Am i bent?

[tracydr]

Shortness of breath and calf pain=ER visit, possible embolism. Good luck and hope it's nothing! Was it a long flight? Flying is a risk factor for embolism.

 

[rrutecky]

it was a 2 hour flight.... Don't be scaring me now...

 

[DandyDon]

ha ha well if i die I'll die laughing at all this. Walk away for lunch and holy moly. I called DAN -gave the guy the lowdown- and he said it was extremely unlikely it was decompression sickness for a varitety of reasons.

He cited among other things that any symptons would have surfaced within the first day for sure and said if there were symptoms i would have felt them on the plane for sure.

I have probably logged 200 dives without any issues at all and am pretty dafety conscious. On this trip (with family) we stayed at an all inclusive resort and they kept bringing beers and drinks and stuff through out the day and i have to say i had much more than i normally ever do (not that i was drunk or anything). I just know how dehydration can play a part. I consider myself in above average shape etc.

I guess you mean "safety" conscious, but you don't dive a computer nor tables - just follow the guide...?

No, if you were bent, it would have been apparent within a day, but that's not what I call safe diving - sorry. Dehydration, alcohol often involved, is often a major factor in unexpected hits. Glad you lucked out.

As far as being in good shape, but not diving with safe plans and practices, I just got an update on a college athlete you kind of reminded me of...
www.wzzm13.com : Grand Rapids : Money raised going toward paralyzed tennis player

By the way, you do not have to be a member of DAN to call for medical counsel. Are you insured for diving accidents with DAN? Matthew wasn't.

I guess a couple of things that I'll remember 1) ask when the diving will be completed -most 2 tank dives i have been on leave 8-8:30ish and you are out of the water on your second dive by 11:30ish at the latest and we surfaced around 12:30. i started getting worried thinking if i have left enough time between last dive and flying since it was exactly 24 hours. Reading some online most seam to think less time that 24 hours is typically ok. 2) make sure i am properly hydrated. 3) review the dive plan - it was a last minute trip and probably didn't do my due diligence.

Now an interesting tidbit- had a couple on the boat both with dive computers and hers told her she was in deco but his did not and they "wrote it off" on her dive watch being "screwy"... Hope they took the safe route.

DAN actually suggests only 18 hours before flying after a couple of dives, but better hydration and better dive planning & execution would be good. Diving a computer helps, but only if you study it and know its workings well. I think the couple you mentioned may well not know theirs, altho there are other possible explanations - like differences in brands, but I have seen many bluff with their computers then not know what it means.

Shortness of breath and calf pain=ER visit, possible embolism. Good luck and hope it's nothing! Was it a long flight? Flying is a risk factor for embolism.

I am surprised that DAN did not suggest that still, or did they?

Tracy is a physician by the way; see his profile.

 

[aquaregia]

rrutecky, do you dive a computer? I didn't see anything definite on any of the previous messages (although I could have missed it).

 

[rrutecky]

i do have a computer but i did not bring it on this trip. The last several family trips i have not been able to get away to dive so i got tired of lugging everything around. Momentary lapse of reason.

DandyDon-I agree it wasn't the smartest approach and lessons learned from my perspective. It was a last minute decision on my part to dive and i had no apparent symptoms of dehydration.

 

[legions]

I pulled out my trusty nasds safe scuba diving tables.

My tables state that the ndl for 80 feet is 40 minutes.

With that in mind, I flipped the table over, found 80 feet for 50 minutes and read a stop should have been made at 10 feet for ten minutes.

Your rgd in now a k.

I scrolled over to a surface interval of between .50 minutes and 1.11 (1 hour, 11 minutes )

I exited the table at a I designation.

I think you exceeded your second dive, by a short surface interval, as you had 61 minutes of residual nitrogen.

Once again, I flipped the table over. As there is no designation for 61 minutes, I had to go to 70 minutes, which required a stop at 10 feet for 2 minutes.

I then pulled out my us navy diving manual, volume 1, air diving.

I turned to chapter 8, diving emergencies, page 8-12, heading diagnosis of decompression sickness, 8.3.2.1 sickness, here's a short reading,
-50% occurred within 30 minutes
-85% occurred within 1 hour
-95% occurred within 3 hours
-1% delayed more than 6 hours

" symptoms which occur 24 hours or more following a dive are probably not caused by decompression sickness".

Also remember this information is intended for naval personal in excellent shape.

I hope in some small way this helps.

Thank you for trying,




The mommy lion takes her babies, and throws them off a cliff...........

The ones who climb back up..............want to be lions

 

[DandyDon]

i do have a computer but i did not bring it on this trip. The last several family trips i have not been able to get away to dive so i got tired of lugging everything around. Momentary lapse of reason.

DandyDon-I agree it wasn't the smartest approach and lessons learned from my perspective. It was a last minute decision on my part to dive and i had no apparent symptoms of dehydration.

Ok, well - diving a well understood computer would be safer than just following the guide; not diving a computer puts you back to tables, but you blew those off. Dive computers are small. You may want to change the battery and always take it when you travel to possible dive sites.

You didn't answer my question about dive insurance so you may find this thread helpful...
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ne...ut-dan-insurance-cheapest-plan-wrong-one.html

Hope you get to dive more often, and safely.

 

[flots am]

question for those on here that are experts:

I did a series of 2 AM dives 2 days ago (only one day of diving total). First was 80 feet for 50 minutes and second (after an hour surface interval) was 60 feet for 50 minutes. Both dives i ascended slowly and took over 5 minute safety stops at 20 feet. I flew home yesterday (exactly 24 hours after surfacing after the second dive).

I had no symptoms yesterday before, during, or after the flight but today when i woke up I am feeling a little dizzy and short of breathe (maybe freaking out i dunno). I also have a lot of tightness in my calves but thought that was just from the exercise of diving.

I did cramp up a little and had had some alcohol the day/night before (I know not smart) so i was probably somewhat dehydrated-even though i did also drink a lot of water etc.

Most things i read say you will feel symptoms almost immediately or at least within 12 hours or so. This is like 36+ hours after diving.

What should i do at this point?

As mentioned, if you haven't already, you should see a doc about the leg pain and shortness of breath. This isn't something to screw around with, since depending on the cause, it may become harder or impossible to fix if you wait too long.

However, just FYI, vPlanner shows that you blew off just a little less than 40 minutes of deco on your first dive. Even if you didn't have DCS this time, it's a definite possibility for a dive profile like that.

The second dive would have required a 7 minute deco stop, assuming you had done the required deco on the first dive.

So . . . The "take away" is that you should see a doc, and even if you weren't bent this time, you need to keep a closer eye on your tables or computer and depth and time.

flots.

 

[wjefferis]

With the onset of symptoms at 36 hours I really doubt it is DCS, but then I am not a doctor. Hopefully you have already called DAN and got some advice from them.

I have experienced dizziness after a dive before. I was a little congested and blew harder than normal to clear my ears and at the time I injured my inner ear a bit (but didn't feel anything at the time). When I woke up I was dizzy and couldn't get my equalibrium back right. Had to go to an ENT and take some meds and lay off diving for about a month until everything was back to normal. So this could have happened to you as well.

In the future I would always dive with a computer or get V planner decompression software and start planing your dive and diving your plan.

Hope you are ok and took some lessons from this.

 

[SeahorseDeb]

I enjoy a nice glass of chardonnay, but what seems to bug me is that I see advertisements for alot of resorts that offer alcoholic beverages as an "all inclusive" part of thier package. We are taught that caffeine and alcoholic beverages are diuretics and therefore really not that good of an idea to have before diving. Our classes don't teach us the half-life i.e. how long it takes our system to flush out the stuff. We feel fine, but those residuals may still be present. Maybe I'm over conservative. I dive in a drysuit so even as I drink clear fluids (sport blends which btw are not gatorade types) meant for sports, I still wonder why drinking has to be associated in ads to entice scuba divers. It's just one more factor that can stack against us when diving.