While the subject of this post may belong in "ask Dr. Deco," I am posting it here because I did share with Dr. Deco what a prominent Miami physician, who specializes in diver DCS injuries said to me. Here's an excerpt of the email I sent Dr. Montoya (the Miami physician) the following Monday:
Saturday (11/6/04) I did two dives with my dive instructor and one of his students, in order to finish up my Dive Master internship and proceed to the next step. Both dives were mid-level drift dives, with the 1st being 71 fsw max depth and the second 65 fsw max depth. We did 3 minute safety stops each dive. Both dives lasted 45 minutes, with 43 mins of surface interval. I did both dives on 36% EAN and my max PO2 on the first dive was 1.13 and 1.06 on the second dive.
When I arrived home I felt fine, but in an attempt to carry as much as I could up the stairs (I live in a 2nd floor apt), I noticed my heart rate racing a bit, and I developed a mild headache. So thinking I may have retained a little bit too much CO2, I slowed down and carried my gear in stages, doing two trips. I had just finished my lunch and after carrying up the gear, I poured myself a glass of water, and laid down on the couch to rest. I woke up nearly 3 ½ hrs. later, with a little pain in the back of my left knee, which I dismissed to having my leg resting on the arm of the couch. I thought maybe I had a small DCS hit, but since I noticed no tingling, nor any other joing pain, I also dismissed the thought. After a while, I felt fine. Friday night I got 7 ½ hrs. of sleep, and the dive profiles weren't very rigorous, and I felt well rested.
Neither yesterday, nor today have I felt any tingling, numbness, or joint pain from the dive. At no time during the dives did I feel over exerted. I'm mainly concerned with the fatigue I felt while carrying up my gear, the headache, and the unusual amount of sleep that followed. Shortly after I awoke I checked the tables and according to the PADI EAN 36% table, it appears we exceeded MBT by 12 mins. However, according to my dive computer, I was at the limit of the green, and not into the yellow, and the O2 loading graph only showed 1 notch out of 4 max. I also calculated my max O2 for both dives, and it added up to about 35% for the day. I'm aware the tables assume the dive was conducted at max depth the entire time, and our depth fluctuated enough that if we were 1 min at max depth it was too much. The average depth of each dive was about 63 fsw on the first dive, and about 59 on the second dive.
Dr. Montoya spoke to me on Wednesday 11/10/04, and the first thing he asked me was how I felt, and if I felt somewhat "hung over." This wasn't the case, so he mentioned that I had experienced a very mild case of DCS, but since there were no symptoms present, no treatment was needed. Dr. Montoya did say that most people look for joint pain or tingling as a sign of DCS and ignore fatigue, and what swayed him to say it was DCS was that I had a good amount of rest the night before the dive. However, he mentioned that if in the future I experience fatigue coupled with a sense of not knowing where I am, or being "hung over," to get DCS treatment asap.
BTW, while Dr. Deco did not dismiss the possibility that it could have been DCS, he believes it was more a case of exertion than DCS, but as he said, "we never can say never."
Sorry about the long post.
Saturday (11/6/04) I did two dives with my dive instructor and one of his students, in order to finish up my Dive Master internship and proceed to the next step. Both dives were mid-level drift dives, with the 1st being 71 fsw max depth and the second 65 fsw max depth. We did 3 minute safety stops each dive. Both dives lasted 45 minutes, with 43 mins of surface interval. I did both dives on 36% EAN and my max PO2 on the first dive was 1.13 and 1.06 on the second dive.
When I arrived home I felt fine, but in an attempt to carry as much as I could up the stairs (I live in a 2nd floor apt), I noticed my heart rate racing a bit, and I developed a mild headache. So thinking I may have retained a little bit too much CO2, I slowed down and carried my gear in stages, doing two trips. I had just finished my lunch and after carrying up the gear, I poured myself a glass of water, and laid down on the couch to rest. I woke up nearly 3 ½ hrs. later, with a little pain in the back of my left knee, which I dismissed to having my leg resting on the arm of the couch. I thought maybe I had a small DCS hit, but since I noticed no tingling, nor any other joing pain, I also dismissed the thought. After a while, I felt fine. Friday night I got 7 ½ hrs. of sleep, and the dive profiles weren't very rigorous, and I felt well rested.
Neither yesterday, nor today have I felt any tingling, numbness, or joint pain from the dive. At no time during the dives did I feel over exerted. I'm mainly concerned with the fatigue I felt while carrying up my gear, the headache, and the unusual amount of sleep that followed. Shortly after I awoke I checked the tables and according to the PADI EAN 36% table, it appears we exceeded MBT by 12 mins. However, according to my dive computer, I was at the limit of the green, and not into the yellow, and the O2 loading graph only showed 1 notch out of 4 max. I also calculated my max O2 for both dives, and it added up to about 35% for the day. I'm aware the tables assume the dive was conducted at max depth the entire time, and our depth fluctuated enough that if we were 1 min at max depth it was too much. The average depth of each dive was about 63 fsw on the first dive, and about 59 on the second dive.
Dr. Montoya spoke to me on Wednesday 11/10/04, and the first thing he asked me was how I felt, and if I felt somewhat "hung over." This wasn't the case, so he mentioned that I had experienced a very mild case of DCS, but since there were no symptoms present, no treatment was needed. Dr. Montoya did say that most people look for joint pain or tingling as a sign of DCS and ignore fatigue, and what swayed him to say it was DCS was that I had a good amount of rest the night before the dive. However, he mentioned that if in the future I experience fatigue coupled with a sense of not knowing where I am, or being "hung over," to get DCS treatment asap.
BTW, while Dr. Deco did not dismiss the possibility that it could have been DCS, he believes it was more a case of exertion than DCS, but as he said, "we never can say never."
Sorry about the long post.
