Headache and Fatigue after long cold dive

[DeepBound]

Thanks for the concern everyone.

I think I understand what happened now:

I must have started having a cold saturday, but didn't realize it yet until I started the dive. When I get a cold I usually get a fever with it that makes me feel really cold. Being in cold-ish water for 3 hours just wore me out and by the time I got out the cold symptoms were in full swing.

That's my guess anyway. I think the headache when I ascended might just be from kicking hard to try to stay down when I was already so tired and cold.

Sorry to bother you over a silly cold :shakehead

 

[Fish_Whisperer]

Well, better to "bother people" than to NOT bother and possibly end up dead or permanently impaired from a DCS hit. Glad to hear that you're okay.

Kicking hard to stay down: Are/were you underweighted? What changes will you be making to your dive profiles, if any?

 

[tc]

AGE? As in Arterial Gas Embolism? You can't be serious. He would be dead minutes after.

In a major one- Yes. But the symptoms can be minor also depending on the severity and location of the blockage. He describes it as an "Instant" headache immediately after a rapid ascent, that is a VERY large red flag. No one can diagnose a condition over the internet but the symptoms he describes COULD be serious and certainly warrant a call to DAN or visit to a doc.

 

[tc]

Glad to hear your OK!

 

[DeepBound]

Well, better to "bother people" than to NOT bother and possibly end up dead or permanently impaired from a DCS hit. Glad to hear that you're okay.

Kicking hard to stay down: Are/were you underweighted? What changes will you be making to your dive profiles, if any?

I wasn't underweighted, but I was keeping extra air in my drysuit to keep warm, then the current pushed me into a shallow area before I could empty the air from my suit, and found myself trapped in head-down position finning to keep on the bottom, looking for something to hold onto.

My new rule for drift dives: Leave the car at the start point, not the exit point, then it'll be easier to end the dive early if I need to . Also think ahead more to letting air out of the drysuit.

 

[Dr Deco]

Hello DeepBound:

It is a good guess that carbon dioxide retention accounts for the headache. It is the usual culprit when diving.

The vision problem is equivocal. It is possible that it was caused by decompression gas bubbles entering the arterial system from the venous circulation. This can be either through a patent foramen ovale (PFO) of though pulmonary shunts. These shunts bypass the pulmonary capillaries and allow bubbles to escape the norm lung filter.

There was one case of “wobbly vision” at NASA following a depressurization. There never was an exact cause identified. Your case might have been similar.

Dr Deco :doctor:


The next class in Decompression Physiology for 2007 is August 18-19. :1book:
This class is at the USC campus in Los Angeles.
http://wrigley.usc.edu/hyperbaric/advdeco.htm

 

[Fish_Whisperer]

You have my empathy and compassion. I hate dry suits... I had the opposite happen. On my first dive, I ended up with a rather uncontrolled and spastic descent, followed by my suit squeezing the hell out of my chest. I couldn't breathe and from 45', basically panic bolted for the surface... Definitely not my finest moment... :shakehead