Narced???

[Bogie]

Rescue Diving, STOP BREATHE THINK ACT. We stop panic before we are in it.

Breathing slow and deep gets the CO2 out. You could have regulator problems.

Did you feel air starved?

I dive in Monterey where it can get to 2 feet vis and can get quite dark under the kelp. Night dives can be a trip. I have built a comfort level under these conditions because I have a lot dives in tuff conditions.

Diving can be a mind game, keeping calm, controlled breathing, relax, think, and act intelligently.

i would make sure your equipment is in good order and maybe get a health checkout. Then just go down the list of causes. I would guess it is just a mind thing. Being anxious and going into the pre-panic stage might be the cause.

 

[qwertyhoot]

If you experienced a panic attack, your brain can remember the situation you were in during the first panic attack and when you go into similar situations later it can trigger another.

My mom had one while driving a certain part of the freeway. She literally couldn't go on that part of the freeway without having a panic attack, so she quit driving it. It was her trigger. She did overcome it. But it took a little work.

I don't know if this is what may be happening to you, but it sounds like it could be. I can't comment on what may have caused it the first time, the depth, or anything scuba related... hopefully it doesn't become an ongoing problem. If it does, you can overcome it.

 

[elmer fudd]

I've experienced this at depth before. Once at 100' and once at 130'. What I find works best is to ascend about 20 to 30 feet, stop and just examine something small like a nudibranch for a few minutes.

It's a good idea to signal your buddy first before you do this. The sign we use for all head related issues is a finger pointed to the side of the head and spinning in a circle, "crazy".

 

[JohnB47]

CO2 is the most likely cause. But it could also be bad air, which could contain CO as well as CO2.

 

[bkkchris]

Thanks for all the good posts. I have never had any issues with narcosis in similar diving situations in the past, which is what made me really pay attention this time. It does feel like it was a bit of a panic attack (something I have never had ever, diving or not), triggered from what, I don't know yet. I think the second time around, which was weeks later, the plan was I was going to head down to about 90/100 feet and somewhere en-route I must have triggered a thought about the first incident.

Don't think it is equipment related, my regs are in good shape and are tuned for pretty effortless breathing.

I will have to try it out this weekend and see what happens... hopefully nothing and its just a mind game, just weird that it happened in the first place at all...

 

[Mr Carcharodon]

Cold conditions is a big contributor to diving narcosis, along with very quick descents. Manage these and things will be a whole lot easier. As mentioned, reducing your depth will help elevate the effects of narcosis.

How exactly does a quick decent increase the likelyhood of narcosis? Certainly from a an inert gas loading standpoint we would believe that a quick decent would result in less nitrogen in solution than a slow decent. And if concentration of nitrogen does not drive nitrogen narcosis what does? I'm not seeking an argument here but trying to understand how this could work.

 

[PfcAJ]

A quick decent doesn't cause narcosis, it makes the feeling more intense compared to normal (on the surface). Its like boiling a frog. Throw a frog in, and it jumps out. Put it in room temp water, and slowly increase the temp, and the frog will boil.

 

[elmer fudd]

How exactly does a quick decent increase the likelyhood of narcosis?

I think narcosis is largely a matter of perception. By that, I don't mean that it doesn't exist or that it is psychosomatic, but there are certain things that make it seem more significant. If you go from the surface to being 100' deep in a matter of a minute or so, the pressure, darkness, restricted breathing and some narcosis will likely seem much more significant than if you had made a gradual descent along the sea floor.

 

[W8less]

You mentioned your camera!! U/W photogs can easily develop a bad habit of "skip breathing" not to conserve gas but to stabilize focus. It's not uncommon to alter breathing patterns to move in on a preset focal distance. The "skip breathing" can lead to all of the CO2 issues mentioned in above posts including a raging short term headache.

 

[ajduplessis]

Rapid compression and Nitrogen Narcosis.

I would suggest doing some reading/research on Henry’s Law on gas, also do some research of your own on nitrogen narcosis, or reviewing your AOW or deep dive manuals (managing nitrogen narcosis). Rapid compression will have an effect on narcosis.

We also have some medical staff on the forum if you are unsure of the causes of nitrogen narcosis.