Decompression sickness
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I haven't had it personally but i did have a customer on a charter years ago get hit.
His description was a tingling/numbness/pins and needles like his foot fell asleep in his lower left leg. 30 mins later, when he informed me about it, he had thrown up twice and the weird numbness feeling had moved up to his chest area but....only on the left side.
And diving was done for everybody that day. So off to the chamber we went.
His description was a tingling/numbness/pins and needles like his foot fell asleep in his lower left leg. 30 mins later, when he informed me about it, he had thrown up twice and the weird numbness feeling had moved up to his chest area but....only on the left side.
And diving was done for everybody that day. So off to the chamber we went.
Snapscuba
Registered
Narcosis, rapture of the depths, nothing to do with the bends, [ I don't think so ?] But maybe a contributor ? I had it, talking 50 years ago, I was down 180 feet on air, I had this very carefree feeling, no worries, no problems, nothing could go wrong. Reactions slow as well.
Another dive, I was diving with my buddy, on a wreck 130 feet down, when suddenly he shot off down the slope. I went after him, grabbed him, & we went back up. On the surface he said he felt great & was heading to get to 200 feet.
So don't just worry about the bends, there's a deadly "happy" problem as well ?
Another dive, I was diving with my buddy, on a wreck 130 feet down, when suddenly he shot off down the slope. I went after him, grabbed him, & we went back up. On the surface he said he felt great & was heading to get to 200 feet.
So don't just worry about the bends, there's a deadly "happy" problem as well ?
OP
Could you describe “bubbling”
From everything I have heard from cases, the symptoms are so varied it could be almost anything. It is as if something that might normally go away on its own gets stuck somewhere for some reason.
In my case, I had a very uneventful dive on which for some reason I took extra care in decompressing before going to the surface. The reason I took extra care was a fluke. I had two NDL dives, and I happened to bring along a deco bottle of oxygen on the boat, mostly just because I had it, so what the heck? I used it on the safety stop on each dive, just because I had it, so what the heck?
Several hours later, I felt some pain in my right scapula. (Check all the literature and see if pain in the scapula shows up as a DCS symptom.) I figured I had strained something dealing with the gear. It got much worse. Most importantly, I wanted to take a nap. I never take a nap. I figured I might have a really mild DCS case I could treat myself with oxygen. I did, and it mostly worked pretty well. The pain lessened considerably. Rather than call DAN, which would have been what an intelligent person would do, I sent an email to ScubaBoard's Duke Dive Medicine (DDM), an email he did not get for a day or two.
The next day, I felt much better, but not great. Now comes the next symptom you won't find in any of the literature. My golf game had been really sucky of late, especially my driving, so I of course decided my equipment was the problem. I went to a golf megastore, and a salesman helped me look at drivers. I was so bad in my tryout attempts that the salesman told me to go home and come back to try the drivers when I could actually hit the ball with any kind of consistency. (I'm not that good, but I'm normally not that bad.)
The next day I still did not feel myself, and DDM finally read his email and got back to me. Once he heard my story, he set me up with a hyperbaric physician. I described to him the only real symptom I had left. I felt a kind of general woozy, fogginess, like I was getting the flu. That suggested neurological DCS to him, and I was in the chamber shortly after that. I had 3 days of treatments.
The main stupidity in my long denial was caused by the fact that my dive was so far within normal limits that I did not believe it was possible that I had DCS. That belief caused me to ignore symptoms and not do the logical thing and call (not email) DAN.
Fast forward a couple years, and I start to feel that same "getting the flu" wooziness after 5 pretty intense dive days in Cozumel. I was pretty sure I had DCS. This feeling was made more certain because earlier in the day my dive buddy had called DAN because of his skin bends symptoms, and they sent him to the hospital where the diagnosis was confirmed. I called DAN and got the same guy. He did not think I had DCS, even though I had the same symptoms that had put me in the chamber a couple years before. When I was still sick the next day, I tested a different cause, and it turned out I had Covid.
The moral of the story is that there can be a wide variety of symptoms, and you really can't be sure. If you think there is a chance, call DAN and talk to someone who has a clue.
In my case, I had a very uneventful dive on which for some reason I took extra care in decompressing before going to the surface. The reason I took extra care was a fluke. I had two NDL dives, and I happened to bring along a deco bottle of oxygen on the boat, mostly just because I had it, so what the heck? I used it on the safety stop on each dive, just because I had it, so what the heck?
Several hours later, I felt some pain in my right scapula. (Check all the literature and see if pain in the scapula shows up as a DCS symptom.) I figured I had strained something dealing with the gear. It got much worse. Most importantly, I wanted to take a nap. I never take a nap. I figured I might have a really mild DCS case I could treat myself with oxygen. I did, and it mostly worked pretty well. The pain lessened considerably. Rather than call DAN, which would have been what an intelligent person would do, I sent an email to ScubaBoard's Duke Dive Medicine (DDM), an email he did not get for a day or two.
The next day, I felt much better, but not great. Now comes the next symptom you won't find in any of the literature. My golf game had been really sucky of late, especially my driving, so I of course decided my equipment was the problem. I went to a golf megastore, and a salesman helped me look at drivers. I was so bad in my tryout attempts that the salesman told me to go home and come back to try the drivers when I could actually hit the ball with any kind of consistency. (I'm not that good, but I'm normally not that bad.)
The next day I still did not feel myself, and DDM finally read his email and got back to me. Once he heard my story, he set me up with a hyperbaric physician. I described to him the only real symptom I had left. I felt a kind of general woozy, fogginess, like I was getting the flu. That suggested neurological DCS to him, and I was in the chamber shortly after that. I had 3 days of treatments.
The main stupidity in my long denial was caused by the fact that my dive was so far within normal limits that I did not believe it was possible that I had DCS. That belief caused me to ignore symptoms and not do the logical thing and call (not email) DAN.
Fast forward a couple years, and I start to feel that same "getting the flu" wooziness after 5 pretty intense dive days in Cozumel. I was pretty sure I had DCS. This feeling was made more certain because earlier in the day my dive buddy had called DAN because of his skin bends symptoms, and they sent him to the hospital where the diagnosis was confirmed. I called DAN and got the same guy. He did not think I had DCS, even though I had the same symptoms that had put me in the chamber a couple years before. When I was still sick the next day, I tested a different cause, and it turned out I had Covid.
The moral of the story is that there can be a wide variety of symptoms, and you really can't be sure. If you think there is a chance, call DAN and talk to someone who has a clue.
bakodiver391
Contributor
Having been involved in treating several dozen cases, I can say that the symptoms are so varied that it is hard to pin down, even for hyperbaric physicians. However, the most common indicator is that the sensation is so unusual. The pain is different, deeper, the itching or rash is nothing you've ever felt before. If you have a "huh, that feels funny" moment after diving, pay attention, tell someone, get on oxygen therapy and monitor symptoms.
It felt like water was bubbling into my drysuit boot all over my foot. I was on land and hadn't moved my foot when the sensation came on. It wasn't as if I took a step and squeezed water from a damp sock or felt a pinhole leak or anything. Neuro hits create all kinds of crazy sensations and injuries.
Personally, tunnel vision and blotchy rashes.
I have not been bent but the most common symptom I have seen treated were joint pains, especially knees. Many of these joints had previous injuries. Most were deep air and surface-supplied HeO2.
OP
Thank you for the in-depth.
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