Nausea While Diving

[Mr. X]

...What you eat the evening before & for breakfast can have an impact too. I find it best to stick to something light & familiar, & not eat (or drink) too much. I find Weetabix a good breakfast & read that some of the Oz spearos do too -- "Mackers" (McDonalds) seemed a popular alternative there too(probably due to convenience) although I now avoid a large cooked breakfast before diving, it tends to draw too much blood to digestive system.
...

I've reversed my thinking on this. I now find a small cooked breakfast sits well (I have quite a long drive & walk in, so time to digest) and gives me energy to dive longer. I also found that I was getting sick when eating Weetabix (it comes up easily enough though:yack!). I think milk might have some unsettling properties, so I now tend to avoid it before diving. (Fiendishly clever those darn Ozzies).

 

[settingsteel]

Marazene for motion sickness works great...as for the nausea...etc and motion sickness ginger (I use the pickled ginger at sushi rest.) is very good...all the sugg. by DeepThought should also be noted

 

[blaiz]

I get the same problem from time to time and have pushed myself to the point of puking and creating a nice little chum line.

I have found that my diet has a lot to do with how i feel on a dive. stay away from greasy food, DAIRY, and alcohol prior to your dives.
Stay Hydrated

I dont know if its adviseable or not but sometimes I will take a dramamine or bomine before dives, usually in rough water. Seasickness happens to the best of them. Like noted above getting a comfortable wetsuit made a huge difference for me too.

 

[blaiz]

For many years I used sea-sick medicine unless I was diving once a week. Marazene worked great.

Can you get Marazene in the states?

 

[wilsont]

speared my first snapper off a human nausea induced burley trail!

Seriously I get very crook in bad vis and have thrown up more times than i care to remember, I don't think theres a miracle cure (sea sick pills help!). Also along mr x. lines I only ever eat toast with penut butter or similar before a dive and always drink at least 2L of water before getting in the water, and that keeps it under control

 

[giddyuptiger]

I just had the same experience after my first dive in kelp beds, i noticed the first i did once i got out of the water was take off the 7mm (first time i wore it). the feeling around my neck was claustrophobic. I don't know if it was the low viz, the gentle swell or the tightness around the neck but i've never thrown up so hard.

 

[Mr. X]

Might have been heat exhaustion. A friend who is a PADI instructor warned me to make sure I got a little extra room around the neck when I ordered my custom-made Elios wetsuit a few years ago (I took the measurement several times under several conditions over a couple of weeks and then added half an inch - I'm glad I did). Apparently there is an involuntary action (which has a fancy name that escapes me now) that can be triggered if the neck of the wetsuit is too tight. Also, it is possible to overheat - I got pretty hot in November when my wetsuit was new, and felt quite ill. Of course, when you get hot your neck & the rest of you will tend to expand to cool off, and your wetsuit will start to feel tighter. I can't imagine wearing a 7mm wetsuit, I'd get too hot. I'm also not sure I could handle a Long John/Farmer John pants either (5mm jacket + 5mm of torso covering from the pants ->very warm).