Dizzy during and after swim?

The only time I've been dizzy during/after swimming was when the water was cold.  I picked up some earplugs (Docs ProPlugs) and it fixed the problem. 

Jason

Did you try swimming without flip turns and see if you still feel dizzy? Try that first, and if you don't get dizzy, problem solved. No flip turns in OW.

Cold water often makes people feel dizzy. How cold is the water you're swimming in? Some think that cold water in the ears affects balance - ear plugs could help if this is the problem.

If you're breathing too hard you could get dizzy, just as if you sat in a chair and took 10 deep breaths and held your breath for 10 seconds. Try slowing down a little to allow you to catch your breath, and focus on your technique so you can breath in an easy, regular breathing pattern as close to your regular breathing rate as possible. Regular swimming and conditioning should help if this is the source of your problem.

This may seem silly, but it's worth asking; do you open your eyes when swimming? The only time I've ever been dizzy was in OW when the water was dark (no visibility beyond my hand) and I swam heads down - only time I saw anything was when sighting/breathing. I tried to re-create this condition in a pool by swimming eyes closed, and indeed I felt dizzy from doing so. I think that the sense of motion in the absence of visual input may have caused me to get dizzy.

First, I would try ear plugs. Water in the ear can cause the dizziness.

If that doesn't work, try ginger pills. And if that doesn't work, go with non-drowsy dramaine.

Personally, I DNF'ed on a swim leg of an im because of 'seasickness' so I know first hand about this. The only way this worked for me was the dramine option.

People had suggested ginger vitamins/pills but that didn't work for me. It actually upset my stomach which made the nasea feeling worse. The only thing that worked was the medicine.

I did successful finish the next couple so I know it works. I would experiment on your different options to see what is really causing the problem.

Try doing open turns and see if that helps...

Also:
-- what is your nutrition like before/during swim?
-- how hard are you swimming?
-- hydration?
-- is the pool hot? (water temp)

It could be a number of things, and if you are new to triathlon, it will definitely feel funny going from a horizontal position (swimming) to a vertical position (biking, running)...

ken

The water at the time of my last swim was chilly due to a rain storm, however the water will be warm for the rest of my swims leading up to the Tri and during the Tri.

I tend to eat a bowl of raw uncooked Oatmeal 1hr before I swim and nutrition is clean and lean. I also feel that I need to lower my pace, I keep feeling like I need to swim fast, but I know that I need to pace myself and take it easy to find a good pace for me.

Hydration is good I drink water all day long.

I have the same problem and just asked the same question the other day. I am trying earplugs for tomorrows swim, you try the flip turn thing and we'll compare notes.

I get dizzy under 2 conditions:
-really cold water
- lack of swim fitness

Seriously- once I gain swim fitness I don't get dizzy like I used to.  Unless of course, it's cold water.  Then I get dizzy no matter how great of swim shape I'm in.

Here's a recent thread started by a talented yet good-looking triathlete not long ago.

http://beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=162794&start=1

I've not had this problem since I started using ear plugs.

Ear plugs. That ended dizziness for me with no other change.

Now I'm finding I need them in the pool too even when the water's warmer. For about $0.25 it's worth at least trying

Earplugs definately worked for me today. I had my longest swim and absolutley no dizziness.

It's funny because I swam competitively from about age 7 to 18 and never had this problem. But 15 years later, it happened every time I swam. After a few years of just putting up with it and recurrent swimmers ear, I started wearing ear plugs a couple weeks ago. Haven't been dizzy since!

Easy fix. Mack's ear plugs.