Hello everyone!
I am a Rescue diver with over 120 dives and a wide variety of specialties and skills. I dive once a month in training as I am an evidence recovery diver as a specialty for work. I travel about 4 times a year on vacations and dive recreationally on those trips; usually 10 dives each trip. I am not afraid of anything and never have been apprehensive. I've never had any issues with diving or any incidents.
In August 2017, while in Turks & Caicos, I had been diving all week with no issues. On my last day, about 20 minutes into the first dive, I had a very sudden wave of sheer panic come over me. I was at about 60 feet in depth. It hit me instantly and I felt like I wasn't getting enough air. I wanted to get out of the water and my breathing was hyperventilating. I felt claustrophobic and like the water was closing in on me. My skin felt tingly. But since I am trained to know how to handle these situations, I just kept talking to myself to relax. My breathing sucked through air and I did ascend up to about 45 feet slowly. After about 10 minutes, it subsided and I finished the dive. I had a second shallow dive without incident.
A few months later, in Jamaica, the same thing happened to me on the first dive. I tried to distract myself with underwater photography since I have a very nice rig, but nothing worked. I spent the entire dive talking myself out of panic and didn't pay any attention to anything else. I had a second shallow dive with no issue.
December 2017, we went on a cold water dive in Indiana. I felt myself constantly looking to the surface to make sure it was close. Luckily, it was only about a 30 foot dive so I had no issues.
My husband and I have talked in depth about this and now have a underwater signal in case it happens again. Thankfully, we dive very close to one another and are in sync with skill level and experience.
I thought it might be CO2 retention, so I would descend slower to try to see if that was the cause. I have no medical issues and am an extremely fit 33 year old female. I don't understand where this is coming from.... and I see other experienced divers having issues. I have a huge diving trip to the Philippines coming up and want to try to learn more! Any insights would be helpful!
I am a Rescue diver with over 120 dives and a wide variety of specialties and skills. I dive once a month in training as I am an evidence recovery diver as a specialty for work. I travel about 4 times a year on vacations and dive recreationally on those trips; usually 10 dives each trip. I am not afraid of anything and never have been apprehensive. I've never had any issues with diving or any incidents.
In August 2017, while in Turks & Caicos, I had been diving all week with no issues. On my last day, about 20 minutes into the first dive, I had a very sudden wave of sheer panic come over me. I was at about 60 feet in depth. It hit me instantly and I felt like I wasn't getting enough air. I wanted to get out of the water and my breathing was hyperventilating. I felt claustrophobic and like the water was closing in on me. My skin felt tingly. But since I am trained to know how to handle these situations, I just kept talking to myself to relax. My breathing sucked through air and I did ascend up to about 45 feet slowly. After about 10 minutes, it subsided and I finished the dive. I had a second shallow dive without incident.
A few months later, in Jamaica, the same thing happened to me on the first dive. I tried to distract myself with underwater photography since I have a very nice rig, but nothing worked. I spent the entire dive talking myself out of panic and didn't pay any attention to anything else. I had a second shallow dive with no issue.
December 2017, we went on a cold water dive in Indiana. I felt myself constantly looking to the surface to make sure it was close. Luckily, it was only about a 30 foot dive so I had no issues.
My husband and I have talked in depth about this and now have a underwater signal in case it happens again. Thankfully, we dive very close to one another and are in sync with skill level and experience.
I thought it might be CO2 retention, so I would descend slower to try to see if that was the cause. I have no medical issues and am an extremely fit 33 year old female. I don't understand where this is coming from.... and I see other experienced divers having issues. I have a huge diving trip to the Philippines coming up and want to try to learn more! Any insights would be helpful!
