Immersion pulmonary edema/lung squeeze---HELP!

[sai]

In fact I've also been lifting weights for quite some time and never stretched my muscles to be honest. The way they occur at your student sounds exactly like my situation. I also got my squeezes between 50 and 60 feet. Mentally I'm pretty comfortable at 60 feet though.

 

[FreeRestriction]

These pressure induced contractions sound sketchy. Im pretty sure im dealing with normal C02 induced contractions assuming theres a pretty clear difference in feeling.

 

[cdavis]

Pressure contractions, as I have experienced them, are VERY different from c02 contractions. The only time I ever ran into them in a big way was the first time I tried to go deep( with no instruction) Huge contraction and an unmistakeable feeling of "get me outa here!" I've had a few minor run ins since. Ol Dirty divers' summary above is about the best thing I've seen on a little known subject.

 

[FreeRestriction]

Pressure contractions, as I have experienced them, are VERY different from c02 contractions. The only time I ever ran into them in a big way was the first time I tried to go deep( with no instruction) Huge contraction and an unmistakeable feeling of "get me outa here!" I've had a few minor run ins since. Ol Dirty divers' summary above is about the best thing I've seen on a little known subject.

Then it sounds like im not experiencing pressure contractions yet so thats good.

 

[laminar]

If you're not sure whether you're experiencing pressure contractions and you suspect it might be CO2, then it's yet another reason to back off a little bit on the depth you're aiming for. If you have CO2 contractions on the way down to a 60ft dive, there's a very high chance that you're using too much effort for the dive. This could be due to poor technique at the start, equalizing, bulky gear, or high-drag body position.

If you're experiencing pressure contractions at a relatively shallow depth (and/or any squeeze), this is again a reason to limit your depth.

An approach that works very well but is difficult for newer divers (impatient and with the need to progress quickly): dive to a shallower depth until you can do it with complete ease and lack of tension in the diaphragm.

So if you're getting pressure contractions at 60 ft, try making many dives to 40-50ft until they become pleasurable and completely without tension.

This may seem like a waste of time - however, if the first 50 ft of each dive is tense, difficult and rushed (in descent speed but also in approach), you just aren't ready to go deep safely.

For most of us, we can push ourselves to go much deeper psychologically than our body is actually ready to do. For others it's the opposite. But in both cases, I think it's best to wait for the other half (mental or physiology) to catch up first.

If you can hold your breath for 3 minutes, then you could potentially dive to 60m. But there's no way that you should assume that your body is ready for that challenge right off the bat (unless your previous background ticks some important boxes), especially when it comes to chest flexibility/squeeze issues.

So take the time to become an expert diver up to 50 ft (even shallower if you feel tension at 50ft). Allow your mind and body the time to adapt to the significant challenges.

You will become a better, safer and in the long run more efficient and deeper diver for it.

 

[sai]

That's exactly the approach I'm aiming for now. For me to have patience is even more difficult, since I have no lake or ocean to train deep diving but have to pay to a lot go to an indoor diving centre. But what the heck, if I can do totally relaxed 2 minute dives in the 60 feet range anytime soon, I've achieved more in my first year than I would have imagined a few months ago.

 

[FreeRestriction]

Laminar,are you saying that any CO2 contractions are bad during a dive? In my case i can dive with no issue to 40ft but i cruise around a while and eventually CO2 contractions kick in and after maybe 20 seconds of contractions i decide to head to the surface even though i know i could hold them off a while longer. Just keeping it on the safe side as both me and my dive buddy have zero safety training (im taking an FII class this month). When im down im focusing on holding them off aslong as i can by trying to keep my relaxation going. As far as the descent i am in a neutral head position calmly kicking to the bottom with my right hand on or near my nose for the frenzel equalizations and my left arm at my side. Im sure my whole form has room for improvement though. But back to the point of my reply asked above, should i be returning to the surface before ANY CO2 contractions occur?

 

[laminar]

Not, bad necessarily, unless you have too many of them (pushing your limits too much) on a recreational dive.

But definitely on the way down I think is a sign that something isn't right.

Holding off the contractions, as you say, to me is at odds with "keeping my relaxation going." Try to reduce the exertion that is potentially creating those contractions in the first place....so you can extend or relax further into your dives without needing to push or hyperventilate.

Personally, I think that for recreational diving, there really isn't any reason to push through contractions - in my own diving I come up at the first sign of them and usually only push to getting a contraction in the last 3-5 metres on the way up, but that's rare.

I just like having that extra margin of safety and this still means long dive times (with no hyperventilation and on FRC). On good days, I can still do 1:30-2:15 dives in this way.

Why would I want to push myself on a relaxing recreational fun dive? Especially, when buddy diving in darker water is difficult or impossible to achieve completely (ie. maintaining visual contact).

I know it is exciting to stay down longer and push yourself through discomfort. But I really think you can do that in other places (in the gym, training line with safety) rather than diving with a buddy.

 

[FreeRestriction]

Not, bad necessarily, unless you have too many of them (pushing your limits too much) on a recreational dive.

But definitely on the way down I think is a sign that something isn't right.

Holding off the contractions, as you say, to me is at odds with "keeping my relaxation going." Try to reduce the exertion that is potentially creating those contractions in the first place....so you can extend or relax further into your dives without needing to push or hyperventilate.

Personally, I think that for recreational diving, there really isn't any reason to push through contractions - in my own diving I come up at the first sign of them and usually only push to getting a contraction in the last 3-5 metres on the way up, but that's rare.

I just like having that extra margin of safety and this still means long dive times (with no hyperventilation and on FRC). On good days, I can still do 1:30-2:15 dives in this way.

Why would I want to push myself on a relaxing recreational fun dive? Especially, when buddy diving in darker water is difficult or impossible to achieve completely (ie. maintaining visual contact).

I know it is exciting to stay down longer and push yourself through discomfort. But I really think you can do that in other places (in the gym, training line with safety) rather than diving with a buddy.

Yeah im deffinatly not getting contractions on the way down. I hear what your saying and my goal is relax and become more efficient rather then just hold off contractions longer. The idea is make them stay away longer to begin with. So far a low volume mask, frenzel technique and mire weight have all greatly inproved on that goal. I made all those changes on my last dive and my comfort and efficiency went way up.

 

[laminar]

Cool! Glad to hear it. I mention it because a lot of people push, push, push to get to some sort of magic depth....

 

[sai]

I went diving yesterday and did a few things different than usual with a real positive outcome. Best of all, I got no signs of any squeeze.

- Head always in neutral position when pressure contractions occure and most important NO equalisation if the head is not in neutral position
- Less drinking water prior to diving (I think I was overhydrated the last few times)
- Many warmup dives, with hangtime (7m, 9m, 12m, .....)
- Slower descents. If pressure contractions occure, I completely stop finning but stay upside down and relax my body again until I feel good again to go further. If it doesn't work I do some finning at that depth

It's never been so easy to get to my PB and even sometimes have above 30 seconds bottom time. I really wasn't looking for any special depth I want to reach this time and this helped me to relax a lot more. When I hang out at the bottom I still had the pressure contractions, but they are way slower than usual and I even managed to stop them completely on one dive. Not having any contractions and being completely relaxed actually felt really unsual. Hehe

Thanks for everyone giving advice here!
Now I'm totally hooked up for CWT again.

 

[laminar]

I went diving yesterday and did a few things different than usual with a real positive outcome. Best of all, I got no signs of any squeeze.

- Head always in neutral position when pressure contractions occure and most important NO equalisation if the head is not in neutral position
- Less drinking water prior to diving (I think I was overhydrated the last few times)
- Many warmup dives, with hangtime (7m, 9m, 12m, .....)
- Slower descents. If pressure contractions occure, I completely stop finning but stay upside down and relax my body again until I feel good again to go further. If it doesn't work I do some finning at that depth

It's never been so easy to get to my PB and even sometimes have above 30 seconds bottom time. I really wasn't looking for any special depth I want to reach this time and this helped me to relax a lot more. When I hang out at the bottom I still had the pressure contractions, but they are way slower than usual and I even managed to stop them completely on one dive. Not having any contractions and being completely relaxed actually felt really unsual. Hehe

Thanks for everyone giving advice here!
Now I'm totally hooked up for CWT again.

Glad to hear it! Slow descents and focusing on relaxing the torso/chest/diaphragm was always key for me.

 

[sai]

A few months later, I still get the "pressure hiccups" with a frequency of about one every 2 seconds. Starting at about 10-12 meters depth, they eventually stop only when I turn around.
I just arrange my equalisations to fit in between these hiccups. Equalisation goes wrong as soon as I'm not concentrated enough on that pattern. I guess it's just something I have to deal with and it keeps the mind occupied. :head