herefishyfishy
Guest
Hello. I'm thoroughly confused at this point and could use any advice you all can give me. Excuse the long post, but I thought I'd put all the facts out there.
I did a dive last week where I was an ass, and stayed too long too deep, without paying enough attention to things. I was unable to do the full deco owed because I didn't have enough air, probably because I panicked when I saw that "deco" flashing on my computer and I started sucking air. I did about 4 minutes of 7 owed, then had to ascend.
I felt fine after - felt fine all week. Then, 5 days later, I did 3 dives in a day, after getting very little sleep the night before. First was to 89 feet, average depth 46 feet, for 39 minutes. Second, done after a 2 hour surface interval, was to 70 feet, average depth 39 feet, for 37 minutes. Last dive of the day, after a two and a half hour interval, was to 70 feet, average depth 35 feet, for 47 minutes. No unusual ascents, very smooth, gradual trips to the surface.
About 5 hours later, I experienced extreme fatigue. I also had an onset of lower back pain, BUT - it came on as I was lifting my tank, and I've had similar pain before, so that didn't seem weird. It was a long day, so, even though the fatigue was extreme, I didn't worry.
When I woke up with the same fatigue, and pain in my lower back (again, remember this is not so unusual for me, though the extreme fatigue was), I decided to call DAN for reassurance. Well, rather than telling me not to worry, they sent me to the dive doctor.
She did a neurological assessment, but because I have exisiting neuro issues (a tremor due to hand surgery), there didn't seem to be anything out of whack for what I usually experience. I am full of aches and pains a lot of the time, so there really wasn't anything I could point to that was out of the ordinary in terms of either pain or neurological symptoms.
However, she recommended I do a chamber ride, showing me a section in her medical book that emphasized that extreme fatigue on its own can be an early warning sign of a dcs hit.
I got in the chamber, but when nothing felt any different after an hour, I begged them to switch me from a table 6 to a table 5 - the whole thing was creeping me out, makign me claustrophobic, and it didn't seem to be making any difference, so I felt it probably wasn't DCS. They acquiesced, and went for the shorter treatment, telling me to come back for another ride if things worsened or didn't improve.
Well, I'm now thoroughly confused, because the back pain has not lifted, but, again, it is not a pain I haven't experienced before. I just generally feel like crap, as well. If I were not a diver, I would just think I had some sort of bug or something, but because I dive a lot, I'm concerned.
Does DCS ever settle into a spot that is already weakened by previous injury or issues? It seems odd that the timing of this pain is so right on for DCS, but then again, it's pain I've felt before, so I just don't know what to think.
I know my dives on the day in question weren't out of whack, but the doc said I could have had a hit from the previous dive that blossomed when the new dives were piled onto it. I really hated the chamber and don't want to go back, but I also don't want this to get worse if it seems like it might be DCS.
Opinions, please?
I did a dive last week where I was an ass, and stayed too long too deep, without paying enough attention to things. I was unable to do the full deco owed because I didn't have enough air, probably because I panicked when I saw that "deco" flashing on my computer and I started sucking air. I did about 4 minutes of 7 owed, then had to ascend.
I felt fine after - felt fine all week. Then, 5 days later, I did 3 dives in a day, after getting very little sleep the night before. First was to 89 feet, average depth 46 feet, for 39 minutes. Second, done after a 2 hour surface interval, was to 70 feet, average depth 39 feet, for 37 minutes. Last dive of the day, after a two and a half hour interval, was to 70 feet, average depth 35 feet, for 47 minutes. No unusual ascents, very smooth, gradual trips to the surface.
About 5 hours later, I experienced extreme fatigue. I also had an onset of lower back pain, BUT - it came on as I was lifting my tank, and I've had similar pain before, so that didn't seem weird. It was a long day, so, even though the fatigue was extreme, I didn't worry.
When I woke up with the same fatigue, and pain in my lower back (again, remember this is not so unusual for me, though the extreme fatigue was), I decided to call DAN for reassurance. Well, rather than telling me not to worry, they sent me to the dive doctor.
She did a neurological assessment, but because I have exisiting neuro issues (a tremor due to hand surgery), there didn't seem to be anything out of whack for what I usually experience. I am full of aches and pains a lot of the time, so there really wasn't anything I could point to that was out of the ordinary in terms of either pain or neurological symptoms.
However, she recommended I do a chamber ride, showing me a section in her medical book that emphasized that extreme fatigue on its own can be an early warning sign of a dcs hit.
I got in the chamber, but when nothing felt any different after an hour, I begged them to switch me from a table 6 to a table 5 - the whole thing was creeping me out, makign me claustrophobic, and it didn't seem to be making any difference, so I felt it probably wasn't DCS. They acquiesced, and went for the shorter treatment, telling me to come back for another ride if things worsened or didn't improve.
Well, I'm now thoroughly confused, because the back pain has not lifted, but, again, it is not a pain I haven't experienced before. I just generally feel like crap, as well. If I were not a diver, I would just think I had some sort of bug or something, but because I dive a lot, I'm concerned.
Does DCS ever settle into a spot that is already weakened by previous injury or issues? It seems odd that the timing of this pain is so right on for DCS, but then again, it's pain I've felt before, so I just don't know what to think.
I know my dives on the day in question weren't out of whack, but the doc said I could have had a hit from the previous dive that blossomed when the new dives were piled onto it. I really hated the chamber and don't want to go back, but I also don't want this to get worse if it seems like it might be DCS.
Opinions, please?
