Narced

[stevewirl]

narc happen on all dives .
all divers get narced even if they dont realise it . narcs can be both good or bad .

it is a part of diving and is here to stay

if you work up your dive depths and decend slowly your narcosis tolenence is higher

 

[DennisW]

I regularly dive deep wrecks in cold water - anywhere from 90 - 120 feet. I don't believe I've been narc'd yet and I only dive air. I say I don't believe - because I'm unsure what I'm supposed to be feeling if I'm narc'd. People say you feel like you're drunk - never felt that at all. Yet. I'm sure one day it will happen and I'll know it. But what I'm curious about are the other subtle things that may happen that might clue me in that I'm narc'd - because maybe I have been.

The previous scenario about looking at your guages at depth, etc - I don't believe that's happened to me yet either. I'm pretty conscious of looking at my guages and interpreting what I see and making the adjustments accordingly. I haven't wandered off on my buddy at depth either, nor have I felt overly-confident or taken major risks at that depth. My regular dive buddy, who has over 1000 dives has never asked me if I've been narc'd after we come up from a dive.

Soooo...What are some other things to look out for? What are some things I could consciously do at depth that might tell me if I am or not?

Laura, believe me, you were narc'd. The interesting thing about being narc'd is that most of the time you don't feel any different. So, I don't equate it with being drunk, it is just being narc'd. Have someone give you a moderate math problem at 90 ft sometime and have them time how long it takes to get an answer. Then do the same thing on the surface. Your judgement and your ability to think logically is impaired. You may even halucinate, it happened to me. I didn't feel a thing wrong. I have felt the affects before and if you do, you won't like the feeling. I get a paranoid feeling that something just isn't right. Sometimes I may feel like I have a hard time getting a good breath of air. When I feel these types of feelings, I have learned that I need to ascend to about 60 ft. I'll feel better and then I can usually complete the dive. This has happened to me a couple of times since I learned to dive in 1988.

 

[scratchmyback]

Thanks Dennis. I guess I was looking for some sign - but I suppose you are right. I kind of get the spooky feeling sometimes, when I'm that deep, and the viz isn't the greatest. But I just assume that's how it's supposed to feel, when you start to think about it.

 

[DennisW]

Laura, you are very welcome.

 

[battles2a5]

The majority of my diving is deep (by recreational standards). I have never seen anyone not check their guages or do any any really strange behavior. I don't know this person or their experience, so I'm not going to speculate as to why this would happen to them. I guess some people are more succeptable to narcosis than others.

I do think that people have given air a bad rap since the advent of Trimix. People have an do dive to 200sfw regularly on air w/o disastrous results. So diving within the limits of recreational diving and beyond on air is not a death wish. Yes, Trimix will lower your PO2 and reduce narcosis at depth. You can dive deeper with a clear head. But Trimix isn't all roses. A He hit can be very bad from what I've read and it is thought that the narcotic nature of nitrogen can actually shield you against oxygen toxicity (HPNS and CNS). I am transitioning to tech now, and I will eventually move to Trimix for deep diving, but I have no plans to stop diving air to moderately deep depths.

 

[stevewirl]

hey battles2a5 ,
im a techie i dive deep deeper deepest , but when i dive with the club i dive air and nitrox .
just cause you go to the dark side doesnt mean you cant come back

 

[battles2a5]

Good to hear Stevewirl. Like I said, I'll eventually get into Trimix where I need it, but probably not in the 100-150 range.

And just to provide additional insight on the legitimacy of diving deep on air (and to stir up some good conversation), PSAI (founded by Hal Watts) offers a "narcosis management" cert for deep air diving up to 240fsw. This is part of thier extended range series. Talk about getting narced out of your gourd Bottom Time Radio (podcast) interviewed Hal Watts and he talks about this. It was episode 15 if you want to download it.

 

[mohave_steve]

If I remember correctly from my OW class, you can reduce the likelyhood & severity of Nitrogen Narcosis by (with proper training) breathing a mix that replaces a portion of the Nitrogen with Helium or Argon. Apparently these gasses do not have the narcotic effect that Nitrogen has.

I did experience mild Nitrogen Narcosis on a deep dive not long ago and the initial symptoms were a feeling of euphoria and not being able to remember what my SPG read and having to look at it repeatedly. Ascended about 20' and all was good. Went back down and watched closely for any symptoms and did not have any further occurance.

 

[battles2a5]

If I remember correctly from my OW class, you can reduce the likelyhood & severity of Nitrogen Narcosis by (with proper training) breathing a mix that replaces a portion of the Nitrogen with Helium or Argon. Apparently these gasses do not have the narcotic effect that Nitrogen has.QUOTE]

Whatever you do, do NOT use Argon as a breathing gas. It is much more narcotic than nitrogen. However, when divers use Helium in their breathing gas (which is much less narcotic), they may use Argon for drysuit inflation. Maybe that's what your OW couse meant to convey. He is a horrible insulator, Argon is a great insulator, so it will help keep divers warm when breathing the voodoo gas.

Helium is currently the preferred gas to wedge out Oxygen and Nitrogen from the mix. Neon is actually a valid alternative and given the dwindling supplies of Helium, a Helio-Neon blend may eventually find it's way into diving. Take a look at the periodic tables. You would need to replace a portion of the gas with another metabolically inert gas. Of the noble gases (inert), only HE is a lighter gas than Nitrogen (metabolically inert), so it actually makes the breathing gas lighter and reduces breathing resistence at extreme depths. Ne would be next, although slightly heavier. Hydrogen is another option, but do to the volatility of the element, it is not as common as Helium.

So where was I.. oh yeah PLEASE do not breathe argon