Not DCS, Apparently.

[oysters]

Hi! I'm a brand new diver. I did my certification dives over the weekend, maximum depth 52' for 32 minutes. I did four dives in two days. Three on Saturday, one on Sunday. Basically I had/have strange cold/asleep feelings in my arms and some joint pain. I called DAN late Sunday night, they said "Well, not likely, go to the ER anyway."

So I did. Long story short, they transferred me and decompressed me twice- a Table 5 followed by a Table 6. The Table 5 did nothing, so they called DAN and DAN said "Do two more tables if you have to."

After Table 6 with no change, they just sent me home, didn't do another table because it seemed unnecessary.

So, called DAN back, who said "Yeah, probably not DCS if you still have symptoms. Go see your primary care physician." I also called my instructors (who were with me the entire time I dived) who went "Uh, not likely at all. You couldn't have gotten DCS unless you were completely dehydrated and the tables would have helped."

So I went to my PCP who basically said to go see a neurologist. So I do that Thursday.

The feeling is that, I guess, if I had any nitrogen in my system it would have been flushed out by the two dive tables that they did, or at least reduced enough that there is no risk and there should have been a difference?

Right now my ears feel a tad weird on and off, like full, and I think that is from the hyperbaric chamber (has anyone else experienced that? I will have the neurologist take a peek tomorrow just to check it out.) And my arms feel the same. The sensations come and go, and I've had issues with circulation and joint pain before but nothing like this. And nothing ever diagnosed.

Just wondering what you guys thought. At this point it looks like DCS is super unlikely because the chamber should have knocked it out.

Weird, right?

 

[Rick Inman]

I'm no doc for sure, but your symptoms mimic my issues with spinal problems I have (meaning herniated disks in my back and neck). This can hit me after a bunch of diving due to all the gear moving and lifting.

Take out the diving and look at the symptoms.

 

[oysters]

Thanks, Rick. I thought that too. I've had tingling in my right arm before due to a cervical spine injury like... 10 years ago. I'm 18. I also weigh around 93 lbs and it was my first time carrying around equipment and stuff.

That's totally the thing. If it wasn't for the fact that I was diving, they wouldn't have decompressed me (obviously). But it makes me wish there was a test for DCS. Because it was completely a waste, I feel the same as I did before except my ears feel really weird now.

 

[Splash-X]

A good friend of mine has a similar issue. Her legs feel like they've gone numb/asleep after a dive and it is somewhat painful she says.

She has talked to both DAN and Dive Assure several times, made trips to several physicians, saw some diving specific doctors and no one can figure out what the cause is.

We've tried using 100% O2 right after a dive to see if that helps at all and it has no effect. We did isolate it to occurring only after 40ft. and some times it doesn't occur until deeper depending on the day. We tested the theory several times at various spots where we could easily control the depth, like the springs and some spots in the ocean.


DAN never suggested DCS or recompression for her (and you're getting this all second hand from me!) so I can only assume her symptoms were slightly different.

 

[oysters]

Thanks, Splash. Yeah maybe. I think they just wanted to be really safe so that's why they decompressed me, to rule it out.

Very weird. How long does the feeling last for her, do you know?