydrate Hydrate Hydrate!! (This was really a BIG factor for me in not getting headaches after long dive days)
- Using good insulation and argon to reduce thermal stress (Made a huge difference in my perky-ness after a dive)
- Take it slow on the dive to reduce CO2 buildup and overexertion (I felt like a train hit me after very hard working dives)
- Use Nitrox to give your body a little bit of extra O2 and less N2 for deeper/longer dives. (cant prove it, but usually feel better)
- Apply conservatism to dive profiles and stay well within limits and RELAX during the dive.
- Keep ascent rates well within 30fpm deeper and 10fpm shallower.(Also made a good difference for me)
- Take it slow after the dive too, dont stress your already nitrogen loaded body at the max of-gassing stage.
- Warm up, eat something and hydrate hydrate hydrate directly after dive

I can honestly say, these things helped me a lot and the most was eating, hydration, thermal stress and exertion, slow ascents.

Safe diving and although you have many many years of more experience than I do, I hope you can find some of these tips helpful!

K

[bucknaked]

If u have ever dove with tom you knows that he inflates his wing and uses it like an elevator to get to the surface. It is truly a majestic sight to see tom breech the surface from his safety stop

[Joshua Smith]

If u have ever dove with tom you knows that he inflates his wing and uses it like an elevator to get to the surface. It is truly a majestic sight to see tom breech the surface from his safety stop

Yep. Its pretty amazing. When he hammers the wing inflator from deeper than 100', he can *almost* get his fins all the way out of the water when he breeches.

[spatman]

If u have ever dove with tom you knows that he inflates his wing and uses it like an elevator to get to the surface. It is truly a majestic sight to see tom breech the surface from his safety stop

Yep. Its pretty amazing. When he hammers the wing inflator from deeper than 100', he can *almost* get his fins all the way out of the water when he breeches.

That's why we call him Tom "Polaris" Nic.

[kdupreez]

Extra points if you bring your buddy with you!

[lamont]

Subclinical DCS flu is quite different than ordinary thermal stress, and the effects of CO2 are easily differentiable by the splitting headache after the dive.

[kdupreez]

Thank heavens I had my flu shot this winter!

[Joshua Smith]

Thank heavens I had my flu shot this winter then!

I guess I should shoot someone too. Or go diving with the flu. Or something. I get confused pretty easily. Should I shoot someone with the flu?

[ljjames]

I'll go out on a limb here and guess he meant "flu like feeling" sometimes also referred to as malaise, generalized feeling of un-well or 'out of sorts'.

malaise |məˈlāz, -ˈlez| noun
a general feeling of discomfort, illness, or uneasiness whose exact cause is difficult to identify

[kdupreez]

[Tom Nic]

If u have ever dove with tom you knows that he inflates his wing and uses it like an elevator to get to the surface. It is truly a majestic sight to see tom breech the surface from his safety stop

Yep. Its pretty amazing. When he hammers the wing inflator from deeper than 100', he can *almost* get his fins all the way out of the water when he breeches.

That's why we call him Tom "Polaris" Nic.

Which is why I am buying a white dry suit and changing my screen name to "Moby Dick".

[Jeremy]

:lol:

[Jeff Pack]

Which is why I am buying a white dry suit and changing my screen name to "Moby Nic".

fixed that for ya..

[Tom Nic]

Which is why I am buying a white dry suit and changing my screen name to "Moby Nic".

fixed that for ya..

Perfect!

[CaptnJack]

I'll go out on a limb here and guess he meant "flu like feeling" sometimes also referred to as malaise, generalized feeling of un-well or 'out of sorts'.

malaise |məˈlāz, -ˈlez| noun
a general feeling of discomfort, illness, or uneasiness whose exact cause is difficult to identify

Welcome to November!

[spatman]

malaise |məˈlāz, -ˈlez| noun
a general feeling of discomfort, illness, or uneasiness whose exact cause is difficult to identify, often characterized by snippy, argumentative responses on Internet forums.

Fixed that for ya.

[pogiguy05]

I just did 8 dives at 8 different dive sites here in Bonaire yesterday. That was another reason to use 32%.

Dude - how did this slip by me? You are in Bon-frickin-aire?!?

While I agree with you, you do realize now that we hate you, right?

If it helps any our entire truck was stolen...fortunately there was nothing in it. :(

Now am I the only one thinking OK stolen truck on a small Island.......Now that should be very hard to find

[seainggreen]

*laugh snort*

Yup, that's a genuine laugh-snort all the way over here in Singapore.

laurynn

[bucknaked]

Which is why I am buying a white dry suit and changing my screen name to "Moby Nic".

fixed that for ya..

I think it was more appropriate the first time.

[Jeremy]

I just did 8 dives at 8 different dive sites here in Bonaire yesterday. That was another reason to use 32%.

Dude - how did this slip by me? You are in Bon-frickin-aire?!?

While I agree with you, you do realize now that we hate you, right?

If it helps any our entire truck was stolen...fortunately there was nothing in it. :(

Now am I the only one thinking OK stolen truck on a small Island.......Now that should be very hard to find

They stole the truck, took it to a nearby field, removed the battery and tires, and then torched the rest of the truck.

[Tom Nic]

Hmmm... I'm smelling an inside insurance job since they were old trucks to begin with.

[Jeremy]

That thought occurred to us as well

[Tom Nic]

Time to make double sure that the insurance you take out on the truck covers theft as well.

[airsix]

So every time I'm tired is because of a "poor ascent"? Really? Come on Ben...

Hi Tom
I'm sorry I came off that way. I didn't mean to imply there was anything wrong with your ascents. Everybody was chatting about mixes and I just meant to say a high-oxygen mix isn't a substitute for a nice slow non-linear ascent profile. I wasn't pointing my finger at you at all. I also apologize for dropping that comment and then not coming back for 3 days to clean my mess.

While we're talking about this subject... There's a dive we do here in the Tri-Cities. We call it "the channel". It's a Columbia River drift dive that follows the old natural river channel. The river is now much deeper and wider due to the dams. The channel is basically a steep-walled canyon winding up the middle. The current is swift and we let it carry us along the bottom of the channel for about a mile and a half. A few years ago I was doing this dive periodically with friends and despite finishing from a max depth of 65-70ft with a stretched min-deco ascent I was feeling very fatigued (regardless if mix was 32% or 21%) for several hours after the dives. I realized the problem was a section of the dive where the bottom rises from about 50ft to 20ft and then drops back to 60-70. We fly along in the current, following the bottom and the 50-20-60 happens very quickly. I realized that brief section of the dive was the problem. I quit doing that dive and make an effort to keep my profiles as square as I can now. It makes a big difference for me. I'd be curious to hear from our cave-diving friends who often have no choice but to roller-coaster-profile their way through the tubes. Does that make you guys & gals feel the fatigue like I'd expect I would?

Ben