Speargun
06-29-2008, 01:00 AM
A few weeks ago I had a week of annual training that included quite a bit of outdoor activities. It's nothing I haven't done for years, so it's no big deal.
As the week progressed, I started to notice that my balance was getting worse until the point that one night when I laid down in bed, the room began spinning like I had been on an all night tequila binge.
After that, the room would spin any time I laid down, bent over, or changed position rapidly. I thought that I had damaged my eardrum by putting an earplug in too far or had gotten an inner ear infection. The only this was, there was no pain.
I went to the doctor the following week and was told that I was dehydrated. :wtf:
I felt fine and I drink pretty much nothing but propel water. Still, the Dr. said to up the salt intake, drink at least 3 quarts a day, one which should be gatorade, and add tomato juice to the list to help with the salt intake. Also eat lots of pretzels since they have a lot of salt.
The theory is that the nerve in your inner ear that controls balance needs to be surrounded by fluid. Apparently, when you get dehydrated, that fluid dries up and causes vertigo.
Apparently, spending several days in the hot sun and not drinking enough, even though I felt fine, was enough to dehydrate. After a couple of weeks of drinking enough to have me peeing every 20 minute :rolleyes:, I can now bend over, lay down, or move my head, not too rapidly though, without the room spinning.
The moral of this story....
DRINK LOTS OF WATER.
Especially if you are diving since dehydration is a big contributor to DCS.
As the week progressed, I started to notice that my balance was getting worse until the point that one night when I laid down in bed, the room began spinning like I had been on an all night tequila binge.
After that, the room would spin any time I laid down, bent over, or changed position rapidly. I thought that I had damaged my eardrum by putting an earplug in too far or had gotten an inner ear infection. The only this was, there was no pain.
I went to the doctor the following week and was told that I was dehydrated. :wtf:
I felt fine and I drink pretty much nothing but propel water. Still, the Dr. said to up the salt intake, drink at least 3 quarts a day, one which should be gatorade, and add tomato juice to the list to help with the salt intake. Also eat lots of pretzels since they have a lot of salt.
The theory is that the nerve in your inner ear that controls balance needs to be surrounded by fluid. Apparently, when you get dehydrated, that fluid dries up and causes vertigo.
Apparently, spending several days in the hot sun and not drinking enough, even though I felt fine, was enough to dehydrate. After a couple of weeks of drinking enough to have me peeing every 20 minute :rolleyes:, I can now bend over, lay down, or move my head, not too rapidly though, without the room spinning.
The moral of this story....
DRINK LOTS OF WATER.
Especially if you are diving since dehydration is a big contributor to DCS.