wet lungs

[andrsn]

hey everyone,

i'm experiencing something wierd after my keys trip. it's been almost a week since i've gotten back to colorado and i'm still a bit wet in the lungs.

i've heard of your lungs getting squeezed at depth causing fluid to enter the tissues and all, but i'd think that's only the case for "deep" dives. the thing is that i was in the water 4 days in a row for more than 6 hours a day. i don't think i was down below 70 feet. probably 40 was average depth. since i was spearfishing, i was constantly up and down for most of those hours out on the water.

i don't think i'm sick. i feel fine. a bit fatigued, but that's it. it's just when i cough, it sounds horrible. and... it's not getting much better.

anyone ever have something like this happen to them?

thanks in advance,
anderson

 

[Walrus]

Hi anderson,

Did you get Saltwater in your lungs at any stage ?
Saltwater can irritate the lungs and can cause fluid build up.

This is how people can get secondary drowning:- after being revived from drowning the irritation from the saltwater can cause fluid to build up in the lungs.

I don't know if you can get this on a more minor scale. I know I sometimes I get a bit of water in my lungs from swimming, I cough some of it up. Usually feels irritating but goes away within a few hours. I think you just breathe it out, ie dissipates into the air as humidity.

Perhaps it's something else irritating the lungs ?

A week doesn't sound good, maybe you should see a doctor in case.

 

[andrsn]

yeah, the last day was pretty nasty(weather-wise) and i think i drank half of the atlantic. :yack

 

[SASpearo]

I call it swimmer's lung ...

Grin.

But seriously, I've experienced the same sort of things fairly often. My doc used to say it's residual water / salt in the lungs causing irritation, which turns into flu / bronchitis ... sounds like you might be getting the same sort of thing. I usually took some herbal remedy or another and was sorted out within a couple of days.

Have you spoken to your doctor? Maybe get him to do a checkup, give you something to clear up the phlegm ....

Good luck!

 

[Jay Styron]

Rember that little lesson we had on the boat.... when your head is underwater you need to have your snorkle in your mouth. Snorkle in, THEN breatherofl Maybe try hanging upside down for a few hours, worked in a book I read about some man/fish.
Jay

 

[Ike]

Don't laugh at this,it could help you and anythings worth a try-eating a fair amount of 'hot' food can help.I mean things such as chilli peppers,cayenne pepper,chilli powder,black pepper,tabasco sauce etc.There is some good evidence of this-apparantly what it does is really helps bring things up from your lungs-I can't remember the correct term.It works very well,I practice this also it will help prevent colds.Evidence shows it could well work better than most medicines.Don't go mad with it at first-build up to it,after all,you don't want to be running to the toilet every few minutes.....Some ways of making it easier to get these hot foods down your neck are: adding a sprinkle of cayenne pepper instead of normal pepper to foods,a few drops of tobasco sauce in warm water,cayenne pepper in cup-a-soup etc.Hope this is of some use to you.

 

[Octo]

Andrsn Dude,

Go see the doc if you are not getting better! I want to dive with you at the end of April, so do not mess around "El gato del noche".rofl

Respectfully and Selfishly,