heart beating through my chest at depth,,why??

[buleetu]

hi all

on my second dive since last year when i got to around 18 metres my heart started to thump really hard and i got a bit of a shock

i hadnt been swimming hard at the surface or anything so i wasnt out of breath,i just slowly moved away from the boat then settled my self and started the decent,,viz was 20 metres or so water is 26 degrees

could it just be the fact i was looking down over a drop off and i got a bit scared or is there anything up with my heart,,this didnt happen again in 2 more dives the day after

any ideas??

 

[Codiak]

Sounds like a mild panic attack.

 

[buleetu]

i thought there might be something up with the ole ticker,,,cool,,a panic attack can be controlled with more dives and some more confidence in the water,, kinda scary stuff though and i did feel as if i might lose it any second,,i just relaxed my breathing and stayed at 18 metres and also had my buddy stay on my shoulder,,, it passed after a cpl of min,,, i think it was the height of the wall that freaked me out

 

[TheCanuck]

Could be a panic attack, could be your heart, could be because you use the metric system. Could be a lot of things really. No reason not to get checked by the doc. If it was just a panic attack, it will probably subside, as you pointed out, when you get more experience in the water and confidence as a diver.

 

[Hatul]

You need to go to your doctor and have him/her check you out.

Adam

 

[blackvans1234]

Agree with Hatul

you don't want a heart attack at depth
or cardiac arrest
or atrial fibrilation
or any other heart condition induced by the stresses placed upon your body whilst diving

better to be safe, than dead

 

[lulubelle]

Sure, the right advice is to get checked out by your doctor. There are some congenital heart conditions which can remain undetected through adulthood and of course there are heart conditions which develops in many adults. And diving certainly places new stressors on our bodies that may make some underlying issue misbehave. But I'm assuming that you have already been medically cleared for diving, right? And that they listened carefully to your heart and did a proper history? And perhaps even did an ECG/Echo depending on your age and history? And that you have no particular cardiac history?

Personally, although it isn't the right thing to do...I would do...nothing. You were looking out over a many thousand feet drop from an ocean wall. That's pretty exciting if you haven't seen it before or haven't seen it in a while. The fact that you recovered in a couple of minutes by doing...nothing...and that it didn't happen on subsequent dives leads me to believe that it was a little panic attack.

But better safe than sorry, see your doc.

 

[knotical]

This might be way off base, but it is within the universe of possibilities.
My wife used to have occasional unexplained rapid heartbeat at depth, until we made the connection with her having drunk coffee earlier in the morning. She stopped drinking coffee on dive days and has had no problem since. A DAN lecturer later told me caffeine doesn't cause that, but in at least this one diver it did.

Just something else to consider.

 

[flots am]

Wearing a drysuit?

flots

 

[RockRover]

My two pennies....Get a stress test at your doc's office (cardio w/EKG). Ensure you don't have a condition that is exacerbated by the pressures/stress of diving. While it's nice thinking it is only a panic attack and everything is okay, it's even better KNOWING you don't have an issue under stress. Rule out angina, arrhythmia, etc...Then dive your butt off!