headache & nausea after swim training - reasons ?

You know what, I was getting the same thing when I first started swimming.  I thought I was getting sea sick or migraine from the water and was going to take some dramamine or something, but thank god that wasn't it.  I never did pin point what was causing the problem exactly, but by doing the 5 things below, it's gone now. 

1)I loosened by goggles.  I thought the tightness might be causing the problem.

2)I drank alot of water before and keep a water bottle with me at the pool.  I thought the dehydration was causing it. 

3)I make sure I eat a banana or something pretty close to swimming, about 45 minutes out.  I thought the hunger was causing it.

4)I bought a swimming cap I was thinking the air, even if I was indoors,  was causing me a headache because the top part of my head was exposed to air.

5)I bought some ear plugs.  I thought the water pressure was causing it.

I'm not sure about the breathing, though I only breath on my strong side most of the time, and do it every other stroke.  I do do some bilateral practice, but only for about 2 laps or so (I do not prefer this but practice it for the worse case scenario).

I only warm up for about 2 or 3 laps, then start getting into it.

Edited by auto208562 2005-01-13 10:05 AM

OMG, this could well have been my post three weeks ago. I TOTALLY FEEL YOUR PAIN. And what i am finding is that it is my improper breathing.

what i was doing before was taking a breath, holding it, exhaling right before my next stroke then breathing in. i think i was poisoning my body w/CO2 buildup. I am trying to breath after every two strokes [instead of the 4 i used to do], and to really focus on my breathing out after the deep breath in. And of course after about 10 min, that terrible migrainish headaches-those have stoppsed for now.

hope this made sense and if you have any other questions let me know, i may be able to help

That is funny because I was also the same.  After swimming for more than a few minutes, I would get out of the pool feeling disoriented, nauseous and headachy!  Now, I can swim for half an hour or more and do not have these symptoms.  I am not sure what the problem was but have concluded that the symptoms were due to tension.  One can quickly learn proper swimming and breathing techniques but relaxing while swimming takes a bit longer.  Do not rush and try relaxing your shoulders, that might do the trick.  I might be full of sh*t, of course, but hey, what have you got to loose!

Edited by Machiavelo 2005-01-14 8:52 AM

Thank you all for your advice. I am going to work on the breathing as the first step.

regards

Just an update. I think the issue is caused by my breathing technique. As advised by pple here, I keep reminding myself to exhale in between breaths. 3 training sessions so far and it seems that the problem has gone away.