100' seemed hard to breathe

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ScoobaDooba

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Location
SoCal
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Hi all I recently did my AOW deep specialty and have never been past 70' before this dive. We were following the natural bottom contour down to 100' when we got to 95' I was fine but when we touched down at 100' kneeling, I started to feel like I couldn't get enough air and was breathing my reg fairly hard keep in mind I just purchased the Scubapro MK25/A700 it was on max flow and dial turned almost all the way up.

I start to get a little worried and I can't really focus on much because I just wanted to ascend a little bit but didn't want to call the dive for the sake of the other students and the Instuctor was about to do some demonstrations at depth. I would have called it had there been a real problem but I figured it was just a litle anxiety attack or a CO2 build up. I had to tell myself I couldn't make a mistake down here and I'm not going to die , don't panic, don't panic. So I took long easy breaths and after 20 secs or so I had calmed down a bit but not totally, I still wanted to go up a little. It was 53 degrees and I was feeling it and don't know if the was a factor. I focused on my comp and was couting down the psi so I could turn us at a 1/3. The instructor finished his demonstration and then promptly told him I reached my 1/3 and we needed to move lol. All was fine when we were ascending and I felt alot better. I upchucked through my reg a few times ascending and let out some burps but we did just eat breakfast prior to our dive.

Any thoughts or insight into my dive would be appreciated. Thanks :D
 
As an instructor, I would hope that if one of my students was feeling how you explained you were feeling, they would let me know so that we could ascend a little. Diving supposed to be fun and it doesn't sound as if you were having fun.

Sounds like you worked through the panic which is great now you just need to learn to listen to your inner voice. :)

The air is more dense, we've got some nitrogen narcosis going on, we (in So Cal) are really wrapped in neoprene and it is constricting, it's cool and darker; the anxiety is can be normal.

You should have a frank discussion with your instructor, let him know how you were feeling and discuss doing another deep dive.
 
Any number of issues could be contributing to what you described.

Since it was colder water, you may have been breathing more shallow and rapidly, contributing to CO2 buildup like you mentioned. Narcosis could have been a factor as well. Exposure suit compression may have played a part. Maybe your tank valve wasn't on all the way, restricting air flow.

Switching to your backup may have given a clue, as well as checking your gauge while breathing to see if it fluttered.

Contact with a buddy can be reassuring, and if nothing else worked and you still felt uncomfortable then the best option is: :thumbs_up: the dive.
 
I actually thought if I had to share air could I even do it down here, that's how bad it was for me. Way to heavy breathing and I looked over at my buddy and his eyes were pretty big and he was exhausting a boat load each breath, so it helped me a little to know he was feeling the same way. Didn't want to chance a fumble or an accident unless I truly knew I wasn't getting air. I was very nervous at that point and kind of froze up thats why I had to just focus on my comp to get over it.
 
Were you diving dry or wet?
 
7mm Wetsuit not super snug on land(comfortable). Tank valve was fully opened.
 
I actually thought if I had to share air could I even do it down here, that's how bad it was for me. Way to heavy breathing and I looked over at my buddy and his eyes were pretty big and he was exhausting a boat load each breath, so it helped me a little to know he was feeling the same way. Didn't want to chance a fumble or an accident unless I truly knew I wasn't getting air. I was very nervous at that point and kind of froze up thats why I had to just focus on my comp to get over it.


I agree with Ann Marie, It sounds to me like you were feeling anxiety, Though, Narcosis is also A factor, You should have called the dive.... OR... Let your Instructor know how you were feeling, with a Rocking Motion of the hand saying you were sort of Not OK.

Anxiety and Narcosis are a normal factor at depth and effect each person differently, and takes practice!

And you did A good thing,You Handled it well, You took your mind off of it by concentrating on your computer, I have Been in the same situation and stuck my camera in my face, That took care of it and I had A great dive, But in My situation I knew I was psyching myself out, And I knew what to do.
 
You did well. You may have been a little narced, concentration helps to control it and get ya back on track. The regulator you had can deliver a ton of air, I doubt the problem was with the reg. I suppose future dives will determine that. Such a big deal is made of 100' these days you may have been physc'd out a bit. Next time you do that dive I suspect things will be different for the better. Familarlity breds indifference.
 
When I using air at 100' I start to get narced. I hate it. When I'm narced it get paranoid and nothing seems right. I know I'm not at 100% mentally and it bugs me really bad. I'm fine at 90' but 100' gets to me which makes me think I'm just psyching myself out. Oh well, that is what nitrox if for!
 
Actually that's exactly what happened to me Cody, You hit the nail on the head :D It seemed so surreal down there. It felt to me like everything was quieter but all i could hear was me breathing really hard and it was super loud but yet everything in slow motion. It was a trip :)
 

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