Dizziness after diving

[Duke Dive Medicine]

Are you getting anti malarial medication like Lariam (looking at your location)? They will have your described side effects with scuba diving.
Scuba Page - The Travel Doctor

The time course of the symptoms would probably make this lower on the differential, but it's a good thought.

Best regards,
DDM

 

[GaetanBidaud]

No I don't, I had to stop it specifically because they were making me very dizzy.

 

[GaetanBidaud]

Good morning @GaetanBidaud ,

There could be a number of factors at play here. The most worrisome would be contaminated air. If the breathing gas source was the same for both dive trips, I would be concerned for that.

Another explanation could be a condition called alternobaric vertigo. This is where one middle ear space equalizes before the other, typically on ascent, and you're left with two different pressures inside your middle ears. This can lead to transient vertigo, which usually disappears immediately when the offending middle ear space eventually clears. If you're diving with congestion, this would be higher on the list of possibilities.

Another potential cause of post-dive vertigo is inner ear barotrauma, but given your description of it clearing up between dives, this would be pretty low on the differential for me, as would inner ear decompression sickness.

Best regards,
DDM

Thanks a lot for your answer. I got that feeling twice in separate location, yet they may have been from the same source as it wasnt't so far (Zanzibar and Kenya). So it could be that as I don't recall any of these symptoms when I was diving in Thailand.

As you can imagine it is impossible for me to consult a dive doctor where I am currently staying (North Uganda - it is even difficult to find a good "classic" doctor). I am thinking of trying to dive in Mozambique as planned and if I feel the same symptoms I may try to get checked by a recommended doctor there, what do you think about that? If your alternobaric vertigo potential diagnose is right, what would it mean in terms of diving? Like I don't mind feeling dizzy for a bit after diving if that is all it does to me, but I don't want to put my health at risk. If vertigo is the only consequence, then I'll take it. I am not diving that often anyway, just in vacation, but I would still be quite sad to have to stop... Health first, though.

many thanks for your help and advice.

regards

Gaetan

 

[Duke Dive Medicine]

Thanks a lot for your answer. I got that feeling twice in separate location, yet they may have been from the same source as it wasnt't so far (Zanzibar and Kenya). So it could be that as I don't recall any of these symptoms when I was diving in Thailand.

As you can imagine it is impossible for me to consult a dive doctor where I am currently staying (North Uganda - it is even difficult to find a good "classic" doctor). I am thinking of trying to dive in Mozambique as planned and if I feel the same symptoms I may try to get checked by a recommended doctor there, what do you think about that? If your alternobaric vertigo potential diagnose is right, what would it mean in terms of diving? Like I don't mind feeling dizzy for a bit after diving if that is all it does to me, but I don't want to put my health at risk. If vertigo is the only consequence, then I'll take it. I am not diving that often anyway, just in vacation, but I would still be quite sad to have to stop... Health first, though.

many thanks for your help and advice.

regards

Gaetan

@GaetanBidaud sorry, just seeing this.

There's a similar thread going on at the same time as this one where a possible cause is CO2 retention; though yours sounds more like alternobaric vertigo, CO2 retention can't be ruled out either.

If you're experiencing ABV, a series of Toynbee maneuvers (swallow while pinching the nose) can be helpful in clearing the offending ear. I do NOT recommend trying to remedy ABV with a Valsalva (pinch the nose and blow) maneuver. The root cause of ABV could be a stenosed/insufficient/dysfunctional Eustachian tube (the tube that connects the middle ear to the nasopharynx), or it could be inflammation from allergies, viral infection, middle ear barotrauma, or some other irritant. If you go a long time between dives and experience this as a chronic problem, an ENT physician can evaluate you and help determine the cause.

If you're getting CO2 buildup, which is possible (although like the other individual in the thread linked above, you didn't report a headache), your underwater breathing may need some attention. CO2 buildup can also result from a number of things: a regulator that's out of adjustment/increased work of breathing, gas density/depth, exercise under water, and a blunted hypercapnic ventilatory response are some. Most of these are easy to fix; the HCVR, not so much, though I think this is pretty unlikely in your case.

Ultimately, if this keeps happening to you despite addressing potential causes, you'll need to be evaluated by a physician before continuing to dive. Hope this helps.

Best regards,
DDM