Breathless? - diet?

[rudyforest]

I have been diving half a year. I train pool once a week and have a 2:45 underwater time (in pool), 1:20ish dives, 66 DYN, 4:30 static, so I'm not a rank beginner.

Last weekend, we were out and I could just not get my breath! it did not matter how long my surface interval was, I was short of breath. It was very disconcerning, especially to start a dive and almost immediately start getting contractions. I've had this before when cold, and knew it was time to quit, but i was warm and comfortable.

The only variables I can add is I had taken a tablespoon of coconut oil about 20 minutes prior as it is supposed to be thermogenic. Could it have sped up my metabolism (it's supposed to). Additionally does burning fat take more O2? We had also swam out about 300m to the site...but am pretty sure we recovered once there.

Curious if anyone else has had breathless sessions and if they had determined the culprit.

 

[baiyoke]

I have been diving half a year. I train pool once a week and have a 2:45 underwater time (in pool), 1:20ish dives, 66 DYN, 4:30 static, so I'm not a rank beginner.

Last weekend, we were out and I could just not get my breath! it did not matter how long my surface interval was, I was short of breath. It was very disconcerning, especially to start a dive and almost immediately start getting contractions. I've had this before when cold, and knew it was time to quit, but i was warm and comfortable.

The only variables I can add is I had taken a tablespoon of coconut oil about 20 minutes prior as it is supposed to be thermogenic. Could it have sped up my metabolism (it's supposed to). Additionally does burning fat take more O2? We had also swam out about 300m to the site...but am pretty sure we recovered once there.

Curious if anyone else has had breathless sessions and if they had determined the culprit.

- Could it have sped up my metabolism (it's supposed to). --> Yes, but I don't think that alone will give you that feeling, that strong.
- Additionally does burning fat take more O2? --> Yes, to my knowledge, that's why some people eat honey shortly before a static, to burn carbohydrates instead.
- We had also swam out about 300m to the site...but am pretty sure we recovered once there. --> This is it for me... I have to really take it slow if swiming more than 50-100m. Perhaps I have a body, that activete a work response mode easily... If I have to set up a buoy it's even worse... I have to take my time getting relaxed again.

Btw, what does these data mean??:
"...have a 2:45 underwater time (in pool), 1:20ish dive...".

 

[rudyforest]

Thanks Baiyoke,

Maybe I did not take it slow enough out there. But still, you'd think I'd recover over the three hour dive! Will see what others say, and also of course vary my diet next time. I never take coffee dive days either.

on those times, I just meant my max underwater time, swimming around, pausing, relaxing etc. is 2:45, while my better dives in the ocean are normally around 1:20, and I consider a poor one 0:45

Hils fra Australia (bet you never thought you'd hear that!)

 

[baiyoke]

Ha ha... What's the connection?

 

[Apnea Girl]

Please take care with this.... a friend had this problem and after a dive to 60m was resting before his next dive and then just 'didn't feel right' he then had slured speech. Luckily his buddy was on the ball and gave him Oxygen imediately and swam him back to shore (same thing, a swim to the dive spot) on going to the chamber they said he had CO2 build up and this was the cause. If he did not have oxygen it could have been a very different outcome! Take care out there!

 

[rudyforest]

Ha ha... What's the connection?

I see you are from Denmark. I speak Norwegian, just thought I'd toss that in there!

 

[rudyforest]

Hi Apnea Girl, yes...when ever something feels off, I quit. I had discussed with my buddy and we moved out of the 10m area, and into a 5m area on the way out. Worth repeating though, when something is not right, time to quit.

 

[Rik]

I don't think that we should blame the coconut oil that fast.

One teaspoon might be just enough to trigger your gallbladder to contract, but speeding up your metabolism? Call me a skeptic, but swimming 300 meters, with perhaps a current, or in a fast pace, might increase your metabolism much more in comparison of a bit of coconut oil. Add a bit of windchill factor or big expectations of which kind of dives you would make, and it is very easy to see why you don't seem to recover as fast as expected.

Another thing that is important to note is that the amount of carbon-dioxide production is dependent on the kind of metabolism you have. Normally, if we eat healthy, we start with an carbohydrate metabolism, and switch during endurance to fat metabolism. Fat metabolism produces less carbon-dioxide compared carbohydrates, and that would cause less air-hunger, but might increase the chance of black-outs. (One of the reasons why fasting too long for diving is such an bad idea).

There are different reasons why a dive session could go as not being planned. Sleep deprivation, a very fatty breakfast or late diner, dehydration, or perhaps being not enough recovered from previous dives, are all reasons that might increase your air-hunger during an session.

Personally, I wouldn't focus too much on the diet as a cause. At least, not after one occurrence. Try to relax and see at the next session how things would work out.

 

[Rik]

Please take care with this.... a friend had this problem and after a dive to 60m was resting before his next dive and then just 'didn't feel right' he then had slured speech. Luckily his buddy was on the ball and gave him Oxygen imediately and swam him back to shore (same thing, a swim to the dive spot) on going to the chamber they said he had CO2 build up and this was the cause. If he did not have oxygen it could have been a very different outcome! Take care out there!

Carbondioxide retention in freediving can surely happen, but it is an odd one to require oxygen treatment. I personally would always think of decompression sickness first, when a buddy would have a slurred speech after doing 50+ dives, before thinking of carbon dioxide retention. It might be worthwhile to learn the DAN 5 minutes neuro evaluation for assisting in things like this, especially because a DCS hit in freediving might happen fast, and might also resolve fast, depending on the cause.

 

[baiyoke]

Please take care with this.... a friend had this problem and after a dive to 60m was resting before his next dive and then just 'didn't feel right' he then had slured speech. Luckily his buddy was on the ball and gave him Oxygen imediately and swam him back to shore (same thing, a swim to the dive spot) on going to the chamber they said he had CO2 build up and this was the cause. If he did not have oxygen it could have been a very different outcome! Take care out there!

I really hope more people will comment on this.. It does not make sense to me. Why would CO2 create a DCS-like condition???? I have never heard about that before.

Fat metabolism produces less carbon-dioxide compared carbohydrates, and that would cause less air-hunger, but might increase the chance of black-outs. (One of the reasons why fasting too long for diving is such an bad idea).

out.

Interesting. It seems like burning fat for some reason is using more O2 but producing less CO2!!! Is this correct?

Rudyforest you might want to take a quick look at the first few posts in this thread, I just discovered it, looking for related info. Fat might still be good for you to avoid being cold: http://forums.deeperblue.com/freediving-training-techniques/51416-respiratory-quotient.html

 

[Apnea Girl]

I'd never heard of it before either all very weird. Just so happy that they had oxygen available and got him help quickly.

 

[ntcp8]

I have to second the "try to relax" statement and coffee on the same day usually makes it harder to be completely relaxed...

 

[sai]

If you almost immediately get contractions, it sounds like a psychological problem. How often have you been in open waters? Are you totally comfortable there?
I have the same problem when diving in the sea and it takes a lot of dives to get more comfortable and contractions to postpone, but I know they don't have anything to do with my CO2 level.