Hyperbaric relief

[bygolly]

As I stumble and bumble through my sixth decade I am noticing more and more the frailties of the human body.

I have moderate myalgia most of the time and I and my doctor are unsure of the cause...although I suspect a statin hangover from a trial period with a combo of those drugs a year ago. I had to quit due to sever myalgia whilst taking the drug.

I have some moderate chronic pain in both of my achilles tendons but again my doc and I are unsure of the cause and we still don't know if it is an "opathy" or an "itis".

Numerous joints are stiff and achy and I hesitate to immediately walk briskly after sitting for a period...especially after driving. I have to admire the parking lot for a time before I set off across it.

And those of you in my age group are saying..."Big deal...join the club"....others are just yawning...but here's the deal. I recently did a series of nine dives over three days and for two days after I felt like I was twenty. At first I thought it must have something to do with diet and I determined that I didn't have my usual intake of dairy products during my stay at the B&B. But my limited research shows that there is little connection between my symptoms and dairy intake...it seems the opposite could actually be the case.

The only other thing I can think of is that breathing N₂ at ATA's approaching 3.0 3 times a day for 3 days might have had some lingering anaethetic effect for a short period.

So my question is:

Has anyone else out there in the scuba community experienced this latent feeling of pain relief after a series of dives?

I am curious to hear the anecdotes or to hear from someone that can point me toward some research that has looked at this.

Right now I think that this is all in my head and that in reality the trip was so good that I just forgot about my woes.

Cheers,
B

 

[Duke Dive Medicine]

B,
Any narcotic effect of nitrogen wears off immediately and does not linger, so it's not likely the nitrogen. What is your normal level of activity? If the dive trip involved more moving of your joints than you normally do, then it may just be the increased activity, which has been shown to provide some relief for arthritis symptoms. What breathing mix were you using? Another less likely possibility is that if you were breathing oxygen at increased partial pressures, it may have had a mild anti-inflammatory effect.

 

[flots am]

As I stumble and bumble through my sixth decade I am noticing more and more the frailties of the human body.

. . .

Has anyone else out there in the scuba community experienced this latent feeling of pain relief after a series of dives?

First, I'll give you the same advice my doctor gave me, and I won't even charge you a co-pay:

"It sucks to get old"

FWIW, I always feel better after being in the water, but my best guess is that it's from exercising while weightless and streching out all sorts of muscles that don't get used on land.

In fact, this is one of the reasons I teach SCUBA. It keeps me in the pool during the winter, which makes everything feel better.

flots.

 

[vladimir]

If naive speculation is welcome, I'll toss mine in: exercise and weightlessness. I exercise 5 or 6 days a week. I'm not highly disciplined or dedicated, I just dread the aches and pains I get if I take more than a day off. And taking the weight off your joints for a few hours might have helped too--couldn't hurt, anyway.

 

[Bob DBF]

Right now I think that this is all in my head and that in reality the trip was so good that I just forgot about my woes.
B

Not as funny as you might think. Even a day or two before I go diving I start to feel better. Anything that focuses the mind away from pain does give some relief.

Isn't it an annoyance to have to catalog all your symptoms of DCS before you go diving to establish a baseline.

Bob
-----------------------------------
I may be old but I’m not dead yet.

 

[TSandM]

I have the same symptoms, and find the same relief.

As far as I know, there is no research into changes in brain chemistry as a result of exposure to high ppO2s or ppN2s over time, but from very unscientific information I've gathered over the last five years, I'm absolutely convinced there is something, either about weightlessness or about breathing at those pressures, that alters the CNS. I'm not the only person who thinks diving is an antidepressant! AND diving, for some people, appears to have something in common with painkillers, in that it is addictive enough to get folks into trouble (divorces, etc.)

So the answer is that there isn't any science, but I agree with you.

 

[bygolly]

B,
Any narcotic effect of nitrogen wears off immediately and does not linger, so it's not likely the nitrogen. What is your normal level of activity? If the dive trip involved more moving of your joints than you normally do, then it may just be the increased activity, which has been shown to provide some relief for arthritis symptoms. What breathing mix were you using? Another less likely possibility is that if you were breathing oxygen at increased partial pressures, it may have had a mild anti-inflammatory effect.

Thanx for the info DDM. I was just diving air on this trip with average depths of 45 feet and BT up to 50 minutes. I am surprised that the narcotic effect wears off so quickly. I had assumed that slower tissues such as cartilage and tendon with their retained and higher N2 tensions would be the culprit and be responsible for at least a mild effect.

My normal level of activity is much higher than when I dive, I pole walk briskly 3-4 times a week in mountainous terrain for an hour at time. Heart rate levels are raised to the appropriate age levels. I do notice a decrease in the arthritic symptoms but the myalgia is always worse but I persist for the other benefits. My exercise levels while diving are quite low and the only time I get a little out of breath is when surface swimming against current.

B

 

[bygolly]

"It sucks to get old"

flots.

Thanx flots. I used to say that too but I modified it slightly when I realized that the opposite to "getting old" was "not getting old"....which sucked even worse. Now I proudly reveal my age whenever asked and tell people that I love getting "older", it's the "aging" part that sucks.

 

[bygolly]

If naive speculation is welcome, I'll toss mine in:

Naive speculation is certainly welcome here after all my original post was just that. I welcome all theories...we just may find something out.

Cheers,
B

 

[bygolly]

Not as funny as you might think. Even a day or two before I go diving I start to feel better. Anything that focuses the mind away from pain does give some relief.

Isn't it an annoyance to have to catalog all your symptoms of DCS before you go diving to establish a baseline.

Bob
-----------------------------------
I may be old but I’m not dead yet.

I have never noticed the pre-effect, if you can call it that, but I will be watching for it now.

Your last sentence did get me laughing. I did a quick review and re-read the field neurological exam and there were more than a couple of the questions that I would have to answer..."Nope...I was like that before"....