Question Ever experienced Nitrogen Narcosis?

[ascott22]

Always stay with a great dive buddy and keep an eye out for each other. Anything "off" for either diver and it's time to come up a little.

 

[loosenit2]

susceptibility to narcosis is a very individual thing. I have dove to 155 ft on air and had no noticeable narcosis (if I had it it was so mild I did not notice). I have a dive buddy that gets nacred at 130 on air. Workload has something to do with it as well. If you don't normally get narced at 130 but on a day you are dehydrated and working harder in a current it may affect you more. Only way to know your limits is to push them to see where the boundaries are.

 

[Lorenzoid]

My question is have you ever been surprised or caught off guard by nitrogen Narcosis and either snapped back to reality by someone else, or yourself?

No, I haven't been in that situation. I have certainly experienced narcosis, though. Just the other day I was feeling weird at 98 feet--and conscious of it. But it did occur to me that my grip on "reality" could loosen at any time, and my buddy was probably equally narced. I don't like it and want to avoid it.

I wanted to add that while we often use the term "nitrogen narcosis," there are likely other factors in play. Gas density is one that is getting increasing attention. With increasing depth, you have to work harder to breathe. The other is carbon dioxide. With increasing depth and having to work harder, it may get harder to eliminate CO2, which is a very narcotic gas. It's also worth mentioning that oxygen is believed to be about as narcotic as nitrogen, but O2 doesn't seem to be as problematic in this context because it's largely metabolized.

None of that related to your question, but since the title uses the term "nitrogen narcosis" I'm afraid I couldn't resist mentioning this stuff.

 

[Gene]

Most of my dives have been in caves with average depths around 105 ffw. I usually use a 30 percent NTX mix on those dives.
The deepest I've been in a cave is 285 ffw. I was using trimix for that dive.
The deepest I've gone in a cave on air is around 150, and I knew I was narked and my buddy asked me to please use mix next time. I did, and I made a rule for myself, no cave (or deep wreck penetration) dives past 130-140 without using trimix.
I've been to 200 ffw a number of times on air in a cavern sinkhole, and as someone who gave up drinking 27 years ago, I confess to liking the narcosis feeling on those dives. Have not done them in years though, and probably won't again. It's that warm fuzzy, wrapped in a marshmellow feeling that I'd get usually around 150 to 160 or deeper. I am only speaking for myself and past dives that I have done and definitely not suggesting anyone else try or do them! (Insert Jackass disclaimer here....)
I wanted to add that I've done a large number of intricate photo shoots in our north Florida caves, in depths ranging from 20 feet to 210 feet. (I used trimix on the 210 foot photo shoot dive.) On photo dives in the 100-120 feet range, on nitrox, there are times that I definitely have felt like my coordination and thinking wasn't as clear as it should be. Using some helium in my gas would certainly fix that!

 

[TMHeimer]

I have not knowingly experienced narcosis. I haven't dived deep (below 60') for quite a few years, but did so before that and was Deep certified in 2007. We did dives to 120' and 130' and I didn't notice it then. But I was diving wet in May in 35F water and maybe my mind was on that.....They say there is narcosis at those depths but you may not know you have it, and of course like holding your liquor, everyone differs.

 

[rhwestfall]

I've captured scenes on video I don't recall, and I've swam off on the incorrect feature on a wreck believing I was heading to the mooring...

110-140' in cold green water diving on appropriate EANx...

not all the time, but darn surprising if/when it happens...

I haven't finished my Helitrox cert, started years ago...

 

[johndiver999]

correct me if I'm wrong- doesn't narcosis come on gradually? like you won't be totally impaired all of a sudden with no warning...if it's like getting drunk, where you slowly feel the compounding effects of alcohol.
edit @Marie13 can you offer insight on this?

You need to be corrected. Narcosis can come on very quickly and rapidly. If you are descending rapidly and working hard to kick down etc. You can arrive at 130 with a little buzz or 160 feeling stoned as hell - all in 60 seconds.

However, the good thing about this is that most people will feel a reduction in symptoms very quickly - (in less than a minute) when they have ascended to a shallower depth.

It's more like a bong hit than a beer, if that helps at all.

 

[Celt]

I wouldn't get overly worried about narcosis or some of the stories you hear. The fact that you know it can happen means you're going to recognise something is going on the first time you feel it. If you decreas your depth it will pass.

 

[DogDiver]

Back in the 60s and 70s deep air diving on Great Lakes wrecks was the norm. We always took a camera with us so we could look at the wreck we just dove but couldn’t remember anything about it. True story.

 

[tursiops]

The fact that you know it can happen means you're going to recognise something is going on the first time you feel it.

No, it's unfortunate but this is not true. Many get narced enough to not remember parts of the dive, which they don't know happened until post-dive discussions.