My DCS I might go away in by tomorrow??

[El Orans]

Feeling kind of sheepish right now, 'cause I wasted Dan's and the doctor's time and posted this at all. :shakehead :sorry19z:

Better be safe than sorry!

 

[lamont]

yeah, don't worry about it. i'm all in favor of people who even suspect they have DCS going all the way to the chamber and 'wasting' all that time and resources.

 

[JS1scuba]

Just got off the phone with the doc.
From last night at 9pm until this morning at 8am I had NO symptoms, Then, they came back this morning. Soooo... both the doctor and Dan have decided this is NOT DCS. The doctor said he thinks it's dive related only in the fact that it was caused by lifting my gear. YEH! I can dive tomorrow!!
Feeling kind of sheepish right now, 'cause I wasted Dan's and the doctor's time and posted this at all. :shakehead :sorry19z:

The only sure way to know you do not have decompression sickness is to be treated in a hyperbaric chamber. I know this sounds wierd but. If you had symptoms of DCS and they came and went and then came back again then it smells of type II neurological DCS and should have been treated. But if the symptoms were mild and could be confused as a musculoskelital problem then it may not have needed to be treated. But ... an HBO treatment does no harm. So they should have done it.

When you had no symptoms from 9pm to 8 am were you sleeping ? Did you take any analgesics ? Did you sleep "hard" meaning straight through ?

Keep a diary of your sysmtoms. Note time and region of the body. If they come back you should probably get an HBO treatment anyway.

All DCS will go away with time. But a good dose of hyperbaric oxygen will clean it up a lot faster and with better results.

Regards,

JDS

PS I ran a hyperbaic center in NYC from 1994-1997 treating only divers.

 

[Rick Inman]

When you had no symptoms from 9pm to 8 am were you sleeping ? Did you take any analgesics ? Did you sleep "hard" meaning straight through ?

I was awake until midnight, then up again at 6am, so there were 5 awake hours.
I did not take any meds. I woke up a couple of times in the night and was very aware and looking for symptoms. There were none.
Also, I have a history of spine trauma and pulled my neck about 10 hours before the flight, but the pain went away so I never connected it, until this morning when the doctor asked me if I'd had any recent neck injuries.

 

[miked]

Hi Rick,

Congratulations.
I'm Happy for you that it is not DCS.
But, please don't feel as if you wasted DAN and the Drs. time.
Remember the advice seen all over this board: words to the effect of " if there is any chance it could be DCS-see a doctor, contact DAN, etc."

Don't let "20-20 hindsight" cause you to regret doing the right thing for yourself.
The danger is, god forbid, "next time" you may hesitate, and if it turns out to be DCS, you've done a major disservice to your own health.

Take care, and enjoy the next dive,
Mike

 

[Dr Deco]

Hello Rick:

Please, do not feel sorry about asking for advice. Many times I hear stories and say to myself, “I wish they had asked before they did that.” Or possibly I can set someone’s mind at ease by explaining how something could occur, and that it is not negligence on the part of another party.

It actually sounds suspicious because it appeared on an airplane (reduction in pressure). As is true with any things, people who do not dive also get “funny feelings” in their arms.

Dr Deco :doctor:

 

[Charlie99]

YEH! I can dive tomorrow!!

But should you?

In an ambiguous situation like this, I would stay out of the water a week or so, unless the planned dives were some sort of truly unique, once in a blue moon sort of thing.

It sounds like you're pretty sure it wasn't DCS, but there is also that possibility .......

Obviously, YMMV.

Charlie

 

[Rick Inman]

But should you?

In an ambiguous situation like this, I would stay out of the water a week or so, unless the planned dives were some sort of truly unique, once in a blue moon sort of thing.

It sounds like you're pretty sure it wasn't DCS, but there is also that possibility .......

Obviously, YMMV.

Charlie

You been talking to my wife??

Yeah, I've agreed to wait until later next week ast least.

Thanks all!!!!

 

[Alex in L.A.]

Not a doctor or expert on the sujbect. But you should also plan on cancelling your diving for at least 30 days AFTER the symptoms go away. That is DAN's advice. After my chamber ride my Chamber doc said 7 days, and I went diving again exactly 7 days later (but all the symptoms were not completely gone) and I went to two more rides in the chamber.

I'm sure the 30-day wait makes good empirical sense based on real-world experience, but I'm curious about the theoretical basis for it. Is the idea that some of the bubbles that caused the DCS remain in the body for as long as a good fraction of a month? Or, is it that tissues or nerves damaged by DCS are more vulnerable to developing another bout of DCS while they are healing? If so, why?

 

[BigJetDriver]

I'm sure the 30-day wait makes good empirical sense based on real-world experience, but I'm curious about the theoretical basis for it. Is the idea that some of the bubbles that caused the DCS remain in the body for as long as a good fraction of a month? Or, is it that tissues or nerves damaged by DCS are more vulnerable to developing another bout of DCS while they are healing? If so, why?

The latter. Poor perfusion in the damaged areas.

BJD