My buddy recently experienced an unusual and serious problem, and we'd like an expert's opinion.
She is a 42 year old diver in excellent condition. She had a complete medical physical about 2 months ago and no problems were found. She runs about 3 miles, 5 times a week. She has mild asthma which does not require any drug treatment.
We were on vacation and had made 7 reef dives over 9 days, all less than 80 feet, without incident. After the the 7th dive, she complained of a very runny nose and moderate sinus pressure. Both went away after perhaps an hour.
The next morning we made a shore dive to around 75 feet. At 1500 psi we worked back up the reef to a depth of 30, made a normal ascent to 15, and did a 3 minute safety stop. We surfaced to check our position. My buddy told me that she was experiencing the running nose and mild sinus pressure again, so we decided to return to shore. Owing to surface wave activity, we descended to around 20 and headed back.
About 3 minutes into our swim, at around 15 feet, I gave her the OK sign and she returned it, but she appeared to be sluggish. A minute later, at 12 feet, we exchanged OK signs again, but she appeared to be very sluggish. 10 seconds later I looked over and she was motionless in the water. She was breathing but unresponsive. I immediately brought her to the surface, inflated the BC, put her on her back, and began towing her to shore. She was still breathing slowly, her eyes were partially closed, but she did not respond to my voice. About 30 seconds later she started moving her legs slightly. It took another minute or two to get to 4 feet of water where I could stand. By this time she was awake, but a little groggy, and asked to stand up. After standing for a minute or so, she said she was OK, and we walked to shore without further incident.
On shore, she was experiencing heavy frontal sinus pressure, reduced hearing in one ear, and a running nose, but no pain. The grogginess went away after about 10 minutes. She refused to see a doctor, but did take decongestants, which helped. It took a day for her hearing to return to normal and for the sinus pressure to disappear. None of her symptoms resembled those of asthma. We were both breathing air from the same dive operator for the entire trip.
The sinus and ear symptoms seem like a straightforward case of reverse block due to sinus infection or allergy. But the unresponsiveness / unconsciousness is a mystery, and deeply concerning. Can anyone explain a connection?
She is a 42 year old diver in excellent condition. She had a complete medical physical about 2 months ago and no problems were found. She runs about 3 miles, 5 times a week. She has mild asthma which does not require any drug treatment.
We were on vacation and had made 7 reef dives over 9 days, all less than 80 feet, without incident. After the the 7th dive, she complained of a very runny nose and moderate sinus pressure. Both went away after perhaps an hour.
The next morning we made a shore dive to around 75 feet. At 1500 psi we worked back up the reef to a depth of 30, made a normal ascent to 15, and did a 3 minute safety stop. We surfaced to check our position. My buddy told me that she was experiencing the running nose and mild sinus pressure again, so we decided to return to shore. Owing to surface wave activity, we descended to around 20 and headed back.
About 3 minutes into our swim, at around 15 feet, I gave her the OK sign and she returned it, but she appeared to be sluggish. A minute later, at 12 feet, we exchanged OK signs again, but she appeared to be very sluggish. 10 seconds later I looked over and she was motionless in the water. She was breathing but unresponsive. I immediately brought her to the surface, inflated the BC, put her on her back, and began towing her to shore. She was still breathing slowly, her eyes were partially closed, but she did not respond to my voice. About 30 seconds later she started moving her legs slightly. It took another minute or two to get to 4 feet of water where I could stand. By this time she was awake, but a little groggy, and asked to stand up. After standing for a minute or so, she said she was OK, and we walked to shore without further incident.
On shore, she was experiencing heavy frontal sinus pressure, reduced hearing in one ear, and a running nose, but no pain. The grogginess went away after about 10 minutes. She refused to see a doctor, but did take decongestants, which helped. It took a day for her hearing to return to normal and for the sinus pressure to disappear. None of her symptoms resembled those of asthma. We were both breathing air from the same dive operator for the entire trip.
The sinus and ear symptoms seem like a straightforward case of reverse block due to sinus infection or allergy. But the unresponsiveness / unconsciousness is a mystery, and deeply concerning. Can anyone explain a connection?
