No contractions?

[BristolMermaid]

Hi

There are a couple of guys in our club who say they don't feel contractions. In statics they end the dive because of tension in the jaw and throat instead. They are doing approx. 3 minute statics so I am surprised (and quite jealous!) they don't feel anything in the belly. Does anyone else have this? Is it specific to men?

Thanks
Rebecca

 

[cdavis]

Different people experience increasing c02 levels in all sorts of different ways, some get contractions, some strong, some light, some fast, some slow, some not at all. Most, but not all, experience some kind of strong urge to breathe, but I have dove with guys who had to teach themselves to come up. They had little natural warning. A bit scary diving with them.

Not aware of any pattern to any of this, guys, girls or whatever.

Connor

 

[trullalla]

Hi Rebecca,

are you the same Rebecca who was diving with us in Dahab not too long ago?

Some people get the (wrong) idea that no contractions means no urge to breathe.
of course this is not how it works. they still have a strong urge to breathe, just like you and me, but it manifests in a different way, like this tension that you described, or a burning feeling in their belly.
this doesnt mean that they suffer less, on the contrary, having contractions means that as soon as the contraction is gone, you have a moment of relief before the next one, while people with no contractions feel a constant tension/burning.

so of course they know when it's time to break the static and breathe again.
so, there is nothing to be jealous about

Linda

 

[cdavis]

Linda, what you write is absolutely true for almost all divers, but not for everybody. I have dove with two who did not get contractions(one does now) and for whom the other signals are minimal enough to be easy to ignore. I've rescued one of them twice in open water diving, once when there was absolutely no warning. He has had at least one other black out. (He is more careful now but we still watch him very close). The other has even less signal to breathe and, after a near black out with me in the pool, spent a considerable amount of time leaning exactly how his body reacts. He comes up early.

Wish I was in Dahab

Connor

 

[BristolMermaid]

Thanks Linda

yes it's is the same Rebecca

Thankfully our two guys have other sensations that indicate its time to come up so no rescues needed - mainly tension in the jaw and throat. I guess at least those of us with contractions have something to count to keep us occupied during a static!

 

[Simos]

I had a 3:45 during training once with no contractions - was really odd and I mainly stopped because I got a little worried! There was 'something' starting to happen after 3 mins but wasn't what I'd call proper contractions.

I would say observe their 'breathe up' - in fact make them do the static with no breathe up, no candle blows, nothing. See if they get contractions then. My suspicion for my case was that I was hyperventilating without realising (all my fault of course).

 

[Philip Fennell]

I had a 3:45 during training once with no contractions - was really odd and I mainly stopped because I got a little worried! There was 'something' starting to happen after 3 mins but wasn't what I'd call proper contractions.

I would say observe their 'breathe up' - in fact make them do the static with no breathe up, no candle blows, nothing. See if they get contractions then. My suspicion for my case was that I was hyperventilating without realising (all my fault of course).

Warming-up an old thread...

I have similar experiences to you @Simos. I don't think I have ever encountered contractions and I have done a dry static of just over 5 minutes. I say I don't think but I did notice the very faintest of contractions once, that was at the end of a 1 minute empty long hold.

As for breath-up, I think I have over breathed in the past which has lead to a fuzzy head going into the hold and on two occasion I've actually passed-out at the start of the hold so I've learnt to be less extreme in my breath-up.

I get this 'burning' feeling, the urge to breath, which currently starts around 3:30 but as the hold progress I get trembling and involuntary hand clenching. The later tends to be my indicator that I should be bring my breath hold to an end. Does anyone else have the trembling and and hand clenching?

 

[cdavis]

Me, hand clenching when diving half lung and fairly deep. I'm pretty sure in my case it is anoxia in the extremities, since my head is clear, I know I'm getting a strong blood shift and it begins to happen well before the end of the dive. Its not involuntary, I just feel a strong urge to move my fingers.

 

[Philip Fennell]

I know I'm getting a strong blood shift and it begins to happen well before the end of the dive. Its not involuntary, I just feel a strong urge to move my fingers.

Ahhh yes! @cdavis, that's a much better way to describe the feeling - as an 'urge to move my fingers'. Thanks, I'd been struggling to put the feeling into the right words.

So, in the obvious absence of contractions, I'm thinking this may be a suitable indicator of the progress in the breath hold. If so, I would like to know what should I possibly expect next - hopefully not blackout too soon!

 

[cdavis]

You probably should distinguish between dry static and diving depth. On the surface, you will get a much reduced blood shift. Diving full lung will also be diminished but less so, depends on how deep. Reduced blood shift and anoxic limbs means the head is not far behind.

 

[Philip Fennell]

You probably should distinguish between dry static and diving depth. On the surface, you will get a much reduced blood shift. Diving full lung will also be diminished but less so, depends on how deep. Reduced blood shift and anoxic limbs means the head is not far behind.

Thanks for the info.

 

[Simos]

Warming-up an old thread...

I have similar experiences to you @Simos. I don't think I have ever encountered contractions and I have done a dry static of just over 5 minutes. I say I don't think but I did notice the very faintest of contractions once, that was at the end of a 1 minute empty long hold.

As for breath-up, I think I have over breathed in the past which has lead to a fuzzy head going into the hold and on two occasion I've actually passed-out at the start of the hold so I've learnt to be less extreme in my breath-up.

I get this 'burning' feeling, the urge to breath, which currently starts around 3:30 but as the hold progress I get trembling and involuntary hand clenching. The later tends to be my indicator that I should be bring my breath hold to an end. Does anyone else have the trembling and and hand clenching?

Yes I used to get various twitches and similar sensations towards the end, probably oxygen levels starting to drop? I think the no contractions must be due to hyperventilation (more aggressive in your case), I've stopped training a few years ago so can't easily recreate now but right now, without a 'breathe up', I start getting contractions as early as 1-1:30....

 

[Philip Fennell]

Yes I used to get various twitches and similar sensations towards the end, probably oxygen levels starting to drop? I think the no contractions must be due to hyperventilation (more aggressive in your case), I've stopped training a few years ago so can't easily recreate now but right now, without a 'breathe up', I start getting contractions as early as 1-1:30....

Whilst I've recently begun to moderated how deeply I inhale/exhale during a breath-up, I'm still not getting any contractions so I think it's worth experimenting with an even easier/shallower breath-up to see what the effect is. Thanks for the feedback @Simos

 

[freediverdude]

Maybe it's that we're all just crazy because we're depriving our bodies of oxygen for long periods, and our bodies are reacting in odd ways, of course.

 

[thedzo]

I was searching for something else but stumbled upon this thread. Just a quick info.

I was one of the "lucky" guys that didn't have any contractions, but eventually since I continued practicing I slowly started to "develop" them.
I remember scouring the internet for the solution and any kind of info concerning that.
From this point in my life, I could say that the discomfort prior to contractions was unbearable at start but through time and training, that awful feeling gradually diminished and let room for contractions to appear.
Now, I'm just a "regular" guy with contractions

 

[Philip Fennell]

I was searching for something else but stumbled upon this thread. Just a quick info.

I was one of the "lucky" guys that didn't have any contractions, but eventually since I continued practicing I slowly started to "develop" them.
I remember scouring the internet for the solution and any kind of info concerning that.
From this point in my life, I could say that the discomfort prior to contractions was unbearable at start but through time and training, that awful feeling gradually diminished and let room for contractions to appear.
Now, I'm just a "regular" guy with contractions

As time has go on, since last June, and I've learnt how to be more relaxed during the breath-holds I've become more aware of what's going on in my body. First-up, with longer empty lung holds I started to notice contractions. Now that I've been doing longer holds in CO2 tables I suddenly noticed, the other day, towards the short-end (<= 30s breath-up) of the table that what I was feeling at the end of the hold was actually contractions. Next thing I need to do is take note of when they begin in the CO2 table and then go look for them in the O2 tables too.

I'm surprising no one when I say that relaxation and acceptance are key to progress in Freediving and once one realises this for oneself you open a whole new chapter in your diving.

 

[J Campbell]

"I'm surprising no one when I say that relaxation and acceptance are key to progress in Freediving and once one realises this for oneself you open a whole new chapter in your diving."

So true. And the only way to get there is practice - learning what it feels like so that it becomes familiar.

 

[Philip Fennell]

Going back to the comments about sensations in the hands, tingling followed later be twitches or getting 'an urge to move my fingers', one of our instructors was talking about the feeling you get in you extremities, hands and arms, due to vascular constriction, as part of the dive reflex, which is quite separate, it turns out, from the involuntary twitching or 'claw-hand' you may experience towards the end of a long breath hold and especially towards the end of a breathing table. This latter effect is most probably Hypercapnia, CO2 retention, which should be regarded as a time to end the hold. Symptoms include increased cardiac output, confusion and can lead to convulsions and unconsciousness. Not really what a freediver wants to be experiencing!

Given what we're doing, especially with CO2 tables and repetive dives, it seems like a natural consequence but, I for one, will regard this as an important single to stop the hold/dive rather than just seeing it as a phase to deal with.

 

[Adder]

With contractions in between them is it painless? I just have a constant burning sensation instead.

 

[Philip Fennell]

With contractions in between them is it painless?

Could you provide some more context for your question? In between what?