Panicked, afraid it will happen again

[flymolo]

If you are nervous, you're stressed.
My way of reducing stress is to stop swimming, grab ahold of something and spend a minute or 2 doing absolutely nothing but breathing, eventually you find that breathing doesn't hurt, works file and your mentals demons have quieted down, now you can slowly check your gear and reestablish boyancy. When your head tells you that it's safe to continue, now it's time to slowly continue your dive.
Remember diving is not a sport, carrying dive gear is a sport, underwater you should move slowly enough to relax and enjoy the dive. If after teaching your buddies that you stress out underwater, they continue to stress you out, it's time to find new buddies that can relax you.
Michael

Seconded. This is the thing you want to try should you feel a panic coming on again.

 

[AdivingBel]

To the OP: Yep, sounds like the lizard brain woke up and didn't like where it was. It's happened to all of us. The inability to control the impulse to spit your reg and bolt to the surface after 60 or so dives is extremely concerning. Dry mouth may have been the trigger, but IMHO, it will take more than a piece of candy or a mint to fix the problem. I'm afraid it would cause me to do some serious soul-searching and seek serious remediation before deciding if continued diving was worth the risk. Everyone has to do their own risk assessment. No shame in that, but your actions put yourself and possibly other divers at risk. Diving is a wonderful hobby, but it's not worth dying over especially if you can see the train coming down the track. Good luck and be safe. All IMHO, YMMV.

 

[jgttrey]

I agree with the others that have suggested that dry mouth was a symptom rather than a cause. But, I'm not sure it matters to my recommendation which is a little different, or at least in addition to, what has already been said.

Here's the deal: Let's just say it was the dry mouth that was precipitating event for a moment. Even if that were the case, solving the dry mouth is not sufficient. Next time it might be a free flowing second stage, a leaky mask or one that is kicked off, a leg cramp, a reef shark that gets closer than you want -- or any one of a million possible triggers.

It sounds like there is some underlying anxiety that results in, or at least is coupled with, a tendency to go from zero to a dangerous panic response and it doesn't take much to cause it. Telling OP to remain calm is fine, but actually being able to do that when required is easy to say and hard to do. That is a learned skill. The panic response was very dangerous and credit to OP for knowing it must be addressed to dive safely. That kind of ascent can cause all sorts of problems, as we all know.

For sure, work on getting comfortable again in the most benign conditions possible - like a pool. But before doing any real diving, I would take a class with a good instructor that is designed to stress you. The best way to beat stress and protect yourself from a panic reaction to an unexpected situation is expose yourself to those situations and learn to manage them in a controlled environment. A good stress/rescue class will simulate out of air divers, divers grabbing a second stage out of your mouth, have you deal with other divers simulating panic, etc. Done right, it will task load you and you will develop more confidence in your ability to solve problems underwater, put up with them if need be, or at least to react in a way that doesn't create greater problems.

You could also take a fundies type class or a good intro tech class. Anything that, in a controlled environment, teaches how to manage problems and deal with stress. Little problems will not freak you out once you realize you can manage much more significant challenges without difficulty. You will develop a lot more confidence, be much more likely to control your panic next time -- and probably benefit from it in other ways too.

You can overcome this, but I think you need to confront the panic reaction part directly and completely and not merely work on solving dry mouth and telling yourself to relax.

So, yes, by all means get your mojo back in the pool and work on being comfortable, but find a good instructor who can teach you to manage stress and panic by exposing you to those situations.

 

[jgttrey]

The sipping of water (if it's fresh) usually helps me get past this too, but perhaps your air mixture is just a little too dry. Ask your LDS how dry it is, and perhaps try a different shop that is a bit moister.

No. Dry air is part of the deal on open circuit unless you want one of those little humidifier things (Bio Filter) from Apollo (which I've never used, not endorsing and have no idea if they work).

I'd run away from any shop that would offer "moister" air, particularly to the point that it would make a difference to dry mouth. First, they'd be lying. Second, if they weren't, you can experience real panic when your regs freeze up.

 

[scubadada]

So, this didn't happen on your first 60 dives, I wonder why it happened on this dive. What was it about this dive that tipped you over? How have you done since this dive, have you been diving? Diving is not for everyone. My wife had some inordinate fears such as having her mask knocked off and diving directly into the blue with no bearings. She has slowly, but surely, gotten over these fears and has become a skilled, reliable, diver. Hope it works out for you too.

 

[CaptG]

So, this didn't happen on your first 60 dives, I wonder why it happened on this dive. What was it about this dive that tipped you over? How have you done since this dive, have you been diving? Diving is not for everyone. My wife had some inordinate fears such as having her mask knocked off and diving directly into the blue with no bearings. She has slowly, but surely, gotten over these fears and has become a skilled, reliable, diver. Hope it works out for you too.

I have been trying to figure it out. Have made a few dives since but they did not feel like before.

 

[gcarter]

The sipping of water (if it's fresh) usually helps me get past this too, but perhaps your air mixture is just a little too dry. Ask your LDS how dry it is, and perhaps try a different shop that is a bit moister.

Advice best ignored. Anybody who fills tanks with moist air is to be avoided at all costs.

 

[KathyV]

I am AOW certified and have logged about 60 dives. A few months ago I was descending on my first dive of the day . Just as I got to the bottom at about 70 feet, my mouth got extremely dry. I tried to swallow and couldn't. I felt like I was choking that is when things started moving really fast. I pulled the reg from my mouth and headed for the surface . Feeling like I was not moving fast I inflated my BC. I think I screamed all the way. I am fully aware I did everything wrong.
Since then I have made several dives that i was very nervous during. One i needed to abort on the surface because i could not slow down my breathing.
Cancelled a trip today because I was up all night with anxiety.
Has anyone else had something scare you and been able to work through it?
What once felt peaceful and comfortable now feels very different.

I'm going to take a different viewpoint and suggest that perhaps the dry mouth is not a symptom of panic, but that it may be a symptom of some other medical condition. If the symptoms get worse while diving it might cause you to feel panic - because you may be ill and your body doesn't feel right and that's scary.

I'm not a doctor but I think that you should see one and make sure that you do not have an underlying physical condition that is exacerbating the dry mouth, before you assume that it is all psychological and that you are panicking for no reason.

There's an active Diving Medicine forum here on Scubaboard where you can post questions and ask for general advice. And if you are a DAN member they also provide some medical advice, see the links below. You could try describing your symptoms and experiences on these sites and asking for advice, and then follow-up with your doctor for an evaluation.

https://www.scubaboard.com/community/forums/diving-medicine.4/

https://www.diversalertnetwork.org/medical/

The reason that I am suggesting this is that several years ago I had a similar situation, not related to diving. It was assumed to be psychological but ultimately shown to be due to a medical condition, and once that was controlled the symptoms and the fear disappeared.

In my job at that time I had to give lectures regularly, and periodically I also gave speeches and public presentations. I have allergies and take antihistamines and decongestants and so my mouth, throat, and nose often feel dry.

Gradually the dryness got worse and my throat sometimes felt sore and scratchy and my voice got hoarse. A couple of times at night I woke up suddenly with a feeling that my throat was raw and burning and that was very frightening, but the symptoms would subside and so I continued to ignore them. I thought that I had "heartburn" and so I took some over-the-counter anti-acid medications.

But then I started to occasionally lose my voice when giving a lecture or a presentation - whenever I was trying to project my voice - and that was very frightening. I'd be standing at a podium in a big room in front of a lot of people and suddenly my voice disappeared and I was unable to make a sound except a few croaks. And the harder I tried the worse it got.

Everyone, including my Boss, assumed that it was "just stage fright" and "all in my head" but I had been doing public speaking for a long time and I couldn't understand why I was suddenly so afraid to speak to a group that my voice would disappear. But after it happened a few times I started to dread giving a presentation and that made me anxious and that seemed to make things worse. It also seems strange to me that after AOW and 60 dives you suddenly start to feel extreme dry mouth and panic during a dive.

I finally had enough and I went to an Ear, Nose, and Throat Doctor because I was sure that there was something wrong with my throat and voice. He examined me and asked questions and then he told me that he thought I had Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) and referred me to a Pulmonologist and Sleep Specialist for testing.

He was correct, I do have OSA and it interferes with breathing while sleeping and it can have very serious outcomes because of the strain it puts on my heart and lungs. It also causes acid reflux - when stomach acid is regurgitated into your esophagus, and throat and mouth. That what was making my throat raw and sore and causing me to lose my voice. Once it was diagnosed and treated and the OSA was under control, my symptoms disappeared and have not returned. I can now speak in public without fear of losing my voice.

I am not saying that you have OSA, just that you may have a medical condition and the symptoms worsen when you are diving and that leads to panic. I think that you should confirm your general physical health first before assuming that it is an entirely psychological problem.

Either way, medical or psychological (or both) you should see a doctor and find out what's going on. Good luck to you!

 

[Geobound]

Advice best ignored. Anybody who fills tanks with moist air is to be avoided at all costs.

I can see how my comment could be read the wrong way, what I was trying to imply is that some shops air (in my limited experience) has been like sucking dry ice and perhaps there could be something more suitable.

"Wet" air of course is not a good thing and agree that it should be avoided no matter what, but there are acceptable variances in the moisture content and some can be much drier than others.

I remember reading something on the Magnus Equation and how it relates to depth and air temperature, and the air we breathe, but admit that it was miles above my head. I simplified my learning by going to the experts (LDS) and confirmed that there can be a slight variance between shops, but the acceptable standard for my guys is "dry is safe".

Clear as mud I'm sure.

So the takeaway then would be.......suck on a candy and avoid dry mouth, just hope like heck you don't choke on it.

 

[seaseadee]

I'm not sure if you screamed all the way on purpose or not, but if you didn't and held your breath you'd likely be dead. So you did at least one thing right.