Handling Narcosis

[dkatchalov]

And if I was diving that wreck, I'd be doing it on mix and that would probably be after more than a 100 dives. I've got my whole life to dive (another 65 years according to the life-expectancy calculator ) so I'm in no rush.

 

[Web Monkey]

I did a dive to 140 feet and was totally out of my mind. Was rewinding the camera in the wrong direction and stuff. I want to know when you guys are down to 200 feet how crazy do you get and how do you handle it? How can he effects of narcossis be reduced?

I've been to 120'+ on air (EAN 28, actually, but close enough), and was dumb as a stump. Up here in the freezing cold dark water, it's typically really creepy with a little paranoia and some OCD tossed in. I spent the entire dive looking at my computer, putting it away, then pulling it out again.

Some days it's like that. Some days it better. Some days it's worse. Doesn't seem to be related to very much. If it's really creepy, I'll bag the dive or ascend a little.

There's nothing you can do to "handle it" other than stay shallow enough that you still have the presence of mind to handle an emergency, or switch to tri-mix.

I certainly wouldn't "tough it out", since the chances of you dying when you're really deep and really stupid are really good.


Terry

 

[do it easy]

I've been to 120'+ on air (EAN 28, actually, but close enough), and was dumb as a stump. Up here in the freezing cold dark water, it's typically really creepy with a little paranoia and some OCD tossed in. I spent the entire dive looking at my computer, putting it away, then pulling it out again.

The legendary dark narc!

Some days it's like that. Some days it better. Some days it's worse. Doesn't seem to be related to very much. If it's really creepy, I'll bag the dive or ascend a little.

I've been horribly narced and scared at 80' on some days and just fine on others.

I certainly wouldn't "tough it out", since the chances of you dying when you're really deep and really stupid are really good.

The insidious part of narcosis is that you won't realized you've screwed yourself until it is too late.

 

[Web Monkey]

The legendary dark narc!

It really sucks.

I like it much better in warm bright blue water, where it's more like a nice happy buzz.

OTOH, the dark one is probably safer, since it sort of encourages ending the dive.

Terry

 

[dumpsterDiver]

The legendary dark narc!

I've been horribly narced and scared at 80' on some days and just fine on others.

The insidious part of narcosis is that you won't realized you've screwed yourself until it is too late.

Come on now.. 80 feet! Were you narced or just really scared?

 

[Rickg]

Interesting. I generally have 1-2 beers after work. Not every day, but maybe 4-5 days a week.

dkatchalov,

The quote below from an article about early diving of the Andrea Doria on air touches on the subject.

http://www.andreadoria.org/TheDeep/L...e Divers.htm

"Let's say I wouldn't want it to be any deeper. Look: from about 150 feet down you start getting more and more reaction from nitrogen in the compressed air you're breathing. The deeper you go, the worse it gets. The nitrogen starts acting like an anesthetic and begin getting nitrogen narcosis-the thing Cousteau calls 'rapture of the depths.' The narcosis won't hurt you in itself, but it can reduce mental powers to those of a staggering drunk.

"Matter of fact, there's an interesting parallel there. You can equate depth tolerance with alcohol tolerance; the guy who gets blind on few very dry martinis may become extremely dangerous to himself and his buddy at 150 feet; the guy who can drink six without batting an eye can function-maybe-at 250. But one loses some resourcefulness past 150."

Personally, my max on air was 160 feet for 10 minutes on the San Francisco Maru in Truk Lagoon. I had been and have subsequently been to ~130-140 feet on air before and after and could definitely tell a difference at 160 feet where it seemed I was spending more time looking at my dive computer than at anything else.

 

[Web Monkey]

dkatchalov,I had been and have subsequently been to ~130-140 feet on air before and after and could definitely tell a difference at 160 feet where it seemed I was spending more time looking at my dive computer than at anything else.

There's probably something to be said the the newer computers like the Galileo that display user-configurable text messages.

Maybe I should change the 3-minute-warning to say "GO UP MORON, YOU'RE NARCED!"

Terry

 

[Rickg]

I knew I had seen an article somewhere on this subject. Ain't Google wonderful.

Comparison between subjective feelings to alcohol and nitrogen narcosis: a pilot study.

Comparison between subjective feelings to alcohol and nitrogen narcosis: a pilot study.

 

[Rickg]

Web Monkey,

Hell, I'm still in the stone ages when it comes to dive computers and text messaging. I am still using the Oceanic DataMax Sport that I bought in '93 for my trip to Truk. For that matter, I'm still not qualified to dive anything other than air. And I refuse to text message on a cell phone

 

[do it easy]

Come on now.. 80 feet! Were you narced or just really scared?

OK, maybe it was mostly scared Let's just call it narcosis induced fear.

I think part of the reason was that I was diving a single tank and felt funny without the redundancy of my doubles.