Vertigo while narked

[Sebastian746]

Hi all!
I want to share a recent experience with you all to get some perspective, advice, comments, etc...whatever you want...

So this year everything has been influenced by Covid, and like everything else, most of our club diving trips were cancelled until the one in August. We were 5 experienced divers, and was excited about doing our first diving weekend. This was my first hard boat dive of the year, first deep (er/ish) dive in a long time, first dive with a pony in a year, etc... None of those things were on my mind though, I was just looking forward to a nice challenging dive in a long time.
We (trio) jumped into the water, went down the buoy to about 35m, and started swimming over the wreck. There was loads of life and I offered to take some photos of my buddy. I took a few blurry ones and remember we finned a little away from the wreck. My buddy started turning anti-clockwise to swim towards the wreck again, and thats when it started (13 mins into the dive) - I started feeling like i was loosing my buoyancy (at least I thought so) and felt that we were swimming in circles. I started feeling uneasy, soon the circles became really small until I felt like i was spinning around in a washing machine. I signalled to the other buddy that i was NOT feeling well, it took a few attempts for her to understand that me signalling not feeling well = I wanted to go up (since I was not able to bring myself to make that decision and signal). My spinning got worse while my buddies started putting up the DSMB. I managed to hold on to one of them as I started feeling like I am about to pass out. At one point, the spinning was really bad and I remember fighting the feeling to "give up". The only reason I didnot take flight was because I knew i was diving with experienced folks and I trusted them with my life.
Eventually we started going up slowly with me almost getting CBL-ed. Ironically, all the while I was in a loop of actions - I felt like I am in a free-fall so i pump some air in my jacket, check my computer and see that not so I dump my air to avoid shooting up. I did remember that my comp will show me a deep stop at 14m, and strangely among all this chaos I was able to signal to them that i need to stop for a 1min when i got there. Eventually my spinning became less "speedy" and i was able to deco at 6m.

Back on the boat, I felt strange because i never had that experience before and I didnt know if there were certain things that led to that experience while being narc'd. I went onto do the second dive with the same buddies - I didnot want to that experience to paralyse me, my buddies wanted to ensure that it was indeed due to narcosis, and we ended up having a great 45mins dive although at 32m.

My google research tells me that spinning feeling is vertigo - can anyone of you confirm this? Has anyone else had this experience? Does this mean I have vertigo and this was my first exposure to this? I would like to hear about the different kinds of ways you have experienced narcosis and how best to be prepared for it when it can possibly lead to more serious and fatal incidents.

 

[BoundForElsewhere]

I've had similar experience but not that bad. that must have been disconcerting, to say the least. great example of why diving with a buddy is so important. and good on you for getting back on that horse. well done.

my worst narc experience was at El Pit cenote in Tulum. just as i got to the dark side of the cloud, i started to hear drums and get dizzy. things went a little wonky for a second but I just stayed focused on the fins in front of me and kept telling myself this was normal and to "muck through it." it eventually subsided and I was able to look back and analyze the feelings and tinglyness of it all. now, I kind of enjoy the feeling.

 

[Jafo19D]

I thought this said “Verigo while naked”. Very disappointed

 

[jgttrey]

Glad you're fine.

Have you considered causes other than narcosis? The fact that it sounds like your situation did not resolve, rapidly, just by ascending a bit, seems inconsistent with narcosis. Could this be an inner ear issue?

 

[BoundForElsewhere]

I thought this said “Verigo while naked”. Very disappointed

me, too.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

That wasn't narcosis. If so, it would have dissipated when you began ascending which you should have done immediately. Don't trust your life to more experienced folks. Only you are in charge of yourself. Because you still felt spinning at your deep stop, I recommend you run, don't walk to your Doctor's office.

 

[eelpout]

Did you notice your sensation when you were ascending or descending (even 2-3 feet up or down). Here is a link to a condition that you may have experienced. I first experienced it in 25 feet of water when I swiftly swam above somebody in front of me to avoid hitting them. I was so taken aback from the experience that I got out of the water and went straight to bed. Alternobaric Vertigo. Check it out.Alternobaric Vertigo | Ears & Diving - DAN Health & Diving.

 

[Divin'Papaw]

I've had cases of vertigo at times that were caused by cold water getting in one ear canal but not the other. That can happen when wearing a thick hood in cold water. Sometimes there is more water intrusion on one side than the other. For me it was always momentary and would pass once the water in the ear warmed up or water also entered the other ear canal.

Intense vertigo can also be caused by issues with the calcium crystals in the inner ear.

Just a few thoughts to consider.

 

[johndiver999]

Did you notice your sensation when you were ascending or descending (even 2-3 feet up or down). Here is a link to a condition that you may have experienced. I first experienced it in 25 feet of water when I swiftly swam above somebody in front of me to avoid hitting them. I was so taken aback from the experience that I got out of the water and went straight to bed. Alternobaric Vertigo. Check it out.Alternobaric Vertigo | Ears & Diving - DAN Health & Diving.

It can be extremely intense and incapacitating. I sometimes wonder if the training agencies place enough emphasis on explaining the consequences of this malady. I have had a bad case of it while snorkeling in a pool when ascending from 12 feet. So bad that I crawled out of the water and laid on the pool deck for a few minutes before it resolved. I did not feel safe or well enough to even hang on the edge of the pool. I was very close to puking.
You can get extreme dizziness and even visual disturbances, so if you don't recognize it, it is terribly scary, plus if it happens at a depth where narcosis comes into play, I am sure that makes it even worse.

 

[dberry]

Definitely sounds like vertigo. As @JimBlay mentioned, with SCUBA this can be caused by a big temperature difference in your ears, but a common cause has to do with little crystals found in the inner ear getting into the wrong places. Fortunately I've never had vertigo in the water, but did experience it at home for the first time just a few weeks ago. I remember very suddenly rolling over in bed to turn off the alarm clock, and all of sudden the room started to spin like crazy. I felt very nauseous and could barely sit up. After a few minutes it subsided, but I had to be very careful about rolling onto my left side or leaning over with my head down for more than a week or the spins and nausea would quickly come back.

My wife experienced this a few years ago, and remembered something called the Epley maneuver - Wikipedia. It involves systematically bending and rotating your body and head to use gravity to move particles in the inner ear away from the sensitive spots. There are some decent YouTube videos demonstrating it.

It looks like voodoo, but my wife insisted I try it and I haven't had any bouts with vertigo since. The vertigo was so bad that I might very well have drowned if I had an attack under water. It was paralyzing.

If you have any relapses out of the water I suggest you try the Epley and/or see a doctor.