Was I Narked?

[oreocookie]

I just finished my AOW course today, and the deep dive this morning was, to say the least, interesting...

We got down to 95 feet and were instructed to sit down on a pile of rocks to do the "skill" requirements without silting up everything. I sat down and promptly got a bit of water in the nose pocket of my mask. No problem, right? I've cleared or otherwise adjusted my mask several times this weekend alone. Well it turned out to be a problem, I couldn't seem to get that tiny amount of water away from my nose and I started hyperventilating and just generally freaking out. I knew I had to calm down and get my breathing back under control but it just wasn't happening. At this point our instructor was going around asking for everybody's air pressure, and when he gets to me, my "problem" signal was with such an unsteady hand that I probably looked like I had Parkinson's or something. He took me aside and I still wasn't calming down quite yet, we went up 5, maybe 10 feet and after maybe 2 or 3 seconds I was perfectly fine, as if somebody had snapped their fingers and it was over. We went back down to the group, and at this point it was about time to start our ascent anyway. On the way up, I had a few anxious moments where I just wanted to get to the surface but it was otherwise alright.

My instructor said that I might have been narked based on how it got better when we ascended a few feet, but I wouldn't mind a few more opinions: was I narked or was I just panicked (and calmed down because my instructor was holding on to me)?

Thanks.

 

[FrogManMike]

doubtful at the depth you were, Narcosis usually occurs at or below 100'
that is one of the reasons that cert agenceys keep beginning student divers above 100' for beginning open water cert so that you don't get narced out.
when you go to depths of 100 or below you need to have a proper mix of nitrox to keep from getting nitrogen narcosis.
simply put you more than likely panicked
I always keep a little water in my mask to swish around when my lenses get fogged up.

 

[deepwater]

I think it sounds more like an anxiety attack. You stressed out over the water in your nose pocket and when you started to assend your concentration, on the problem, was broken so you calmed down. Sounds like you just need a little time to relax underwater. My recommendation, chill out and keep diving..

 

[Arizona]

Could be! Narcosis can effect divers differently and each diver has their own narcosis threshold. Perhaps mild narcosis with a regulator being just a bit more difficult to breath while at the 'deeper' depth on this dive made you uneasy. A combination of things such as decreased vis, leaking mask, task loading... can add up and potentially make the events you describe into a panic situation. Are there any other factors you can recall?

Will you repeat the dive with your instructor? This would be best IMO.

 

[kaerius]

I'd say the jury is out and it could be either.

Different people have different susceptibility to narcosis, and it can vary from day to day. I've heard of people narced at around 80'. Then again you might just have calmed down from the instructor taking such care of you.

I've also been told we all get narced on every dive to varying degrees, it just doesn't reach a noticable level most of the time.

 

[tomboyy]

doubtful at the depth you were, Narcosis usually occurs at or below 100'
that is one of the reasons that cert agenceys keep beginning student divers above 100' for beginning open water cert so that you don't get narced out.
when you go to depths of 100 or below you need to have a proper mix of nitrox to keep from getting nitrogen narcosis.simply put you more than likely panicked
I always keep a little water in my mask to swish around when my lenses get fogged up.

Ummmm..... don't think so

 

[FrogManMike]

what do you do when your mask fogs up?
wear a nose clamp problem solved.
the more dive time you get in the more used to water being in your mask you will get.
it happens, you need to learn to not panic over it.
did your instructors require you to pull your mask off under water then put it back on?
if you did not have to I would suggest you are taught how to do it.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

A few years ago, I would have said you just freaked out, but since reading so many people who get narced at very shallow depths, we can't really say. You really need to so some more supervised dives at that depth to help establsih your comfort depth zone.

 

[FrogManMike]

although Narcosis can occur at depths above 100' I say it is highly unlikely
Anxiety causes people to hyperventilate which will produce nearly the same symptoms as nitrogen narcosis and I think this is what happens to a lot of entry level divers and has been mistaken as getting narcosis when it was really just a panic attack.
No I am not a doctor but I did stay at a Holiday Inn

 

[Tigerman]

Ummmm..... don't think so

Me neither..
First off its not 100 feet for a ow diver for many agencies but 60.
2nd, the nitrox part has so many holes it dont even begin to be fun, especially considering the fact that o2 is widely regarded to be as narcotic or even more so than nitrogen as well as the o2 toxicity issue..

As for the OPs questions, it could well have been a case of dark-narc.
Ive been narced at 90 ft and fine at 100+ and it varies not only on a day to day basis but conditions can be a big factor as well. Dark, dark, murky waters can make you much more narced or aware of a narc than crystal-clear tropical waters.