Old neck injury, POTS and nausea while diving

[DocVikingo]

Hey tracydr,

While I appreciate that nephrology sometimes gets involved in BP assessment/control, such as when renal disorder is a possible etiological factor in HBP (which appears low on the index of suspicion in the case under discussion), in my experience here in major east coast metropolises it's usually cardiology or neurology that handles HUTT. Anyway, very interesting.

Your search for a tilt table reminds me of years ago when I wanted a moveable force platform for dynamic posturography. Now there's a kit you don't find in just any medical facility.

Cheers,

DocV

 

[webjr]

do any of these nausea events occur when you have to slow down on the anchor line, or sit in shallow water waiting for other divers to get to the ladder?

I'm usually the first one back on the boat because I got sick:depressed: As for the shallow water equalizing issue I plan on investigating that further but I don&#8217;t hold much hope for it. For every >60ft dive I make on vacation I probably do 20 <30ft dives here at home and have never been sick here. With more than 800 dives here local w/0 getting sick and 100+ saltwater with at least 3/4 of those ending with feeding fish it just doesn&#8217;t make sense. And yes the numbers are really that bad. It was almost to the point I considered giving up saltwater diving completely. I have decided to stick with great shore dive locations for now. We booked a return to Cocoview while we were there last month and I'm praying for a quick neck/arm diag/fix/recovery before next August trip.

My 20 to 1 ratio may be a severe understatement. Hard to tell since I quit logging local dives couple years ago.

 

[webjr]

Diagnosed with inflamation of the spinal cord. Only two days into treatment (Methlprednisolone&Naproxen)and already a noticable improvement! Noticable reduction of nmbnes in arms and hands. Orthostatic BP improving noticabley except when I have to talk to workers comp insurance agent on phone, then my BP goes through the roof. I'm pretty sure thats a normal reaction to dealing with sub-human vermin. The little parasite has denied insurance claim because he says the nervous system is not affected by the spinal cord!?
The only thing yet to be seen is if my wierd seasick condition will improve. I wonder if I can get a tax deduction for Cocoview as a neccessary medical test ? My doc suggested a VNG test but also said it could be another ANS symptom from spine problem. Will probably wait a month or so till spine calms down and then take him up on the VNG. I want to thank everyone for thier interest and ideas! Thank you all!

 

[tracydr]

Try to start doing your ascents in a horizontal position but don't put your head in extension. See if this helps.
Also,see if they will let you do physical therapy. It helped me a lot,until I needed surgery.

 

[cutlass]

Good to hear you've got some relief -- well, aside from the insurance issues which we all have . If I may ask, what was the nature of your neck injury?

 

[webjr]

Good to hear you've got some relief -- well, aside from the insurance issues which we all have . If I may ask, what was the nature of your nechen they k injury?

Neurologist said repetitive strain. 35 yrs of looking straight up 8hrs a day. The last few weeks have been mixed... Oral steroids and naproxin made ALL symptoms go away in just a couple of days. Then the drugs burned holes in my stomach and sent me back into the hospital. Luckily my wife(usualy a heavy sleeper) woke to the noise of me falling face down on the floor in the hall at 5am. Emergency surgery endoscoped to stop bleeding followed by a week of just trying to get blood count back up. Getting old sucks....

 

[cutlass]

Neurologist said repetitive strain. 35 yrs of looking straight up 8hrs a day. The last few weeks have been mixed... Oral steroids and naproxin made ALL symptoms go away in just a couple of days. Then the drugs burned holes in my stomach and sent me back into the hospital. Luckily my wife(usualy a heavy sleeper) woke to the noise of me falling face down on the floor in the hall at 5am. Emergency surgery endoscoped to stop bleeding followed by a week of just trying to get blood count back up. Getting old sucks....

Well! That certainly sounds like an adjustment to treatment is needed.

Approaching it as an overuse injury is reasonable although, to me, it still doesn't obviously account for your complaint of boat v.s. shore vomiting on ascent. That's very puzzling. The parts of your history which got my attention were "...neck injury ...series of spine injections", arm and hand spasms and pain, collapsing blackout, and "No dizzy underwater, I just throw up". Also, your one reported BP change, 130/76 --> 114/95, has the numbers going in opposite directions by noteworthy amounts. Unfortunately, neck injuries involving the spinal cord can be tricky. Rarely, problems can appear many, many years after the initial injury, sometimes giving wide combinations of signs and symptoms. These might take some work but can be sorted out.