Vertigo....can't remember dive

[rjack321]

I don't think it was carbon monoxide poisoning. Looking into it, it seams everyone get headaches and I'm prone to headaches from that sort of stuff. I did not have a headache and it did not get worse while diving. It stayed as f-ed up in the beginning as it was at the end.

Along with many other replies here, bad gas is my first suspicion.
Possibly CO but more likely oil or oil mists from the compressor. Volatile hydrocarbons from compressor oil can be extremely narcotic and cause all of your symptoms and more.

 

[rob.mwpropane]

Along with many other replies here, bad gas is my first suspicion.
Possibly CO but more likely oil or oil mists from the compressor. Volatile hydrocarbons from compressor oil can be extremely narcotic and cause all of your symptoms and more.

I do find it weird that I felt a lot better after breathing air. I just figured it was something that I did to myself while diving? some type of head / sinus / something or another. The other thing that I do remember was that it stayed consistent on the dive, as in it didn't feel like it was getting worse throughout the dive.

 

[rjack321]

I do find it weird that I felt a lot better after breathing air. I just figured it was something that I did to myself while diving? some type of head / sinus / something or another. The other thing that I do remember was that it stayed consistent on the dive, as in it didn't feel like it was getting worse throughout the dive.

The fact that it didn't reoccur when you switched tanks on later dives is also very suspicious and points to something unique about dive1. The gas in those tanks is a unique variable (there are some others too)

 

[rob.mwpropane]

The fact that it didn't reoccur when you switched tanks on later dives is also very suspicious and points to something unique about dive1. The gas in those tanks is a unique variable (there are some others too)

The second dive was 35 or 40 minutes long. I did not experience the same level of nausea but I did get hit in the last 5 min or so. It came on at the safety stop @ 15' and didn't leave until I was back on the boat.

There was no nausea the next day at all.

 

[Graeme Fraser]

As @Marie13 said, it was rented. I did not analyze for CO2. I'll call them today and see, but I doubt that they would admit to it. Doesn't hurt to ask.

Maybe there's a chance that I was just so preoccupied with the nausea that I didn't experience the dive, because I vividly remember trying my damnedest not to puke, but I don't remember the wreck.

If Carbon Monoxide is suspected it needs to be analysed for CO not CO2, which is Carbon Dioxide.

 

[Duke Dive Medicine]

I posted in advanced because I'd like some veterans to give me feedback.

Went diving in the St. Lawrence River this past weekend. What an awesome exciting different place. Did a few wrecks out of Brockville.

I went down the line on the Robert Gaskin, 1st dive of the trip and I got horrible vertigo. There were 3 times I was sure I was going to puke in my reg. I remember the crappy feeling. I remember holding back chunks. I do not remember the dive. I just went and looked at a video and I recall no part of that wreck. I hardly recall who I was with. I don't remember seeing them, I don't remember the fish. I don't remember the side of the haul. I don't remember the safety stop, and I just barely remember getting back on the boat. That's scary for me because I usually have the memory of an elephant.

Came up, felt much better, dove the Lillie Parsons and all was well. Dove the next day and all was well. The only thing I can figure is that I had some air in my ear and with the excitement I didn't get it all out and caused my ears to equalize differently. I normally have sinus issues and take sudafed or mucinex d to clear it up, and I did but it was a little late. I do remember going down the line and feeling different than usual, like I didn't equalize right, and then just the nausea.

It's not the vertigo that bothers me as much as the memory loss. Is that common, any suggestions / ideas?

DC says 69' max depth totaling 30 min, not a very eventful dive.

@rob.mwpropane , Rob, at what point in the dive did the vertigo happen? Exactly when did it resolve, and did it resolve suddenly or over time?

Best regards,
DDM

 

[Lorenzoid]

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[rob.mwpropane]

@rob.mwpropane , Rob, at what point in the dive did the vertigo happen? Exactly when did it resolve, and did it resolve suddenly or over time?

Best regards,
DDM

It started almost immediately after descending ~ 15'-20' range. It stayed constant from that point on, maybe getting slightly worse. It did not resolve itself until after 10-20 minutes sitting on the boat. It was a gradual resolve over that time. It still was not 100% by the next dive, but maybe ~ 90% of the way there.

Edit: It felt like being sea sick, but the boat ride itself did not make it worse, which has been my experience in the past

 

[Brian G]

Somebody please correct me if I'm wrong, but does any of the description match carbon monoxide poisoning symptoms? I though CO poisoning would not start so quickly unless it was a high concentration, that it would get significantly worse over the course of the dive instead of remaining fairly constant (and if it were a high enough concentration to hit hard early in the dive, that unconsciousness would result rather soon), and that it would take many hours to recover, not 15 minutes to an hour.

 

[Duke Dive Medicine]

It started almost immediately after descending ~ 15'-20' range. It stayed constant from that point on, maybe getting slightly worse. It did not resolve itself until after 10-20 minutes sitting on the boat. It was a gradual resolve over that time. It still was not 100% by the next dive, but maybe ~ 90% of the way there.

Edit: It felt like being sea sick, but the boat ride itself did not make it worse, which has been my experience in the past

Given your report of a change in your equalization, the rapid resolution of symptoms on the surface, and subsequent dives without problems, I think it's unlikely that contaminated gas caused your symptoms. Several diving-related things can happen to the ear that can cause vertigo. Inner ear barotrauma and decompression sickness are probably the most serious. The rapid resolution of your symptoms pretty much rules out both of those; and, as you pointed out, the symptoms set in on descent, which also essentially rules out DCS as a cause.

It's interesting that this should come up again as it's been the subject of a couple of other threads recently, but one possible cause of transient vertigo and nausea while diving is a phenomenon called alternobaric vertigo, where one middle ear equalizes but the other does not. Symptoms typically resolve in minutes to hours as the offending ear clears. However, this does not explain your neurological symptoms. There are reports of divers experiencing focal neurological symptoms at depth that resolve spontaneously on the surface, the result of a bony dehiscence in a sinus that leaves the central nervous system exposed to pressure changes in that sinus. This could be to blame here; it's probably a bit of a reach but I don't think it can be ruled out.

It's also possible that there's a non-diving-related cause here, with transient ischemic attack (TIA, or mini-stroke) being the most concerning. I recommend that you see a diving physician or your primary care physician ASAP and get referrals to both a neurologist and an ear/nose/throat physician. I would also strongly caution you against diving again until you get to the bottom of this. If you PM me your location I'll see if there's a facility in your area that has a physician trained in evaluating divers. It might be good to have a diving doc in the driver's seat for you.

Best regards,
DDM