Headache every day for 2 weeks after my first scuba diving ! ((

[scubagirlx]

:xyxnervou
hi.. i am new to the scuba diving, i did it just once to the depth of approximately 33 feet two weeks ago during the cruise.. descending was more or less ok, but while going up i had pain in the ears..

it's been 2 weeks since my dive, and every day now i have a headache + kinda cloudy mind, hard to study... headaches start when i wake up, stop and start again at different times during the day..

i have a history of migranish headaches, but never before i had headaches so persistent and so frequent... seems like my head hurts all the time now.. (((

can this be a result of my diving experience ?

could i permanently damage myself ?

will it go away on its own, or do i need treatment, drugs, what exactly ?

believe me, each and every reply is greatly appreciated..:xyxnervou

 

[rmannix]

See a doctor and then ignore any internet advice

 

[fast5frog]

Right on...Contact DAN speak with one of their dive docs

 

[String]

i have a history of migranish headaches,

That combined with headaches gives me a huge flashing warning saying "check for PFO immediately".

 

[scarefaceDM]

See your doctor. One that is familiar with dive medicine. And as above..call DAN"

 

[ScubaTexan]

Divers Alert Network (DAN)
1-919-684-4326 (collect)
or
1-800-326-3822

 

[eckybay]

Like other's have said, the best solution is to talk to a doctor who will be able to examine you and ask questions.
DAN - Divers Alert network - is a great medical resource and will help members and non-members alike with diving related health questions. From their website, the number is:

Diving Emergencies (Remember: Call local EMS first, then DAN!)
1-919-684-4DAN (collect)
1-800-446-2671 (toll-free)

Non-Emergency Medical Questions
1-800-446-2671 or 1-919-684-2948, Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm (ET)

They will be able to better tell you if it is a diving related problem then most people on this forum. They will also be able to help you connect with local medical professionals that are experienced with diving issues.

Hope everything turns out okay.

 

[crazyTomato]

That combined with headaches gives me a huge flashing warning saying "check for PFO immediately".

Sorry, what's PFO?

 

[String]

http://scuba-doc.com/pfo.htm

There is increasing evidence suggesting a link with PFOs and the individual suffering migraines. PFOs are not good for divers and off gassing point of view.

 

[rawls]

Sorry, what's PFO?

Patent Foramen Ovale. This is a small opening between the right and left atrium of the heart. The heart has 4 chambers. The upper 2, or filling chambers, are called the atria. The lower 2 are called the ventricles, the pumping chambers. Blood rich with CO2 returns from our tissues via the venous system and fills the right atrium; thus filling chamber. It then empties into the right ventricle where it is pumped (pumping chamber) to the lungs. Due to a pressure gradient, the carbon dioxide passes from capillaries into the air sacs (alveoli) and is exhaled; not totally but mostly. The carbon dioxide is exchanged with oxygen. You now have oxygen rich blood and it travels back to the heart and fills the left atrium. The left atrium empties the oxygen rich blood into the left ventricle which is pumped into the arterial circulation providing our tissues with this oxygen.The tissues use the oxygen to carry out their metabolic functions and the waste product is carbon dioxide. Thus the process starts all over again. A patent foramen ovale is a small opening between the right and left atria. Before we are born it is a necessary means by which we receive oxygenation from our mothers because the lungs don't work yet. Normally the PFO closes in childhood, but sometimes it remains open. What you have then is some unoxygenated venous blood shunting from the right to the left atria. This decreases the amount of oxygen rich blood being delivered to our tissues. In and of itself a small PFO is nonsymptomatic because the amount of unoxygenated blood is pretty much inconsequential. Most people with small PFO's don't even know they have it. A larger hole, called an atrial-septal defect is another story because the amount of oxygen being circulated could be substantially decreased. There has been research concerning PFO's and diving. It is based on the premise that, with bubble formation that we have as divers, there may possibly be bubbles that are also passed from the right atria to the left through the PFO. So the bubbles bypass the lungs and empty directly into the arterial circualtion. It is theorized that this could cause embolic events to occur. One of the hypothetical symptoms of this is severe headache, which could indicate a cerebral embolic event. But the idea that this is what may be happening to scubagirlx is a long shot. Percentages of DCI are very small. If it could be proven that PFO's cause DCI, the statistics would climb, and they simply haven't done that. It would be my advice, as others have said to contact DAN.