Buzz when fully inhale

[geo909]

Hi all,

I'm doing static tables on the dry. In the recovery
time, I relax, breath normally and every now and then
I take some deep breaths and exhale very slowly. When
the time comes to take the final breath, I take a slow,
deep, and rather full one.

Lately, there were a few ocassions that when I did
this final breath, I got a buzz after the first 10
seconds or so. Usually I had worked out a bit earlier
in the day (but very very mildly) and I was a bit
tired. Once I went swimming on a quary, dived a couple
of times (less than 10 meters, never pushed); back home
I did a table, and got a really intense buzz. I was curious
(and, well, I was home) so I tried a couple of more
breatholds and I reached a point that I almost blacked out,
I kind of lost sense of what was going on, some kind of
high, and numb limbs.

Anyone knows what that is? Anything to do with
hyperventilation? Btw, needless to say I'd stop every
activity in the water if I get any kind of discomfort,
but that was in the comfort of my bed. I'm just curious
to know what this is exactly.

 

[Simos]

What's a buzz? If you are feeling faint or blacking out at the beginning of the hold, it could be because of the very deep breath you are taking (same mechanism as a packing blackout) - but that's just a random guess, I don't understand from your post exactly what is happening to you and when.

 

[geo909]

Γειά σου Σίμο!

What's a buzz?

I mean feeling dizzy, almost faint.. Probably "buzz" was not
the best way to describe it.

If you are feeling faint or blacking out at the beginning of the hold, it could be because of the very deep breath you are taking (same mechanism as a packing blackout) - but that's just a random guess, I don't understand from your post exactly what is happening to you and when.

It hasn't been happening consistently, just happened a couple of times.
As I said I was tired, it was a long day, and there was a bit of workout
before. But yes, it was feeling like blacking out at the beginning of the
hold, and the breath was really deep, so it may have been the same
thing as packing blackout.. Didn't know the concept, thanks for the
heads up.

 

[Simos]

No worries, maybe try taking less air in for a period (eg 80% full) and see if you get it again. To be honest you might also find that you can hold for longer with less air as you'll probably be more relaxed - it takes some practice/time to be able to hold in a lot of air while being relaxed. My personal advice also would be to avoid packing, at least for now, or even better forever lol It can only lead to various problems (also with squeeze etc) and unless you are competing I personally don't think it's worth it. Most on here would probably disagree with me though

There's always the small worry with freediving of underlying health issues so if you continue spotting odd things like that it might be worth checking out blood pressure, heart etc just to be sure. It does put stress on the body and there are a few funky things happening during breathold with blood pressure, heart function etc

 

[geo909]

No worries, maybe try taking less air in for a period (eg 80% full) and see if you get it again. To be honest you might also find that you can hold for longer with less air as you'll probably be more relaxed - it takes some practice/time to be able to hold in a lot of air while being relaxed.

Yeah, that makes sense too.. I was always doing 80% or so inhales but then somebody
suggested to inhale as much as I can and my times improved a lot.. Not into competitive
stuff but that's tempting

My personal advice also would be to avoid packing, at least for now, or even better forever lol It can only lead to various problems (also with squeeze etc) and unless you are competing I personally don't think it's worth it. Most on here would probably disagree with me though

I don't know how to pack and I don't plan to do so. I had the luck to have
William Winram in one of our training sessions and he adviced everybody
not to pack because of new findings that suggest that it may be dangerous.
That said, maybe it was just because most of us were beginners and it's
fine if you do it correctly.. But that's another long and hot discussion, I'm
sure there must be flame wars about it in different threads in here!

Btw do you think that a very deep inhale, where you feel you stretch it
little bit, could be equivalent to a little bit of packing?

There's always the small worry with freediving of underlying health issues so if you continue spotting odd things like that it might be worth checking out blood pressure, heart etc just to be sure. It does put stress on the body and there are a few funky things happening during breathold with blood pressure, heart function etc

You're right.. I haven't felt anything again and have been to the doctor for basic
things so it should be fine, but if anything comes up I'll go again. Btw, another
thing that I remembered from the day that I got that thing very intensely was
that I was trying a new wetsuit which I found to be too tight.. I did feel a tiny bit
of discomfort in the water by the end of the swim.

 

[Simos]

Well you know the old trick that kids do right? Hold your breath and then put some pressure on the chest and then black out every time. If you took in a lot of air and had a very tight wetsuit, I think it's possible

 

[Simos]

PS packing is definitely not for beginners but even if you do it correctly, there are still arguably potential issues with some people at least. I guess if you build up gradually over the years your lungs might stand a better chance of adapting to it with less issues but even this is debatable I guess. In general a 'too much too soon' approach will probably catch up with you sooner or later in freediving one way or another...

 

[geo909]

Well you know the old trick that kids do right? Hold your breath and then put some pressure on the chest and then black out every time. If you took in a lot of air and had a very tight wetsuit, I think it's possible

Really?! Didn't know that.. Great, you got me curious now,
think my roommate has some weights

On a serious note, I hope my wetsuit will stretch a bit soon..
Think I got it too tight..

PS packing is definitely not for beginners but even if you do it correctly, there are still arguably potential issues with some people at least. I guess if you build up gradually over the years your lungs might stand a better chance of adapting to it with less issues but even this is debatable I guess. In general a 'too much too soon' approach will probably catch up with you sooner or later in freediving one way or another...

Makes sense. Plus I'll never do anything competitively so, all in all I don't think
there's any reason to get into this..

 

[Simos]

There are various types of stupid 'fainting games' that kids play (the latest involves hyperventilation) - I wouldn't try any of them if I were you, blacking out is not the safest thing in the world and apart from reading about cases that went wrong in the news from time to time, I've also witnessed one when I was 10-11 yo first hand.

 

[geo909]

There are various types of stupid 'fainting games' that kids play (the latest involves hyperventilation) - I wouldn't try any of them if I were you, blacking out is not the safest thing in the world and apart from reading about cases that went wrong in the news from time to time, I've also witnessed one when I was 10-11 yo first hand.

No worries, I wouldn't try to faint. Sorry to hear you witnessed something like that.

 

[J Campbell]

I used to experience the same thing, when I didn't know anything about proper breath holding, I would hyperventilate too much and do a super inhale - then get dizzy, almost pass out, then my body would recover and I'd continue with the breath hold. And always associated with this was a very pleasant, peaceful "glow" feeling for about the first 90 seconds of the hold. I did this in my bed, not the water. This was years ago and I've since learned better habits.

 

[geo909]

I used to experience the same thing, when I didn't know anything about proper breath holding, I would hyperventilate too much and do a super inhale - then get dizzy, almost pass out, then my body would recover and I'd continue with the breath hold. And always associated with this was a very pleasant, peaceful "glow" feeling for about the first 90 seconds of the hold. I did this in my bed, not the water. This was years ago and I've since learned better habits.

So that was hyperventilation then? It was indeed a super inhale, though before it normal, slow breathing.. In any case, I think I'll stick with more modest 80% inhales from now on.

 

[J Campbell]

Yes, when in the water don't hyperventilate, and stick to what the experienced divers say about breathing.
If you want to play around with various breath hold styles and effects, do it dry, lying down.

 

[geo909]

Yes, when in the water don't hyperventilate, and stick to what the experienced divers say about breathing.
If you want to play around with various breath hold styles and effects, do it dry, lying down.

Thanks, will do.