I think with a little more experience you will note what is normal after your dive and will have a better guage.
After re-reading your original post, my best advise for you is to think about what new sx are you experiencing that are not part of your normal constellation of tired, fatigue, ache, and upset stomach. In otherwords, how are you feeling compared to your normal baseline?
Most medical professionals are going to try and get a sense of what is a normal complaint for you and what is different. If you are being evaluated for DCS, then how are you feeling now compared to how do you normally feel. The more vague, the more the person has to try and reach for how the symptoms are different then the less the concern that the sx are related to DCS, especially if the dive profile was conservative.
Most divers will be a little tired after a dive, most would admit to wanting to take a nap. One of my dive buddies always comes back from a dive, heads back to the hotel room and won't be seen until dinner. Most divers will ache a little bit, especially when not used to lifting weights and tanks, etc. But, are the aches unusual? are they more severe than expected? are they lasting longer than they should?
It's not a little tired like I have to take a nap tired, it is we are supposed to go dinner tonight and I really want to go but for the life of me I just don't have the energy and will cancel because of my fatigue. That's not usual.
It's my shoulder is really been bothering me for last few hours and the Advil didn't really touch the pain and maybe I did something wrong and I'm going to give it another hour or I'm going to the ER becuase it's really hurting. The it's a little sore but should be better with a Tylenol is not really much to worry about. And btw, if Tylenol is good enough to take away any pain then the cause is usually minor in nature and nothing to worry about in general (that's actual medical advise from a doctor).
Take note of your usual and customary complaints. determine on a scale if they are close in nature and severity, and if nothing seems too out of the usual then you are probably okay. If something doesn't really seem right then call a doctor or contact DAN.
---------- Post added July 15th, 2013 at 05:44 PM ----------
Probably because I was going down the list of the symptoms that I had experienced; because they apply to everyone (yeah- throw in fatigue from a plane trip and indigestion, maybe I should book my chamber appointment before I go
). Most people also probably don't get to check off the tingly/numbness box either.
I asked my instructor about Nitrox on air profiles and he highly recommended against it. I might talk to some of the other people at the shop and see what they say. Maybe he just figured with the low risk already, it wasn't worth the expense to bother with Nitrox and introduce the chance of O2 tox?
Actually, Nitrox would be a recommendation to help decrease headaches after dives and help minimize the muscle soreness. But, you should get your OW cert first and then maybe get Nitrox certified after a few dives.
Diving involves having to manage task loading. It is a little like learning how to drive. At first it seems a little overwhelming, but as certain skill become ingrained the tasks become simple and easier over time. When you are constantly trying to think about buoyancy, adding air, venting air, kicking, maintaing trim, it is a lot to think about. You should feel fairly comfortable in what you are doing before you add another variable like Nitrox.
