I have been diving for over 15 years. I am rescue certified. Lately I have been feeling a bit dizzy on my dives. Shallow 30-40ft. Usually I just relax breath slowly and it goes away. The last time this happened I was diving Catalina island and got extremely dizzy. I tried to relax but it just got worse real fast. It was like the earth was spinning so fast I was completely lost. I came up right away with my buddy (wife) making sure I was OK. After I got back on the boat it was like I was sea-sick for the rest of the day. (I never get sea-sick) Any ideas why all of a sudden I'm getting these dizzy spells?? Someone suggested I might be hypoglycemic. Would that explain it?

Hi Lee - A couple of things. First, check with your doctor. Make sure your doctor understands SCUBA and the maladies associated with diving. Contact DAN to get a list of doctors in your area who understand SCUBA. Second, it sounds like you might have a contaminated tank or air. Did you use your own tank or the boat's tank? Have you had your tank Viz'd recently?

I used to work at a marnia in southern GA. I have seen some people who said that they have never gotten sea sick before in their life, and then all of a sudden on one trip get sea sick. I believe it is because of poss having a cold or coming down with a cold or poss not drinking enough water and being slightly dehydrated before going out on a boat. This has hapened to me before also and it was due to being dehydrated.

[This message has been edited by GA Diver (edited 12-25-2000).]

[This message has been edited by GA Diver (edited 12-25-2000).]

That's very strange. The exact same thing happened to me last weekend while diving off Catalina Island. I never get sea sick and I have never had such horrible vertigo while diving. My depth was the same as yours - about 35 feet. I hadn't eaten before the dive and I ate lunch afterward and was fine the rest of the day so I suppose low blood sugar may have been a factor. I also switched tanks, though, so I can't rule out contaminated air. Has your dizziness improved lately?

quote:

---

Originally posted by Lee:
I have been diving for over 15 years. I am rescue certified. Lately I have been feeling a bit dizzy on my dives. Shallow 30-40ft. Usually I just relax breath slowly and it goes away. The last time this happened I was diving Catalina island and got extremely dizzy. I tried to relax but it just got worse real fast. It was like the earth was spinning so fast I was completely lost. I came up right away with my buddy (wife) making sure I was OK. After I got back on the boat it was like I was sea-sick for the rest of the day. (I never get sea-sick) Any ideas why all of a sudden I'm getting these dizzy spells?? Someone suggested I might be hypoglycemic. Would that explain it?

---

Where did you get your air?

It sounds like your a big pussy. For a rescue diver i would think after going through all your certifications you would know how to answer your own question. I would also check your air.

I would check with a DAN certified DR if this is recurring, also the air, but if others in your group are using the same air I would tend to think it may be something else. <in other words check everything>

It sounds like you may have had an inner-ear imbalance(sp?). I have experienced this a couple of times. Once on land and once doing a dive. Were you getting a signifigant pressure squeeze in your ear? It's not a frequent thing, but scary if it happens to you and your not expecting it.

I know I havent been on the board long, but I can tell from the few posts, Deep blue is a moron.

or 12, either one would explane alot

[This message has been edited by JASON LEE (edited 04-12-2001).]

Can't wait to see him on a boat puking his guts out and then call him a female organ...

I would contact Divers Alert Network and an ENT. The colder water off of Catilina island maybe affecting your internal balancing mechanism in the cochlea. You may also check to see if you have a ruptured (this could mean a tear or and all out destruction of the membrane) tympanic membrane, which would allow the colder water to hit upon the oval window causing a sudden change in the balancing mechanism.

I suggest seeing the doctor, but here is an observation. A friend of mine had similiar issues in a non diving situation-began to get dizzy with increasing frequency etc. turned out he had a minor circulatry issue-basically, when he exerted himself, blood was not flowing properly to his brain=dizziness. The interesting part is that it was solved by his wearing something on his legs which constricted the vessels and increased the blood flow. Might not be germane, but the heck...the doctor should help.

Excellent comment kwesler! In diving a tight fitting hood can cause a constriction on the carotids, not allow the blood to flow to the brain. Wearing a wetsuit will essentially do the same thing that TED stocking (compression stockings) that your friend wears.

Again, talk to a doctor