2fat2fly 0 #1 July 22, 2003 OK, maybe should be in another forum, but when in doubt-go with talk back. I'm a chain smoker, have been for years. I've noticed that I have felt just the littlest bit lightheaded the last few times that I've been to altitude. I normally go to a Cessna DZ but visited 2 different turbine operations since July 4 and noticed it at altitude both places. I started a turbine DZ and had never noticed it before. It goes away at exit (must be the extra O2 that I'm absorbing through my skin). Just wondering if anyone else has had this happen. Thanks for the tolerenceI am not the man. But the man knows my name...and he's worried Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
QuickDraw 0 #2 July 22, 2003 There was a thread in the incidents forum about this (by Billvon i think), you might want to take a gander over there and swat up on it. http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=553369#553369 -- Hope you don't die. -- I'm fucking winning Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
2fat2fly 0 #3 July 22, 2003 My apologies, when I did the search-it picked up later in the thread and I thought that it was on oxygen masks.I am not the man. But the man knows my name...and he's worried Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
EricaH 0 #4 July 22, 2003 Actually, as a smoker I was interested in Billvon's thread.. until it became a high altitude/oxygen mask thread. As a smoker, not necessarily chain - but def heavier on the weekends... I'm curious about this as well. I do experience some light headedness. Also, whenever I have to have either of my arms up, around someone tight in (crammed into the porter, or up around someones head on an Otter bench) - my hand totally goes tingly. I always have to make fists w/ my right hand just so I can make sure I'll have enough feeling. Never had one go numb - but don't want to find out if it would. Thank you for directing the discussion to smoking & regular altitude jumps 2fat. There is no can't. Only lack of knowledge or fear. Only you can fix your fear. PMS #227 (just like the TV show) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nutz 0 #5 July 22, 2003 I smoke about a pack a day, probably more at the dz. I have never had any problems with getting out of breath except for when the pilot gets lost and we fly around at 15,500 MSL for 20 minutes. (OK, it wasn't that long. It was about 7-10 minutes though and I just conciously breathed deeper and faster, don't know if it helped.) I do get tired walking back from landing at the other end of the airport. Packing makes me sweat like a stuck pig. I have done one high altitude jump from 22,500, it was cool as crap man a minute and a half of freefall, they made me sit in the front of the plane near the O2 bottle. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
freeflir29 0 #6 July 22, 2003 If you really want to know how altitude effects you, go find an altitude chamber to take a ride in. You WILL experience hypoxia at it's grandest. Better than most intoxicants I have tried. It'll get ya stupid in seconds!!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AggieDave 6 #7 July 22, 2003 Good 'ol Hypoxia...look it up on google or WebMD or your SIM. It can be VERY dangerous.--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
corpkid 0 #8 July 22, 2003 I noticed that when I smoked I got light headed when reaching 13,500... Nothing bad, just a little "fuzz". Always thought it was adrenaline but... I quit a few weeks ago and didn't have that problem on my recent jump from the same height/plane... God I want a cigarette! Not....gonna...do...it Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Beerlight 0 #9 July 22, 2003 Yes, a smoker is most times (physiologically) at a higher altitude than a non-smoker. Example> Jump plane is at 15,000 (that's the altitude your non-smoking buds feel. You however, are "physiologically" at maybe 18,000 feet or higher...for exp.) Your hypoxia symptoms come on earlier than the non-smoker. If you would like more info, PM me. I'm what's called a Physiological Technician in the Air Force. I manage an altitude chamber unit and have in the past been a high altitude low opening (HALO) oxygen equipment consultant.......... cheers.... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tbrown 26 #10 July 22, 2003 I'm always sorta puzzled about why so many skydivers smoke. I mean skydiving's a sport, right ? Doesn't that make us some kind of athletes ? I mean we don't get up and do group calesthenics, thank God, or have to all go running the airport perimeter in the morning, but most of us try to be in some kind of half decent shape to avoid injurie, aches & sprains. So why do so many of us smoke ? Compared to just about any other random group of people, except maybe factory workers, I've never seen so many people light up in one place. Is the boredom of sitting around a drop zone between loads ? The stuff will kill you. Last year my wife and I helped her mom die in our home of a smoking induced mouth cancer, the poor woman's face resembled a chimpanzee's from the way the cancer took over. It wasn't pretty. She was a real beauty herself, in her younger days. The stuff wrecks your lungs, it strains your heart, it drives your blood pressure through the roof. It interferes with night vision and apparently causes skydivers problems on high dives. It doesn't even taste good. Statistically you could be better off with a heroin habit. Enough ranting, I AM a libertarian, people can smoke all they want, just not around me when I'm eating. But think of the jump tickets you could buy if you quit !!! Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity ! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PhillyKev 0 #11 July 22, 2003 Yeah...they call baseball a sport, too. But that's the one group of people who are fatter, and drink and smoke more than skydivers Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Skyrose7 0 #12 July 22, 2003 Ya know, now that I think about it, when I was at Eloy it was a time when I smoked quite a bit. There were two jumps where we circled at altitude for a bit, and on both of those I got weak and kind of dizzy. Since then I have quit and have not been at a turbine dz, so I couldn't tell ya if there is a difference. (I smell better though).~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The mind is like a parachute--it works better when it is open. JUMP. MaryRose Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Luv2Fall 0 #13 July 22, 2003 I have been up to 15,000 a few times.........never felt/experienced a thing. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
corpkid 0 #14 July 23, 2003 I started smoking at age 15. Both parents did. I was up to about 1 1/2 packs a day, and honestly started to hate it - esp. since my mom was recently diagnosed with emphazema (sp?). I think one of the reasons (and I could be SO wrong here) that skydivers smoke is similar to the reason we jump. You COULD die, but you enjoy it more, and thus it mitigates the risk to YOU. I am very aware that I may be the next stat. on skydive fatalities. But I'll take my chance cuz I love the dive. When I smoked, I knew I would get nasty lung diseases, but I enjoyed smoking enough to mitigate that. The big (and this is big) difference is that smoking WILL kill you, but skydiving may not. It's really skill/chance with skydiving - smoking, there's no doubt you will die a yucky, prolonged death. I've seen it in several relatives - it just plain sucks. I'll take high-speed dirt at a buck twenty ANY day over that! I dunno - I was never really into sports - just thrills. Skydiving really made me think about what I want out of life, and one of those things is to not get all sick and not be able to jump. So, bye-bye smoking, hello nicotine patch. (which works awesome, btw). Besides, at this rate I'll be getting my first rig with the money I save in NO time. (okay, maybe a few months). Damn skydiving is expensive! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
