OP
photographer
Registered
Thanks to everybody,
I will elaborate a little further.
I used to be a software engineer and one of my tasks was analytical troubleshooting. And now I ended up troubleshooting myself.
So, these are the striking common factors:
All the incident cases (3) are after a dry suit dive. Never had anything like this before (diving in a wet suit or on land). Nor do I have any history of any other medical problem that could be even vaguely resembling.
In each case the symtoms are identical.
My background tells me that this (dry suit and/or prone to DCS after the first incident) is highly unlikely to be a coincidence (even though we are not talking about a software robot).
Couple of extra pieces of info :
* In the chamber visit the tingling went away (at 2,8 bar oxygen at 55 feet) but in the first incident after the first chamber visit it reappeared within minutes of surfacing while breathing air on land. At 55 feet in the chamber I had to breathe air every 20 (or 15 ?) minutes and I felt that the tingling reappeared just a little bit while still being decompressed (but on air).
* After the "test" dive I noticed the symptoms three hours after surfacing. They could have been there earlier because I got back home at that time and the little tingling is very hard to notice when you are wet, carrying the equipment etc. Furthermore, it's been four days now and I still feel a little, little bit of tingling so it has not completely healed itself (yet ?).
* After the second incident, about four days after the dive my fingers got very cold (not related to diving) and suddenly the tingling got a lot more powerful (like fireworks in the fingertips every couple of seconds). I put my hands in hot water and the tingling normalized within 20 seconds.
* And one more thing. In the mornings when I wake up I do not notice any tingling (this has been consistent). The tingling starts 30 - 60 minutes later when I am already active.
* And then the dry suit setup. I have used the same drysuit for the past five years. I have not put on weight during that time. The suit has five finger rubber gloves permanently attached and therefore there is no wrist squeeze. The fingers get cold but not freezing cold. I wear a lot of undergarment. I don't feel cold in general (except for the face). I wear a suspender weight belt that is heavy. The neck is a little bit tight and I have thought of enlargening it just a little bit. And, all in all, dry suit diving requires a lot more exercise on the surface (before and after diving).
What next ?
The symtoms and how they behaved in the chamber still lead me towards DCS but I am not sure.
I will listen to people's opinions and advice and let the time pass. Probably, after a couple of weeks I do a second test dive. I am thinking now that it could be a dry suit dive (cold water) at a very shallow depth (15 feet, like Bubbletrubble suggested) on Nitrox. So I will keep everything else identical except the depth. I feel like a guinea pig, but at least I am still fighting.
and I won't abandon this thread. I will let you know how this all ended.
BR,
Photographer
PS I am still interested in other's opinions
PS2 Rick and Scubaren, what do you mean when you say that your tingling is spine related.
I will elaborate a little further.
I used to be a software engineer and one of my tasks was analytical troubleshooting. And now I ended up troubleshooting myself.
So, these are the striking common factors:
All the incident cases (3) are after a dry suit dive. Never had anything like this before (diving in a wet suit or on land). Nor do I have any history of any other medical problem that could be even vaguely resembling.
In each case the symtoms are identical.
My background tells me that this (dry suit and/or prone to DCS after the first incident) is highly unlikely to be a coincidence (even though we are not talking about a software robot).
Couple of extra pieces of info :
* In the chamber visit the tingling went away (at 2,8 bar oxygen at 55 feet) but in the first incident after the first chamber visit it reappeared within minutes of surfacing while breathing air on land. At 55 feet in the chamber I had to breathe air every 20 (or 15 ?) minutes and I felt that the tingling reappeared just a little bit while still being decompressed (but on air).
* After the "test" dive I noticed the symptoms three hours after surfacing. They could have been there earlier because I got back home at that time and the little tingling is very hard to notice when you are wet, carrying the equipment etc. Furthermore, it's been four days now and I still feel a little, little bit of tingling so it has not completely healed itself (yet ?).
* After the second incident, about four days after the dive my fingers got very cold (not related to diving) and suddenly the tingling got a lot more powerful (like fireworks in the fingertips every couple of seconds). I put my hands in hot water and the tingling normalized within 20 seconds.
* And one more thing. In the mornings when I wake up I do not notice any tingling (this has been consistent). The tingling starts 30 - 60 minutes later when I am already active.
* And then the dry suit setup. I have used the same drysuit for the past five years. I have not put on weight during that time. The suit has five finger rubber gloves permanently attached and therefore there is no wrist squeeze. The fingers get cold but not freezing cold. I wear a lot of undergarment. I don't feel cold in general (except for the face). I wear a suspender weight belt that is heavy. The neck is a little bit tight and I have thought of enlargening it just a little bit. And, all in all, dry suit diving requires a lot more exercise on the surface (before and after diving).
What next ?
The symtoms and how they behaved in the chamber still lead me towards DCS but I am not sure.
I will listen to people's opinions and advice and let the time pass. Probably, after a couple of weeks I do a second test dive. I am thinking now that it could be a dry suit dive (cold water) at a very shallow depth (15 feet, like Bubbletrubble suggested) on Nitrox. So I will keep everything else identical except the depth. I feel like a guinea pig, but at least I am still fighting.
and I won't abandon this thread. I will let you know how this all ended.
BR,
Photographer
PS I am still interested in other's opinions
PS2 Rick and Scubaren, what do you mean when you say that your tingling is spine related.