Rapid Ascent from 20-30 meters. Symptoms of DCI?

[Steve_C]

I am curious. I understand the importance of being able to take off your mask and put it back on. But that is not required to clear the mask. To clear the mask one needs only look ahead, or up a bit, push the top of the mask with your hand, and exhale into the mask, Water goes out the bottom.

If wearing a hood there is the hood over the mask strap or mask strap over the hood issue. Personally I put the mask strap under the hood since that gives a better mask seal and I never take the mask off until back on the boat. That does, however, make it more difficult to take the mask off completely.

 

[Steelyeyes]

You had an exhausting scary experience. That can be physically exhausting and scary. You may have also inhaled a bit of sea water which can make a person nauseous. I have seen several divers who have had a rough dive that then felt exhausted and needed to just take it easy and rest for a few hours. Also seen divers who swallowed a bit of water that got a bit nauseous afterwards.

Have you really had less than 25 dives? Galapagos seems a bit much for a beginning diver.

I helped rescue a diver that had those same symptoms and for those very reasons. We had him checked out for DCS and a head injury but he had neither, other than a scalp laceration.

 

[DylDiver]

To (almost) everyone, thank you for the replies. Correct, I am not an experienced diver, this was my 4th dive outside of the PADI Open Water class. I take full responsibility for biting off more than I could chew. I was told 20m, 30m was not as planned. I was also told this was one of the easier dives in the Galapagos.

In practice I know how to clear my mask. I did so fine on my dive last Thursday. But in very cold water, at depth, with current, and low visibility, everything is a little harder. My mask completely filled and I had water in my nose. So when I would try to blow out of my nose the air would take the path of least resistance and blow out of my mouth instead, just creating bubbles and filling my mask with more water. I know now that I should have gently blown out of my nose, rather than trying to forcefully clear the mask.

I accidentally posted twice because the WiFi here is so bad that I’m waiting 5 minutes on a webpage to load.

I am here asking questions because I’m confused by what I’m reading on the DAN website vs what I’ve been told in person. On the website it lists everything I’m feeling as symptoms of DCS, and says that it often occurs even when you’ve followed all the rules. As one poster stated, coming up too quickly allows the gas in your tissue to expand, so that’s DCS no? So why is everyone telling me it’s not possible? I did not feel “normal” afterwards, and still don’t. I agree there is a possibility that panic caused some after effects. It was an extremely scary experience. To anyone trolling, regardless of how I got in this situation, I had a really bad time and still don’t feel well so to jump on my back is pretty lowball.

I’m a 30 year old male, in good physical health. Last night I woke with my hands itching and tingling which is a concern. Other than that I feel a little better but still like it’s hard to focus on things. I’m supposed to fly to Quito today at 1:30pm, which is at 2800m altitude. So I’m a little concerned about that. It seems like the majority of the advice is just to chill and hope everything is ok?

FYI I didn’t come on here to get “evidence to demand a chamber”. I said I don’t want to demand a chamber. I’m trying to get answers to help me chill out. But right now I still don’t know what to do.

Thanks to the considerate responses.

 

[DylDiver]

Just FYI, almost all the other passengers on the boat had the same experience level as me. I was not aware the Galapagos were considered such a difficult destination, I’m traveling South America solo and this was just one of my stops along the way. But apparently there are a lot of people out here just like me doing these dives, and being allowed / recommended to do these dives by the dive companies. I still take full responsibility for my actions, I should have been able to clear my mask and I feel like a real dumbass for what happened. But it happened.

 

[iamrushman]

do you have any access to surface or hyperbaric oxygen?...either one may be of some use to you.

 

[Esprise Me]

The thing is, you've already done what we would've advised you to do; you called DAN and you saw a doctor in person. We're not going to be able to do better than the advice they gave you. So I'm not trying to be dismissive in telling you to chill out; I'm telling you you've already gotten your answer and it's good news.

The symptoms you've described could be a lot of things. They could even be psychosomatic. If you read up on DCS and think you might have been exposed to conditions that cause DCS, it's very easy to trick yourself into thinking you have it. Happens to medical students all the time; they diagnose themselves with every scary new disease they study. Yes, DCS can happen to people who dived within prescribed limits, but it absolutely does not occur "often," by any definition of the word. DCS is extremely rare, and in fact people diving unsafe profiles get away with it all. The. Time. This doesn't mean you shouldn't follow the rules, of course, just that if you've gotten yourself checked and told by the professionals not to worry, you should take that advice.

 

[Duke Dive Medicine]

To (almost) everyone, thank you for the replies. Correct, I am not an experienced diver, this was my 4th dive outside of the PADI Open Water class. I take full responsibility for biting off more than I could chew. I was told 20m, 30m was not as planned. I was also told this was one of the easier dives in the Galapagos.

In practice I know how to clear my mask. I did so fine on my dive last Thursday. But in very cold water, at depth, with current, and low visibility, everything is a little harder. My mask completely filled and I had water in my nose. So when I would try to blow out of my nose the air would take the path of least resistance and blow out of my mouth instead, just creating bubbles and filling my mask with more water. I know now that I should have gently blown out of my nose, rather than trying to forcefully clear the mask.

I accidentally posted twice because the WiFi here is so bad that I’m waiting 5 minutes on a webpage to load.

I am here asking questions because I’m confused by what I’m reading on the DAN website vs what I’ve been told in person. On the website it lists everything I’m feeling as symptoms of DCS, and says that it often occurs even when you’ve followed all the rules. As one poster stated, coming up too quickly allows the gas in your tissue to expand, so that’s DCS no? So why is everyone telling me it’s not possible? I did not feel “normal” afterwards, and still don’t. I agree there is a possibility that panic caused some after effects. It was an extremely scary experience. To anyone trolling, regardless of how I got in this situation, I had a really bad time and still don’t feel well so to jump on my back is pretty lowball.

I’m a 30 year old male, in good physical health. Last night I woke with my hands itching and tingling which is a concern. Other than that I feel a little better but still like it’s hard to focus on things. I’m supposed to fly to Quito today at 1:30pm, which is at 2800m altitude. So I’m a little concerned about that. It seems like the majority of the advice is just to chill and hope everything is ok?

FYI I didn’t come on here to get “evidence to demand a chamber”. I said I don’t want to demand a chamber. I’m trying to get answers to help me chill out. But right now I still don’t know what to do.

Thanks to the considerate responses.

@DylDiver

Itching and tingling hands could be a lot of things, among them decompression sickness. If you're even remotely concerned about it, I would recommend you not fly, but rather find a hospital that can work you up for DCS and treat you if that is indeed your diagnosis. The further out you get, the less effective treatment is. I'm curious, what was it about your incident that led the DAN medic and the physician who evaluated you in person to conclude that you did not have DCS? Did they offer a rationale?

Best regards,
DDM

 

[chillyinCanada]

Just FYI, almost all the other passengers on the boat had the same experience level as me. I was not aware the Galapagos were considered such a difficult destination, I’m traveling South America solo and this was just one of my stops along the way. But apparently there are a lot of people out here just like me doing these dives, and being allowed / recommended to do these dives by the dive companies. I still take full responsibility for my actions, I should have been able to clear my mask and I feel like a real dumbass for what happened. But it happened.

Don't feel bad about that. It's happened to almost all of us at some point in time. That's how we've learned about mask strap position, etc.

It is possible that you've messed up your sinus or ears a bit, perhaps from over equalization at some point along the way. Or perhaps you've caught a virus.

I've had that happen at least 3 times in various places in the world whilst on diving trips.

I've come home with a rash all over my body and I mean, *all over . . .omg. it was just a virus. I had no other symptoms, didn't feel unwell in any other way. Eventually the skin on the palms of my hands and soles of feet actually peeled off too. So weird.

One time, on my very last dive of the trip, the flu kicked in mid dive. I got a reverse block, making it very difficult to ascend due to managing the pain and easing my ears sinus.

You may have had a difficult dive experience combined with the symptoms of another illness as yet not recognized. Or you may just be psyching yourself out.

Is it possible to put off your flight to Quito for another couple of days?

 

[DylDiver]

Hey thanks guys. Although I was freaked out by the itching hands (I woke up with them itching, so not sure if I could have manufactured that, but you’re right it is something I read about beforehand). In the morning they weren’t itching anymore, and I wasn’t feeling as lightheaded. I talked to DAN again, this time the agent recommended I talk to the dive doc on the other island. After trying to call several times and getting frustrated by not having enough service to talk, and my flight coming up very soon with no way to change it without paying a lot, I elected to take the risk (whether real or imagined) and take my flight. I went to the dive company just to talk to a dive master again, and he suggested I take aspirin (he said to help the nitrogen diffuse?), and reassured me that what I was experiencing wasn’t concerning (to him), and that I was ok to fly.

On the flight to Guayaquil i felt ok, maybe just anxious. On my connection to Quito, when landing, I felt decidedly worse. Lightheaded, dizzy, but no itching. I looked for oxygen (had seen some bottles in pharmacies there before) but couldn’t find any. My trip plan was to take a bus to Colombia, so I did that ASAP to get to lower altitude. Still took a good 18 hours. I’m now in Cali at about 1000m, and can say I feel basically back to normal. So, I don’t wanna jump the gun but hopefully whatever I was experiencing, whether real or some anxiety effects, is behind me.

As to why DAN wasn’t originally concerned, i can’t say exactly. I told them everything I told you guys. They asked me questions about my symptoms, if I could walk in a straight line, cognitive ability, etc. I don’t have joint pain which I guess is very typical with DCS. Maybe it was my dive profile, Idk. But it’s a bit at odds with the almost over-cautious info they give on their website.

Anyways, I will certainly practice clearing my mask a lot before next time. I do think my strap was seated too high on my head, pulling the bottom of the mask, because I remember it feeling uncomfortably tight and high under my nose. That probably made it harder to clear.

Thanks again for the help.

 

[chillyinCanada]

Quito is at quite a high elevation, is that correct?

And other than nervous, you felt OK on the plane, correct?