headache when force dynamic apnea.

[davizinhr]

When training in the swimmingpool yesterday I force the last apnea and then I got a headache, after that I leave the training. But today when I try to force a little the dynamic apnea, the headache came again

any Idea?, I have read that this could be because of hypoxia, alpinists suffer this when they are over 2500mts.

any solution to avoid it (and I mean not to leave before hypoxia :-D), today I was with only one diafragmatic contraction.

thanks in advance and sorry for my english

 

[azapa]

you could need to drink more water. dehydration in a pool is very easy. try those ISO drinks like gatorade if you don't like water (my problem). headaches are not too normal. It is more normal to start feeling a little hot (flushed) on a longer pool dynamic.

 

[salibandy]

If it make you feel better, I sometimes get headaches after an intensive session of underwater hockey. I too think it's the lack of oxygen.

I used to always feel flushed toward the end of my apnea, but nowadays its all gone.

 

[sanso]

... avoid it (and I mean not to leave before hypoxia :-D),...

Uh, I think the point with freedive training is to dive without reaching a state of hypoxia. If You suffer from hypoxia, You've overdone it and should adjust Your training.
Did Your buddy notice that You had very blue lips that day?

 

[trux]

Actually, the headache at freediving is usually caused by CO2 excess, not really by hypoxia. CO2 in high levels is toxic, and headache is one of the symptoms of it. That told, it does not mean you are reaching any CO2 levels dangerous to your life or health. You will probably get used to it sooner or later, to certain degree. You can also try making longer recoveries between breath-holds - ventilate well after the performance to evacuate CO2 and other waste products, but avoid hyperventilating before the next one! Good but not excessive hydratation as pointed out above by others, is important of course too.

 

[John_Askew]

Hi,

I have been freediving for around 5 years.

My maximum dynamic without fins is 68m.

I normally manage 50m every session but last week I managed 63m so I decided last night I would try to beat the 68m.

I had a bit of a cough the day before but this had cleared up by last night.

However when I completed the 50m turn I felt really funny so I came up. As soon as I surfaced and started to breath I got a really bad pain in the back of my head, just above my neck.

I complete 50m at least once a week and I have never experienced this before and I didn't feel like I was pushing my limits.

The only things I can think of that were different to any other attempt were the cold/cough the day before and that I may have packed a couple of times more than usual.

If anyone has any ideas I would be interested to hear them.

I will see what happens next week (Monday of Thursday) and post agian after.

 

[Giobbi]

I have this too! I usually do 20 x 50m freestyle with breathing every >7th stoke. If I push it I get a terrible headache at the exact same spot for the rest of the day.

 

[Azrael3000]

Did you try the yoga position that Eric Fattah suggested in one of the threads here? You can't do it during the dynamics of course, but afterwards breath normally with your chin residing on your chest and applying a slight pressure. At least it helped for me to get rid off CO2 headaches.

 

[Giobbi]

Great Azrael, Will try it next time. Thx

 

[Siku]

Does anyone have a better description of Eric's yoga technique than 'tuck your chin in'?

I'm guessing theres a bit more to it than that.

 

[mikeM]

I assume the yoga technique they are referring to is the chin lock of Jalandhara Bandha?
But I am just wandering what kind of headache is felt. A plain or pulsing headache? Pain only in the neck or maybe also feeling pressure behind the eyes?

 

[Azrael3000]

That is correct Mike. Here is the reference post:
http://forums.deeperblue.com/freedi...ues/53900-static-no-warm-up-5.html#post509976

Cheers,
Arno

 

[tcrusson]

I used to get massive migraines that would last for 24h when I first started pool training, most likely from CO2. They used to start on any swim past 50m.

To get rid of them, I did a lot of CO2 tables:
- swim 50m
- breathe for 2 minutes
- swim 50m
- breathe for 1:45
- swim 50m
- breathe for 1:30, etc.
swim the same distance, reduce the recovery time by 15 seconds each time - ask your buddy to time it for you.

The migraines never came back.

Hope that helps

 

[manannanmaclir]

I have this too! I usually do 20 x 50m freestyle with breathing every >7th stoke. If I push it I get a terrible headache at the exact same spot for the rest of the day.

I am new to dynamic and free diving in general, and was doing 50 yards underwater when tried for 75 and almost made it, when amazing headache it. it's been week later, and it feels like I've induced whiplash. headache goes away but can easily get "tension" headache again. anyone else have this occur?

 

[growingupninja]

I gotta agree with Trux--in my experience a high CO2 level can lead to head-ache (as well as difficulty concentrating, judgement problems, loss of coordination, discomfort, etc) but it will usually clear soon after baseline CO2 level is reached... for me they go away after about 10-20 mins of normal breathing/rest. You can definitely build a tolerance to the effects of CO2 with regular training, and within a several weeks the sets that used to give you a splitting CO2 headache can become easy, and provided I wasn't endangering myself or others I have always trained through CO2 headaches. Persistant headache is not normal though--I would make sure I was hydrated and getting proper nutrition/electrolytes. Typically any type of sustained training/diving which has a short rest period--skip breathing freestyle laps or repeat DYN on a short interval--will cause an increase in CO2.