Throwing up on the plane and after scuba!

[hibbeln]

Well, it happened to me. I finally was the person up-chucking on the plane. And now I'm wondering if anyone can offer any insight.
1. I have never been sick on a plane before.
2. I don't get seasick, I love rollercoasters.
3. The flight had no turbulence.

This weekend on a flight back from France, as we started our descent about an hour before landing I got a SPLITTING headache. And I mean BAD. That went on to nausea until I finally filled one of the airsick bags (yumyum) about 20 minutes before landing. Throwing up actually made my headache much better for a short period of time. Threw up again on the final descent to the runway. Threw up twice more in the airport (got to the bathroom luckily!), once on the hour drive home, then had a terrible case of the dry heaves at home, along with a continuation of the splitting headache. I just crawled into bed and went to sleep and in the morning all was fine.

Here's the strange thing, I get the same reaction when I scuba dive. Except then it's when I'm coming up to the surface.....terrible headache.....headache and vomiting continue for hours. Yes, the fish following the boat get well fed!

Anyone have any insight? Is it my middle ears? Was it because of the higher altitude of transatlantic flights (though I've flown overseas many times without this problem). Could it be a migraine brought on by watching 3 movies in a row on those little little screens? (I don't know what a migraine feels like, but that wouldn't explain the scuba diving link).

[johnmfaeth]

Hi Debi,

I have bad ears from years of "swimmers ear" as a kid and a ruptured eardrum 10 years back which ended my diving days.

If you had primarily a headache, especially in the front of your head, that sounds more like sinus equilization problems. About 1 hour before landing is when a jumbo jet starts to repressurize (descend from 9,000 feet to sea level cabin pressure). If you were having dizziness more so than headache, or any ear pain/discomfort, it could be clogged eustacian tubes or a middle ear infection/fluid buildup.

Many divers have sinus issues. A non-drowsy decongestant like sudafed usually does the trick.

You would be well served by visiting a ear, nose, and throat specialist. If you can find one who is a diver too, that would be perfect.

PS. All flights are pressurized about the same, the flight duration may have contributed. Probably from the prespective of longer exposure to super dry air further clogging the works.

[camachinist]

Sounds like an inner-ear/sinus issue.

I have similar issues, sans the overwhelming nausea, and find Mucinex (prophalactically), Sudafed (or equivilent) and a sterile saline nasal spray really help on long plane flights. I would agree about flight length being a factor, as well as aircraft type. I'm much more prone to issues on an older 744 going to Oz than a newer 772 going to Europe or Asia (from the west coast) but am unclear as to reason (just annecdotes). I also have a bit of tinnitus from an old ear infection which exacerbates my perception of the issue.

ENT would be a good next step, but you might find they're unable to help. Sometimes it's just something we have to live with. They might, however, be able to recommend actions/products you can use to avoid hugging the barf bag on your next trip (or dive).

Also, and I guess it goes without saying, don't fly shortly after diving. Bad mojo ...

Pat

[Carl D]

Sounds more like food poisoning to me.

[Avery]

As a migraine sufferer thinking about learning to dive, I'm now having second thoughts!!

[hibbeln]

Don't let me scare you off diving.......some divers are also "pukers". But there's no correlation between migraines and being a scuba puker. I really think it has to all go back to ear issues. Man is it a bugger though. Once I ended up crawling up on the beach in Hanauma Bay in Hawaii.....digging a hole in the sand and tossing my cookies into it. My brother who was my dive partner was falling over laughing at me. Of course he wasn't laughing so hard when he had to peel the tank off my heaving back and carry it back uphill for me! And I am on multiple Japanese tourists' vacation videos.

Excellent advice on the ENT. Though I'm afraid they will look at me like I'm a crazy person......

And the headache was in the back of my head, far away from any sinuses which was what made me go Hmmmm?!.....centered right over the occipital lobe of my brain.

[camachinist]

Given the circumstances, if it affordable, I'd have an ENT examine you and get a baseline MRI/CT of the ear areas. Likely the condition is static, but IMO it's better to be safe than sorry.

That's the biggest lesson my mom's illness taught me: A lot of little things, none of which alone are a major issue, can turn into one big thing in an instant.

Pat

[Loops]

Hi Debi, sounds like a migraine to me. I used to get around 14 of those a month but now with a daily preventative am down to about 5 a month. Yes they generally occur in the occipital lobe. Some people have dizziness, blurred vision, light sensitivity or extreme nausea. Like I said even with a preventative I still have to take another med when I have one but it then takes at least another hour for it to go away. Imitrex makes an injectible form that works immediately which may be a good idea for you to have when you travel or scuba dive. Everyone has different triggers and it sounds like a change in air pressure is yours.
Good Luck, Laurie

PS. This is where I was diagnosed. My original Dr. left and now teaches at U of M. So I now go to a dr. closer to my house. I don't think it's to far from Rochester if your interested
http://www.mindonline.com/home.html

[Rose Pink]

Originally Posted by hibbeln

Well, it happened to me. I finally was the person up-chucking on the plane. . . . . Here's the strange thing, I get the same reaction when I scuba dive.

Can't help you but this sounds very similar to the storyline from last week's episode of House, MD.

[BevL]

Originally Posted by Rose Pink

Can't help you but this sounds very similar to the storyline from last week's episode of House, MD.

Wasn't that gross? But as I recall it was all in their head, nothing wrong with them at all - probably not the case here.

[Joan-OH]

Originally Posted by Rose Pink

Can't help you but this sounds very similar to the storyline from last week's episode of House, MD.

I was thinking the same thing!

Joan-OH

[Rose Pink]

Originally Posted by BevL

Wasn't that gross? But as I recall it was all in their head, nothing wrong with them at all - probably not the case here.

I was referring to the Asian man who was truly sick--not the other passengers who were victims of mass hysteria. He had been scuba diving previous to the flight and the air pressure on the plane triggered his illness--which is why they had to drop the plane to a lower altitude. Not the case with the OP as she (at least I didn't read her post as such) had not been diving the day of or the day before her flight. That is why I said "similar" but not the same as the storyline. It just reminded me of the connection between the two.

[johnmfaeth]

And what was the diagnosis, treatment plan and prognosis?

[Avery]

Originally Posted by johnmfaeth

And what was the diagnosis, treatment plan and prognosis?

Vicodin, vicodin, and vicodin.

[grest]

Oh my, hibbeln....other than not feeling well at all, it must have been embarrassing...
Connie

[Judy]

I agree that you should see a doctor. We can't diagnose your problem here at TUG. I highly recommend that you see a doctor who understands SCUBA in case your condition is somehow related to diving. I have found some doctors to be amazingly ignorant of diving physiology. If you're a member of DAN, you can get a referral from them. If you aren't, I think their small membership fee is an excellent value. In any case, there is some diving-related medical information on their website. http://www.diversalertnetwork.org/medical/index.asp
Stay safe.

[Rose Pink]

Originally Posted by johnmfaeth

And what was the diagnosis, treatment plan and prognosis?

The bends (decompression sickness). They dropped the plane to a lower altitude to stabilize his internal/external pressures and supposedly he lived to dive and fly again. And,yes, House continues to pop vicodin and behave badly in every episode. (Avery, you are too funny! )

Back to the OP: Debi, I hope you are feeling better and can get to the bottom of this. Let us know what you find out. Best of wishes to you.

[hibbeln]

Drat, of course that was the episode of House I missed!
But I was coming from France, where the only diving I was doing was into the boulangerie for another pain au chocolat (which, by the way, is what I threw up!).
Embarrassing.......oh you bet! I was sitting on the aisle, so I wanted to lean away from the aisle....to minimize embarrassment and to spare any "sympathy pukers" on the plane my esophageal pyrotechnics. So I had to lean into the lap of my 9 year old son, warning him "I'm going to throw up, I promise not to get it on you, just don't move!" Of course he squealed with enormous horror/glee. My husband said that "throw up" translates into French, because he said the French man in front of my turned to his wife and said "Voulou zoulou (OK, just pretend it's something in French) THREW UP!"

Excellent advise from everyone, which is what I was looking for. I will go to an ENT, though I'm expecting them to give me a "you are one crazy lady" look. Next time I will figure it might be a migraine AND/OR middle ear and both take pseudophedrine and I'm NOT GOING TO WATCH 3 MOVIES IN A ROW ON THAT TINY LITTLE SCREEN!!!!!!!
THANKS EVERYONE!

[Janie]

Same thing (horrible headache and bad case of upchucks) happened to me a couple of years ago, and I'm almost certain it was food poisoning from the nasty airplane dinner. (Thanks, Northwest Airlines! ) Yes, it is horribly embarrassing: I feel for you!

(I am also a diver, but have never had the same type of reaction from diving. I'm pretty sure that what you described would deter me from ever diving again!)

Hope you get to the bottom of whatever caused it.

[iconnections]

All I know is that you cannot dive and fly within 24 hours. They warn you for that. The same for visiting Mauna Kea which is very high too.