Do you always need to do more than the 100% Oxygen for DCI/DCS?

[AfroBoy]

I'm a beginner diver and recently did my 6th dive. It was a pretty standard dive, 32 minutes, 16 metres, and a 5 minute stop at 5 metres before ascending.

It was until I was back at home 1.5 hours later that I started to feel nauseous, and threw up. Had a headache and sore neck. Being nervous about the whole thing I went to the local emergency department just to make sure.

• Blood work and neurology was all ok.
• Put me on a drip & O2 mask.
• Nothing much changed, so they kept me overnight.
• Put me on another O2 mask at midnight for 4 hours.
• Felt better by mid-morning so I was discharged with a referral to a specialist.

In other people's experiences, is it standard procedure to just do the 100% Oxygen thing then nothing much else if your symptoms clear? I'm worried that if I start to develop other symptoms such as sore joints & numbness, that it would've been better to have done a chamber session earlier, rather than days later.

Oh, and whilst I felt the doctors were quite thorough, they weren't set up for this type of treatment. The nearest Hyperbaric Unit is 100+ kms away, and they were liaising with specialists over the phone. They also didn't have proper non-rebreather masks for 100% Oxygen Therapy so had to MacGyver one up as best they could.

Interested in comparing notes on this with others.

Cheers,
Af.

P.S. Also quite nervous as since I got home, my back it a little sore around my ribs, but not sure if it was the hospital bed that caused it.

 

[Duke Dive Medicine]

Headache/nausea/sore neck could be a lot of things. What was your actual diagnosis?

Best regards,
DDM

 

[AfroBoy]

Headache/nausea/sore neck could be a lot of things. What was your actual diagnosis?

Principal dx was Decompression Illness. Ended up back in hospital last night with sore shoulders and a light tingling down my arms. They're transferring me to the hyperbaric specialist in another hospital now.

Super nervous. Don't see how it could be DCI if the dive was textbook and not so deep. Oh well.

 

[tursiops]

You've had 6 dives. I had a student who got DCS on her 8th dive....she ended up being diagnosed with a small PFO. She did nothing wrong, her body did. Your case (I'm no MD) sounds not super serious, but getting tested for a PFO might be important.

 

[tphelps]

Sounds like an unremarkable profile. Did you have a fever? I learned this from DAN, fever is almost never associated with a dive malady.
Where you working hard during the dive (like against a strong current)? A sore neck could have also been from a tight fighting wetsuit or perhaps you were looking up or side-to-side a lot during the dive. Be conscious of changes in your symptoms and stay plenty hydrated. It sounds like you might have something else though. But you did the right thing by getting checked out.

Wishing you a speedy recovery!

 

[AfroBoy]

Thanks for the comments everyone. Have come back from seeing the specialist at the Hyperbaric Centre and got the all clear. They were brilliant and very thorough.

Initial diagnosis of decompression illness by my local hospital was incorrect. On review, my initial round of symptoms were likely due to dehydration (headache, sweating, vomiting, sore neck) as it was a stinking hot day and I hadn't had nearly enough water. Second round of symptoms were due to a muscular-skeletal issue causing my peripheral nerves to tingle. Sore neck from looking around and ill-fitting suit/tank contributed to it.

Am still glad I got it all checked out as it settled my worry about it all.

 

[doctormike]

Super nervous. Don't see how it could be DCI if the dive was textbook and not so deep. Oh well.

Learn from my mistakes: http://www.rothschilddesign.com/dcs/



But it sounds like you didn't get hit after all! So glad that you are OK...

M

 

[scububa]

Lots not understood about DCS. Most all info is modeling, much of it reinforced by statistical evaluation of empirical (field) data.

Absolutely seems your profile is pretty unlikely, but you are new to diving, so one could be a statistical anomaly. I agree it's extremely unlikely with the amount of data available, but there's really not that much data available and it comes from a pretty small population. (Not many divers relative to overall population and even less decompression divers.)

My point is that there is likely much more not known than known. And, I am glad your situation is resolved and doesn't challenge any of our 'standing' knowledge. But, I am surprised no one has pointed out how good an idea it is to have some dive insurance. As I read, my first question was, "What did DAN (insert your organization) have to say?" And, if it would have been a DCS event, starting with them would be a good idea for helping efficacy in diagnosis and downstream cost coverage.

 

[doctormike]

But, I am surprised no one has pointed out how good an idea it is to have some dive insurance. As I read, my first question was, "What did DAN (insert your organization) have to say?" And, if it would have been a DCS event, starting with them would be a good idea for helping efficacy in diagnosis and downstream cost coverage.

+1 to that. I'm very glad I had the insurance, I can't imagine anyone diving without it. Such a tiny cost compared to the cost of diving in general...

 

[Wookie]

Actually, I have a completely other feeling about Oxygen. Oxygen is commonly first aid treatment for DCI, just like a band-aid is for a cut, or CPR is for a MCI. Sometimes first aid is enough to fix the problem, like in the case of band-aids for a boo-boo, but as in the case of the MCI, just getting the heart to restart doesn't mean a trip to the ER and hospital isn't in order. I will use O2 as a diagnostic tool. On a liveaboard, there are often bumps, scrapes, and pulled joints that the victim doesn't remember happening. If someone comes to me with a complaint of maybe a pulled shoulder, we will always perform a field neuro on them. If the results are inconclusive or the victim really can't remember pulling a muscle, we'll throw them on O2 for a while, maybe for a full cylinder, all the time monitoring. If the injury shows rapid resolution, which in my experience with DCI myself happens when the problem is actually DCI, we know that the victim needs further evaluation by a medical professional, and they are evacuated. If a couple of hours on oxygen does not show any marked improvement, we've got another diagnostic sign in our bag of tools to provide to DAN over the phone.

Had I had you in the hospital overnight on O2 and you didn't get better, I'd be looking elsewhere for what ails you.