possible DCS hit?

[christo651]

The first dive was 35' for about 40 minutes, regular air. I had about 45 min SI then dove to 40' at new spot, but the current picked up and it was quite a hard swim, I came up behind the boat about 200 yards or so and tried to swim against the current until tiring out and signaling for pick up. I do not remember coming up fast, as I had guage in hand and was referencing frequently for compass direction and air remaining. Although I was a little streesed about not being where I wanted to be in this dive and may have come up to fast, but I am usually a very conservative diver and cannot for the life of me think I came up to fast. I felt fine all day. That night at home I fell asleep around 6:30 p.m. after filleting fish and cleaning gear. I woke the next day around 8 am and made my way to the couch to just relax post dive until dinner that night, everything good so far. That night we gathered for a fish cookout and by the end of the night I noticed my left leg hurt a little in my hip,(no known condition). When I got home it hurt some more so I went to bed around 10 p.m. I could not sleep. I could not get comfortable for more than 3 seconds at a time no matter the postions I tried. I got up to take 600 mg Ibuprofen then back to bed. I could barely walk to the kitchen. I finally passed out around 3:30 am for about 1/2 hour then no more sleep. When I got up again I could barely walk and felt like I had dislocated my hip and noticed my leg was turned out to the left. I kept dosing with Ibuprofen and relaxed all day again. I can say now on tuesday that it has improved at least 90 percent, but I am still dosing, although now down to 400 mg's. So my question is what is the possibility of a small dcs hit vs. possible pulled muscle or something else. Had it not recovered so quick I would have thought muscle problem.

 

[zaberman1]

I would probably say it is not DCS given the symptom relief, DCS traditionally stays the same or gets worse...but it is still a question you may want to contact DAN about. You were also nowhere near the NDL...

What was the second dive bottom time?
Ascent rate?
Safety Stop?
Hydrated?
Pre-existing medical conditions?

I wouldn't suspect PFO either since, even if it were DCS, you have pain only symptoms.

 

[Cave Diver]

I have a buddy that has pinched nerves due to bulging discs that often has similar pains in his hip/leg. Heavy swimming has been known to aggravate this in him. This could be another possibility for what you're experiencing.

 

[DCBC]

I don't think DCS is the problem as the depths/BTs were well within limits and there was no noticeable quick ascent. Where you live altitude probably isn't a factor. You haven't complained of arm, skin or neurological symptoms or lung difficulties. The hip pain and leg symptoms are a concern, as they were progressive. It's likely that you stressed your hip and leg in the swim against the current. Obviously, when in doubt, always seek hyperbaric assistance.

 

[christo651]

I would probably say it is not DCS given the symptom relief, DCS traditionally stays the same or gets worse...but it is still a question you may want to contact DAN about. You were also nowhere near the NDL...

What was the second dive bottom time?
Ascent rate?
Safety Stop?
Hydrated?
Pre-existing medical conditions?

I wouldn't suspect PFO either since, even if it were DCS, you have pain only symptoms.

19 minutes of bottom time according to suunto gekko. I cannot beleive it was that long but maybe
saftey stop=no
hydrated=yes
pre-exiting medical=none known yet
in reviewing computer it does show ascent rate to fast on last dive. shows the slow sign in memory/logbook, apparently that means I went up to fast on that dive, but would have not been too fast as I did not panic or loose weight belt or anything like that. Anyone know how to get more info out of gekko would be appreciated

 

[Teamcasa]

• I felt fine all day.
• That night at home I fell asleep around 6:30 p.m. after filleting fish and cleaning gear.
• I woke the next day around 8 am and made my way to the couch to just relax post dive until dinner that night, everything good so far.
• That night we gathered for a fish cookout and by the end of the night I noticed my left leg hurt a little in my hip,(no known condition).
• When I got home it hurt some more so I went to bed around 10 p.m.

First, I'm not a Dr. or any kind of expert on DCS but I doubt, given the above, that you got a DCS hit.

I've experienced similar symptoms after a hard (on my feet) day working on very uneven ground.

 

[Bubbletrubble]

19 minutes of bottom time according to suunto gekko. I cannot beleive it was that long but maybe
saftey stop=no
hydrated=yes
pre-exiting medical=none known yet
in reviewing computer it does show ascent rate to fast on last dive. shows the slow sign in memory/logbook, apparently that means I went up to fast on that dive, but would have not been too fast as I did not panic or loose weight belt or anything like that. Anyone know how to get more info out of gekko would be appreciated

This is most likely a musculoskeletal issue...possibly a muscle strain. It sounds reasonable to restrict activities and continue dosing with ibuprofen until the pain goes away. See a physician if the pain persists.

In case you're curious, you can always call up DAN (even if you aren't a DAN member). Given your depth profile data, I'm sure that they will conclude that the pain you were experiencing was not due to DCS.

It's great that you stayed calm during the incident. The "SLOW" sign simply means that your ascent exceeded 33 ft/min at one or many points. I'm really not surprised since, as a newer diver, your buoyancy probably isn't dialed in. You were a little more stressed than usual, were task-loaded with navigating back to the boat, and dealing with the current. In the future when currents are present, you'll notice that most boats will deploy a current line. Take advantage of it if you need to.

I'd be really surprised if you gained any more insight into your incident by downloading the dive profile. However, in case you feel compelled to do so, this can be done with the Gekko; it's an unadvertised feature. You'll need a Suunto download cable designed for the Vyper/Vytec/Cobra/Mosquito. There are both USB and serial versions of this cable floating around, so make sure that you get the right one. If you have a Mac, you can use the freeware MacDive to download your profile. There will be a special marker denoting at which point your ascent became too fast. If you have a PC, you can run an executable that tricks Suunto Dive Manager into thinking that the Gekko is a Vyper...which allows the profile to be downloaded. Do a search on SB in order to learn how to do this. Here's a link to one SB thread that might be useful.

 

[christo651]

Thanks to all who responded. I feel better, both physically and mentally (in regards to dcs) I was not looking forward to a 4 week dry dock.