Anyone experience weird residual DCS symptoms before?

[Orangepeel]

Not really looking for medical advice just more curious and still looking for answers.

To try to keep it short. 2 days, 4 dives plenty, of surface time, max depth 18-20 meters ~45-50 minute dives.

NO symptoms within 24 hours. Mild finger numbness started 36 hours. Over the next few days it turned to sharp pain in my hands, heels, wrists. Then had extreme arm numbness. Didn’t fly. This is when I went to a hyperbaric doctor 10 days after (I called Dan twice before this and they didn’t recommend it because the symptoms were so delayed) then 3 days after treatment I got hip numbness, intense confusion, difficultly walking, facial sensations. Over the next 2 weeks it slowly got better in some ways and worse in others. Approximately 1 month after diving I got extreme tinnitus, pain became more spread and dull than sharp, skin itchiness on my neck. Here I am 3 months later. Symptoms are much better but I still get numbness in 1 arm, ankle pain, and tinnitus. Through all of this I was in multiple ER’s, multiple GP’s. PT. Neurologist. 2 hyperbaric specialists. Rheumatologist. MRI’s all over my body. Every blood test you could think of. Every single person said I’m fully healthy and there’s nothing wrong with me and said it couldn’t be DCS. The best guess was some weird post viral response(I was in the Philippines if that matters). Has anyone ever experienced anything like this at all? Every doctors stumped. My only reasoning would be that it was DCS that did something to my nerves/bloodflow then slowly over time it caused damage. I’m more just here out of curiosity sitting before bed just thinking what in the world happened to me. 28M very healthy/active prior.

 

[lermontov]

what about a delayed response from a jellyfish or sting from something

 

[Duke Dive Medicine]

The first thing I thought of was some sort of seafood toxicity, e.g ciguatera:

Has your team considered that?

Best regards,
DDM

 

[Alex Ouroboros]

could be a bizarre side effect from a type 2 bend, but I would find that highly unlikely as your diving doesn’t seem aggressive enough to bring it on , but you can never say never,
How many dives / Bends have you had? Nothing is impossible but find it highly improbable,
I would certainly look to other culprits as others have suggested.

 

[Orangepeel]

The first thing I thought of was some sort of seafood toxicity, e.g ciguatera:

Has your team considered that?

Best regards,
DDM

My second hyperbaric specialist said that was his best guess. The previous week I did get extremely ill which I assumed was food poisoning. The intense stomach pain and stuff. But I’m 100% confident the day I got sick I did not eat any seafood. He was a navy diver and 30+ years experience as a hyperbaric doctor so it made me feel a little better than DCS was very unlikely. I recovered(what I thought was fully) then did 2 causal dives just to be safe and felt great. Unfortunately there’s no way to test for ciguatera. He said it’s very common in divers because of the locations and he’s seen it cause all sorts of wacky nerve issues.

 

[Orangepeel]

what about a delayed response from a jellyfish or sting from something

I pretty much wrote that off because the pain became strangely symmetrical on both sides of my body. Like within the the same half inch area. Heel, wrist, fingers. Wasn’t a localized spot

 

[Orangepeel]

could be a bizarre side effect from a type 2 bend, but I would find that highly unlikely as your diving doesn’t seem aggressive enough to bring it on , but you can never say never,
How many dives / Bends have you had? Nothing is impossible but find it highly improbable,
I would certainly look to other culprits as others have suggested.

Before this I’ve done about 30 dives and never had any issues. Never anything super aggressive besides advanced diver qualification. I was thinking that while I’m young healthy and did relaxed dives that maybe I was just a little too dehydrated from my prior illness, a little too cold(Philippines but just wore the short wetsuit, and maybe a little too much sun and 1 beer was enough to set it on delayed. Whatever it was, every doctor i talk to is completely stumped. Dan dive medics and the hyperbaric specialist really don’t think it was diving related. Only answers I got were maybe ciguatera or a post viral condition.

 

[Alex Ouroboros]

I pretty much wrote that off because the pain became strangely symmetrical on both sides of my body. Like within the the same half inch area. Heel, wrist, fingers. Wasn’t a localized spot

That indicates to me it’s not bendy as bends don’t tend to be symmetrical in the body, a type 1 would be say pain in the knee (caused by an expanding trapped bubble) and yes it can move but generally it stays in the same area say moving to the hip,
Type 1 (neurological - bubble in the head) could cause strange sensations but the time between diving and onset of symptoms I just think is too long and as I said above I just find unlikely, I’d be thinking it’s to do with the previous illness in the week before.
I’m sorry to say I’m finding this intriguing and rather baffling but you certainly have my sympathy for your uncomfortable and I dare say slightly frightening experience.

 

[Orangepeel]

That indicates to me it’s not bendy as bends don’t tend to be symmetrical in the body, a type 1 would be say pain in the knee (caused by an expanding trapped bubble) and yes it can move but generally it stays in the same area say moving to the hip,
Type 1 (neurological - bubble in the head) could cause strange sensations but the time between diving and onset of symptoms I just think is too long and as I said above I just find unlikely, I’d be thinking it’s to do with the previous illness in the week before.
I’m sorry to say I’m finding this intriguing and rather baffling but you certainly have my sympathy for your uncomfortable and I dare say slightly frightening experience.

I find it intriguing as well because it’s so bizarre. I wish most my doctors did instead of just rushing me out of the office saying I was healthy because I was too young. The fear was on another level, I’ve actually lost most my hair from the stress. Didn’t know that was a thing either. Doctor Google will tell you all the wrong things. It’s just crazy to me that some symptoms didn’t even start till week 3. Unsure if the flying is what made that happen. But still my flights were far too late for DCS. 4 days after hyperbaric and then 2 weeks later for my emergency flight home. After that flight is when I was in my worse condition. The pain was so intense I had trouble walking and couldn’t even carry my bag because my arms were rubber.

Makes me think severe Type 2 with the level of those symptoms, but at the same time with it being that delayed it just doesn’t make sense. From everything I’ve read if it’s gonna be severe you’re gonna know within hours of diving. So then it’s just a mild case. A mystery I don’t think I’ll ever have an answer for

 

[J-Vo]

This is pretty much my life without regular chiropractic care. A lifetime of betting the crap out of my body and everything needs assistance to stay in place.

Warning: There are a lot of bad chiropractors out there. It's kinda similar to trying to find a good scuba instructor.