Are my symptoms from DCS?

[PD27]

Hello,

In 2001 I took a scuba class in college. After our checkout dive at a local quarry a friend and I decided to see if we could reach the bottom (around 105 feet). I can't remember my exact accent rate but do remember not swimming up faster then the bubbles. We also stopped at least once for around 10-30 seconds at around 10-30 feet.

I can't remember any tingling or other immediate symptons and never really thought twice about it. I do remember being very congested in my face for several weeks later. I only did a few pool dives after that and never went below 15 feet.

Around 6 months later I spoke to a campus doc about fatigue. After some blood work he put me on synthroid for hypothroidism which I have been taking ever since, complete with periodic check-ups to check my thyroid levels every 6 months or so.

My fatique has still always been present and I have also had a very low libido for the last 2 years or so. I have been two psycs to check for depression and tried taking two different anti-depressants for around 6 months each with no change in my feelings of fatigue. There are no personal or social problems at all that could be a reason for depression. I am 6' 185 in pretty good health, financially secure, with a rewarding career, and great family/personal life.

I am taking a refresher course next month with plans to get back in diving. After reading a few articles it caused me to wonder if possibly my fatique could have been caused by that dive 4 years ago. If my symptons could have been caused from DCS is it too late for effective treatment? Will diving again cause more problems or possibly relive some of my symptons if it does turn out to be DCS?

Thanks for taking the time to read this, I have been actively searching for a cause for my fatigue for over 2 years now and would like to know if I should dig deeper into this or go back to searching elsewhere.

Thanks again,
PD27

 

[alibee]

From what I understand, symptoms of DCS ease over time while your body releases the nitrogen. So, it'd be hard to think that diving again would relieve your issues, since it's been 4 years now. (I can't say if they're caused by DCS, though -- you could go to DAN and ask someone who is a dive doctor for more info, most certainly.) However, from what I learned in my training, you could very well recreate these issues if you pull the sort of stunt you did in 2001. After all, this goes against everything any beginning diving course tells you:

- Stay within your limits (aka dive conservatively, following the dive planner's rules for recreational diving limits in combination with your certification limits. PADI Open Water divers are certified to go no deeper than *60* feet!).
- Safety stop at 15 feet for 3 minutes (on a non-deco dive).

If you can't follow these simple rules then you are definitely going to find yourself battling DCS at some point in the future.

As an aside, you may consider looking into things like lupus and fibromyaligia if you can't find a definitive cause for your fatigue. Unfortunately, fibro is diagnosed by eliminiation -- meaning that they test you for a variety of other sicknesses and eliminate them one by one until fibro is the only explanation left. It is usually not treatable via medication and is instead managed with diet and exercise.

Good luck!

 

[Wayan]

Hello,

In 2001 I took a scuba class in college. After our checkout dive at a local quarry a friend and I decided to see if we could reach the bottom (around 105 feet). I can't remember my exact accent rate but do remember not swimming up faster then the bubbles. We also stopped at least once for around 10-30 seconds at around 10-30 feet.

I can't remember any tingling or other immediate symptons and never really thought twice about it. I do remember being very congested in my face for several weeks later. I only did a few pool dives after that and never went below 15 feet.

Around 6 months later I spoke to a campus doc about fatigue. After some blood work he put me on synthroid for hypothroidism which I have been taking ever since, complete with periodic check-ups to check my thyroid levels every 6 months or so.

My fatique has still always been present and I have also had a very low libido for the last 2 years or so. I have been two psycs to check for depression and tried taking two different anti-depressants for around 6 months each with no change in my feelings of fatigue. There are no personal or social problems at all that could be a reason for depression. I am 6' 185 in pretty good health, financially secure, with a rewarding career, and great family/personal life.

I am taking a refresher course next month with plans to get back in diving. After reading a few articles it caused me to wonder if possibly my fatique could have been caused by that dive 4 years ago. If my symptons could have been caused from DCS is it too late for effective treatment? Will diving again cause more problems or possibly relive some of my symptons if it does turn out to be DCS?

Thanks for taking the time to read this, I have been actively searching for a cause for my fatigue for over 2 years now and would like to know if I should dig deeper into this or go back to searching elsewhere.

Thanks again,
PD27

PD27 best thing to to do is to discuss this with your Dr. If still have doubts get referred to a HBO Dr. DCI can still leave people with after affects for years after diving and some never fully recover.

One point for future reference is forget that I did not ascend any faster than my bubbles, (the leads to questions like which bubbles, when does the smallest bubble no longer become the smallest bubble etc etc..) you should always use an SPG and watch or computer as a guide to controlling your ascent rate.

happy trails

 

[Wildcard]

Talk to your doc and have him call DAN but Im saying no. I would also recomend paying attention when you do your refresher. 10-15 seconds? 105 feet? Did you learn about safety stops? This is kinda important stuff ya know?

 

[Spoon]

Hello,

We also stopped at least once for around 10-30 seconds at around 10-30 feet.


PD27

you should have stopped at least 30 mins shallower than 20 ft. 10-30 seconds is not enough.

 

[MilitantMedic]

PD27,

Not comment of the safety of dive.

As far as DCS, the probabilty of lingering symptoms from a hit are very very minimal. Typically you'd be a parapelegic or something notably obvious. If it was DCS there is no treatment course this far out, think 12 hour window MAX for treatment.

The congestion you felt status post diving was most likely caused by mild barotruama to your sinuses, leaving them swollen and inflammed i.e. "feeling congested."

As far as fatigue hypothroidism is a possiable cuase (usally asscociated with weight gain though). Another cuase you might want to reference is Sleep Apnea, usally asscociated with overweight persons (which you are not @6' 185{unless you mesure in kilos}). But there are many many cases of very healthy people with sleep apena. Get an ENT doc to check you out.

As far as diving in the future go dive!!!! But be safe.

Edit: By saying "Typically you'd be a parapelegic or something notably obvious" I was refering to long term conditions caused by DCS, NOT to say that DCS typically leaves you paralyzed (it is pretty rare).