Panic attack underwater after slight exertion (feeling out of breath)

[boulderjohn]

References to CO2 are on the money. Mild CO2 buildup is what causes your urge to breathe. Major CO2 buildup creates panic. Long, deep, diaphragmatic breathing, especially exhaling, is the key to settling a sense of panic.

 

[Bladebreaker65]

diagnoses aside the first positive is you recognize the problem. I find in a stress situation communication with your partner helps greatly. using a dive slate communicate your concern, Just the task focus of doing this puts your body into autopilot and default training. This alone can help solve alot of panic attack problems before they get out of hand.

 

[Panpangato]

Thank you everyone for your comments. I had never heard of carbon dioxide buildup before but I think that is what caused my panic attack. My regulator was doing a superb job I found this paper that talks exactly about what I experienced and carbon dioxide buildup.

”Our diver spent the majority of her dive at about 95 feet/29 meters. This corresponds to a pressure of about 3.88 atmospheres absolute (ATA), or nearly four times atmospheric pressure. Her breathing gas, then, was almost four times as dense as it was on the surface. Because of the flow characteristics of the bronchial tree, this is not readily apparent to a diver who is at rest or swimming slowly. However, when the diver increased her level of exertion by swimming against the current, her respiratory rate increased, along with the velocity of the gas in her airways. Under these conditions, gas density becomes a significant factor and will limit the diver’s maximum voluntary ventilation, or MVV (West 2005) (Hickey, Lundgren et al. 1983).
This means, in essence, that the diver may not have been able to breathe quickly enough to eliminate the CO2 that was building up in her bloodstream.”

https://www.diveassure.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Diving-and-Carbon-Dioxide.pdf

Gonna start to think about mental exercises I can do when this happens again. I’m thinking about breathing along to a favorite tune

 

[Darnold9999]

Two things to keep in mind when this happens. First slow your breathing and make sure you exhale as completely as possible on every breath. Second recognize what is happening and minimize exertion ASAP.

If you can do this the CO2 gets flushed pretty quickly and the panic goes away. Even just knowing what it is will help, but if you try to push through it and keep exerting yourself things can cascade just as fast.

 

[Alaskan Scuba Dude]

Over exertion has lead to a CO2 hit. I have found that purging the regulator while filling my lungs completely (remain neutrally buoyant while doing so) tends to alleviate the problem.

 

[johndiver999]

Thank you everyone for your comments. I had never heard of carbon dioxide buildup before but I think that is what caused my panic attack. My regulator was doing a superb job I found this paper that talks exactly about what I experienced and carbon dioxide buildup.

”Our diver spent the majority of her dive at about 95 feet/29 meters. This corresponds to a pressure of about 3.88 atmospheres absolute (ATA), or nearly four times atmospheric pressure. Her breathing gas, then, was almost four times as dense as it was on the surface. Because of the flow characteristics of the bronchial tree, this is not readily apparent to a diver who is at rest or swimming slowly. However, when the diver increased her level of exertion by swimming against the current, her respiratory rate increased, along with the velocity of the gas in her airways. Under these conditions, gas density becomes a significant factor and will limit the diver’s maximum voluntary ventilation, or MVV (West 2005) (Hickey, Lundgren et al. 1983).
This means, in essence, that the diver may not have been able to breathe quickly enough to eliminate the CO2 that was building up in her bloodstream.”

https://www.diveassure.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Diving-and-Carbon-Dioxide.pdf

Gonna start to think about mental exercises I can do when this happens again. I’m thinking about breathing along to a favorite tune

Mental exercises are fine, but if you are out of shape and weak, mental exercise is NOT going to give you the ability to exert yourself underwater without having a problem. If you are serious about diving and know you are out of shape, get in the pool, put on the jogging shoes or hop on the bike!

Swimming demands controlled breathing and it is super beneficial to do sprints and induce the uneasy feeling of being out of breath while in the water (and learning to recognize and manage it). Exert yourself in the pool!

 

[Panpangato]

Over exertion has lead to a CO2 hit. I have found that purging the regulator while filling my lungs completely (remain neutrally buoyant while doing so) tends to alleviate the problem.

You mean purging the regulator while The regulator is in my mouth? Would I be inhaling at the same time?

 

[Panpangato]

Two things to keep in mind when this happens. First slow your breathing and make sure you exhale as completely as possible on every breath. Second recognize what is happening and minimize exertion ASAP.

If you can do this the CO2 gets flushed pretty quickly and the panic goes away. Even just knowing what it is will help, but if you try to push through it and keep exerting yourself things can cascade just as fast.

To think back on the incident, I think I was breathing in deeper and longer than exhaling because I felt out of breath which probably exacerbated things quickly...

 

[Alaskan Scuba Dude]

You mean purging the regulator while The regulator is in my mouth? Would I be inhaling at the same time?

That's what I did.

 

[Ulfhedinn]

Over exertion has lead to a CO2 hit. I have found that purging the regulator while filling my lungs completely (remain neutrally buoyant while doing so) tends to alleviate the problem.

Purging the regulator while filling my lungs completely? That seems off. Will have to try that as air is going both ways..