Headaches similar to Migraines after diving

[DivemasterUK]

Sorry to spoil the party,but.. you have a misconception in your statement on the bends. You can get the bends in a few minutes in 10 metres (30ft) of water.

"I know it's not DCS because I haven't dived deeper than 45 ft for 30 min or so but I was wondering if anyone else has had similar issues."

Although, you're probably right!!
Safe diving!
Jon

 

[bcfundiver]

Very bad tension in the neck-shoulder area can lead to a migraine-like headache. You mentioned that you used to have problems with headaches and you have tension in you neck and shoulder. You are also not in the best shape of your life as you said. It sounds like what I had when I first started diving (I used to have headaches a few hours after diving, when I first started, because of general tension and recovery from sickness (and uncomfortable BC).), and I see these kinds of problems with my clients every day.
I recommend you to see a local massage therapist to determine if you have tension in your neck-shoulder area, as well as a few hours in a gym with a personal trainer to work on your strength and learn a few stretches.
If you need help with exercises, I am more than happy to help with a quick program as well. (Yes I can help you online.)

:22:

 

[H2Andy]

You can get the bends in a few minutes in 10 metres (30ft) of water.

are you talking about unexpected DCS or something else?

if unexpected DCS, 30 mins. at 45 feet is so conservative, that i would say the chances of unexpected DCS (low to begin with) are infinitesimal at best.

 

[TCDiver1]

Headaches are also a symptom of High CO2 usually after, not during high co2.. If you are breathing shallow or skip breathing you can retain CO2 ..

Good advise! One other thing i have noticed is i seem to get less headaches and feel much better since i started doing deeper stops/slower ascents.

Even if your not doing dives which require deco stops, very slow ascents accomplish the same thing, say 15 to 30 FPM or slower. Most divers seem to ascend at rates of 30 to 60 FPM or faster.

 

[DivemasterUK]

Yeah, but what about ascent rate?!!
)

 

[archman]

You can get the bends in a few minutes in 10 metres (30ft) of water.

are you talking about unexpected DCS or something else?

if unexpected DCS, 30 mins. at 45 feet is so conservative, that i would say the chances of unexpected DCS (low to begin with) are infinitesimal at best.

Hmmm... I think the bigger questions regarding DCS symptoms at shallow depths have less to do with pressure and more to do with inidividual variation amongst tissue compartments, or more stated in a sentence, "we both did safety stops, but why did diver x get the bends at 40 feet while diver z didn't at 110?"

So an infinetismal risk for one dude might be a lot more for someone else diving the same profile, shallow or not. As a victim of unexpected DCS, I feel the pain (or numb tingling sensation, actually).

 

[H2Andy]

Yeah, but what about ascent rate?!!
)

well, the bends (DCS as opposed to DCI) is again highly unlikely to result from an ascent from 45 feet after 30 minutes.

the real danger of a fast ascent from that dive depth and time is not the bends (in my view) but pulmonary baurotrauma (which can result in arterial gas embolism, mediastinal or subcutaneous emphysema, and pneumothorax).

just to make sure i clarify my position:

the chances of him getting the bends in this scenario are infinitesimal, though remotely possible, no matter how fast he comes up. however, if he holds his breath while coming up from that depth, he will have 100% chance of suffering pulmonary bauratroma. that is the real danger.

 

[H2Andy]

So an infinetismal risk for one dude might be a lot more for someone else diving the same profile, shallow or not. As a victim of unexpected DCS, I feel the pain (or numb tingling sensation, actually).

yes, i completely agree (and sorry you got hit)

and i also agree with DivemasterUK, in that you can always get bent, no matter what the profile.

but you could also throw two particles together and end up with a grand piano. however, how likely is that to happen?

here's my question: would the same individual, no matter
how succeptible to DCS, have a GREATER or LESSER
chance of getting bent after a dive of 30 minutes to 45 feet compared to a dive of 30 minutes to 70 feet?

that's my issue.

 

[archman]

here's my question: would the same individual, no matter
how succeptible to DCS, have a GREATER or LESSER
chance of getting bent after a dive of 30 minutes to 45 feet compared to a dive of 30 minutes to 70 feet?

Ah... I think that should nail it on the head. Why didn't you say that in the first place? :daisysmil

 

[MarkH]

I find this statement interesting. You (or anyone else) got any support for this so I can read further? When I first started diving nitrox, I got post dive headaches and have since changed to full extended exhalations with better results. When on air, I dont get them.

From what I understand, the level of oxygen in your blood has nothing to do with the stimulus to breathe. I always thought that it was the level of CO2 in the blood that controlled your breathing rate. Therefore using NITROX wouldn't make any difference with CO2 retention. Maybe I'm way off. As for the original question, I'm with the co2 poisoning theory. It's happened to me a couple of times while swimming hard against a strong current. You can only take in and breathe out so much air through a regulator. Another thing it could be is sinus squeeze or barotrauma, but I imagine you would feel this right away.