Vertigo

[Kevfin]

Kind of like how I flew for years without getting spatial disorientation and then one day during some instrument training I got it big time and found out how unfun disorientation is. Never had it since either.

Before you started diving, how often were you in a weightless environment?

Some people adapt to different environments easier than others do. Seems like with age, the adaptation is slower…

The psychological effect along with the new physiological sensations is throwing you for a loop.

I quoted the above, because during my flight training, under a hood to block everything but the instruments, it was hard to keep the plane in level flight. It was only after continual practice and getting used to the non-visual sensations was I able to fly correctly.

My guess is that your spatial disorientation has more to do with your body and senses coming to terms with a different environment with a lot of new/unique/different sensations. The only one that you are truly comfortable with may be your vision and at night or with your mask off, that trusted sense isn’t doing you any good.


Over time, you will adapt. Just keep plugging away at it. Some suggestions to cope above seem pretty good. I am curious what ends up working for you. Let me know.

 

[TSandM]

kevfin, I agree with you completely. I think I have some good ideas to try. I will update after trying them and let everybody know how they worked.

 

[dherbman]

I seem to have a significant problem with severe spatial disorientation when I have no visual reference. Does anybody have any clever tips -- visualizations, ways of getting oriented in space -- that will work in the DARK?

Wow, I've never actually encoutered this, until yesterday.

I was diving wet, 80' max depth 41 degree water, 0 vis. We were replacing a mooring line to a floating bathroom at a local lake and vis was about 2' on the surface. At 30', it was pitch black and vis was down to inches.

We dropped down the mooring line and tracked it by touch along the bottom. There was a lot of slack in the cable, so it tended to meander quite a bit. Over stumps, under debris, back on itself, under the silt....... My buddy was using a HID can light and it was like he had no light at all when he was 5' away.

So, after 15 minutes at depth, we thumb the dive and begin ascent. At 60', it is still pitch black and all of a sudden I am caught in a whirl pool. It has me and I am spinning. My concern is that I'll be sucked down, but my depth is constant according to my gauges. I helicopter kick in the direction opposite my spinning in an attempt to control the spin. I can feel the water from the whirlpool rushing past and I try to kick out of it. I catch a glimpse of my buddy, he's spinning past me too and I figure he must be caught as well, but is on the outer portion and that it must be spinning faster there.

Stop, think, breathe. Wait a minute, I'm in a lake! My depth is constant at 60' and I've got plenty of gas. I stop fighting the whirlpool and continue my ascent. Shortly, the spinning stops, I get to 30' and a hint of ambient light returns. When we get to the surface, I ask my buddy about that wild current. He tells me there was no current, but I was making him dizzy with the wild helicopter turns I was doing.

I've got a new understanding and appreciation for vertigo now. In replaying the incident, I thought of this thread and my earlier posting which suggested watching bubbles as a point of reference. I had nothing as a point of reference. I saw my buddy once, but for the most part, there was nothing. The physical sensation gave me the absolute impression that I was in a whirlpool. I could see where this might panic somone and cause them to bolt to the surface.

I'm glad it happened. Having experienced this once, I'll recognize it in the future and just fly by my gauges.

 

[jeckyll]

Thanks for sharing your story.

Quick question: Did you get a chance to look at your compass while in the "whirlpool"?? If you did, I'm curious if that helped at all.

Bjorn

 

[dherbman]

It confirmed I was spinning, but my main focus was my depth gauge. It could have been key to figuring out that I was driving the spin, but the sensation was so real that I didn't pay enough attention to the compass to determine what it meant.

If this should occur again, I'll watch my depth, stop kicking and confirm with the compass.

 

[TSandM]

dherbman, that's it exactly. One is convinced one is in motion and tries to correct the motion that isn't occurring, thereby creating more motion . . .

Yesterday, I tried midwater navigation exercises in fairly poor visibility and had the same problem. I did manage to look at my bubbles and recognize what they were telling me, but the physical sensation of my orientation was so powerful it was really hard to disregard that and only pay attention to the bubble information. It was really weird to look at my buddy and see him as vertical in the water, when my bubbles were telling me that I was actually head down . . . When you take away gravity and visual references, you must need to learn to depend on a whole different set of fairly subtle cues that I just haven't managed to pick up on yet.

 

[Solitude Diver]

I was making him dizzy with the wild helicopter turns I was doing.

It's hard to understand unless you've experienced it. The first time I saw this happen to someone (and it is strange to watch someone spinning rapidly) he was staring at his compass and spinning wildly (like a helicopter). As he was leading the dive, I thought he had panicked and believed he was lost, or maybe he was just screwing around trying to see what his compass would do. He later told me it was vertigo and he didn’t even know he was actually spinning.

Strangely enough, about 6-8 months ago, I became very susceptible to this phenomenon. It now happens to me frequently. You actually do feel like you are spinning, and subconsciously (or maybe consciously) move your fins to stop it. In reality your kicking is causing you to spin. I believe it is caused by some sort of reverse squeeze in the ears, as it always seems to happen when I reach my max depth, and then start to ascend.

The first time really bothered me as I was also feeling like I was in a rapid uncontrolled ascent.

Because I now expect it when I start to ascend (up a line or slope), if it starts, I exhale and look at my depth gage and hold my bc inflator up (ready to vent). I don’t care if I am spinning, or descending slightly; I only care about not ascending any more (which makes it increase in severity). I stare at the gage, and consciously make sure I don’t move my legs or arms which could make me actually spin. I just concentrate on hovering at one depth. The feeling usually passes soon.

Visual references don’t usually work for me. About 7 weeks ago it happened as I started ascending close to a buoy line at about 50 feet. I stayed in control and since the line was there and I was in a current, I grabbed on to assure me that I was not really spinning. Even while holding the line and staying horizontal, I felt I was spinning around the line like I was the blade of a helicopter. It even felt like there was centrifugal force being generated. So… visual reference is not always the key. I just stared at my depth gage on one hand and held on with the other until the feeling passed.

This happens to me about every 8-10 dives or so, and is usually one of the first dives in a series, and usually only if I exceed about 60-80 feet. (Odds are really increased at depth over 100 ft). I have had it happen on a first (wall) dive to about 125 feet in (warm water) Mexico as we started to ascend while looking at the wall, so I have also ruled out cold water and my hood (over the ears) as contributing.

After reading some of these posts, I will likely seek an ENT specialist to try to find a better solution (other than just management).

 

[dherbman]

Yeah, strange indeed. Do keep us posted on what comes of the ENT visit. It's just not socially acceptable to be spinning out on ascents.

 

[String]

and usually only if I exceed about 60-80 feet. (Odds are really increased at depth over 100 ft). I have had it happen on a first (wall) dive to about 125 feet in (warm water) Mexico as we started to ascend while looking at the wall, so I have also ruled out cold water and my hood (over the ears) as contributing.

Narcosis?

 

[PalauDiver]

I have had this sensation of spatial disorientation, and it takes a tremendous amount of effort not to kick and flail wildly. One thing that I find helps tremendously is to do something such as reach down and grab the tip of my fins, touch my hands behind my back, or as someone mentions earlier hug myself. Seems to immediately relieve the vertigo sensation.