Was I Narked?

[elmer fudd]

On the other hand dark narc means you feel something is wrong, and will likely seek to bail, ie: ascend, which fixes it. A happy narc can have you trying to give your reg to the fishes and not giving a bleep that you actually need it to survive, or it might have you want to follow that beautiful friendly fish on its way down to 300'.

I've haven't had that happy of a happy narc yet. For the most part I just feel a little exhilarated and giddy. The dark narc on the other hand feels like a panic attack.

 

[dmoore19]

The PADI open water manual says nitrogen has a noticeable intoxicating effect at 30 meters. It also says it effects individuals differently from day to day even at more shallow depths. (page 192)

 

[oreocookie]

I am still stuck on the fact that you were told to "sit down". What a horrible instructor. You should be able to hold your position in the water by the time your diving deep IMO. Sit down is for extreme newbies or instructors that have very very VERY low standards... in my opinion...

I think the "sit down" bit was more as a simplicity thing than anything else. There was a hill-like section of piled rocks (that had you seen next to a hiking trail would have looked like a perfect spot for a break) with silty bottom next to it. One of the ideas for the dive was to note how colour changes with depth, using your fin colour as an example, which is easier to do when your fins are in front of you than behind you. There was no sitting in any other dive.

I just have a thought: You are a new diver, as shown by your stats (0-24 dives). You were sitting on the bottom. I presume that means your head was upright. We spend most of our dive time horizontal, looking more or less down. With your head upright, water in the nose pocket is more noticeable. It could have been that, along with some nervousness at being so deep, so early in your diving experience.

You might be onto something here, though the reaction really feels out of proportion.

 

[FrogManMike]

I have to ask. Mobid curiousity is getting the best of me. What exactly do you mean when you mention 'wear a nose clamp'? I want to ask to see if you are suggesting wearing something that would completely pinch a divers nose closed during the dive. If that's the case how exactly would you have someone equalize the air in their mask and prevent mask squeeze, or clear any water out of your mask, with said nose clamp on.... Unless you are one of those uniquely talented individuals that could expel enough air through the corner of your eyeballs to do it. Just wondering...

If you're wearing a nose clamp, how do you clear your mask?

Are you sure that was a Holiday Inn?

Ron

I Knew someone was going to say something about using a nose clip and wearing a mask.
I use a nose clamp and have no problem clearing my mask
a nose clamp don't pinch your nose so tight that you cant blow out through your nostrals.

 

[adamthornton]

I didn't sleep well last night and was tired before the dive this morning, which may have played a role in whatever it was that I was experiencing.

I don't have too many dives under my belt. However, when I went to do my AOW course, I attempted to start the course the day after my arrival to Thailand on vacation. I had been traveling for several days and fatigued. On my second dive of my AOW course, it was a mess waiting to happen. The captain wanted to drop myself and the instructor off at one section of the dive site and proceed to take another group of divers to the other side. We were rushed into the water, which is never good. If felt almost as if they wanted to just kick off the back of the boat.

In the water I was...and we began our descent. As I was descending my eyes were burning to the point that I didn't want to open them. I kept signaling that there was a problem and I couldn't get my instructor to understand that my eyes were burning and it wasn't a problem with my mask. Eventually I gave the sign to ascend and we did. On the surface I took my mask off and rubbed my eyes...

My instructor asked if I was ok, at that moment I began to feel sick, I turned away from him and told him I think I was going to be sick, and I did. We ended the dive before it even got started and I was on the boat. I was unable to make the third dive of the day, to how horrible I felt.

I took a few days and rested and enjoyed a bit of vacation before going back and continuing the course. When I did continue it my mind was set in the right place and I felt good.

I can tell you from that experience of mine that fatigue and tiredness can and will play a role in the effects you get while diving. Even though the outcome of my dive was different than yours, I'd be sure that it played a large role in how you felt and reacted under the water.

 

[FrogManMike]

Probably had something to do with narcosis. At that depth it was likely starting to affect you. No mix of nitrox would help with narcosis, only trimix would.

I've felt narcosis effects at that depth the first time. On subsequent dives though it seemed to go away. I've heard people say your body learns to adjust for it. Just my experience everyone is different.

Yikes:shocked2: I Had a brain fart, thanks for that correction Trimix is what I mean, I don't know why I said Nitrox... I have sometimers and CRS
sorry for the bad info on my part.

I still have a hard time believing it was narcosis. I think the problem stemmed from him being an entry level diver and he couldn't get a good seal on his mask and it spooked him being at that depth.

I also think several people are mistaking narcosis for anxiety...EDIT: Oops or should I say Anxiety for NN.(another Brain Fart)Yall have to watch me I am getting crusty
although narcosis does affect everyone differently there are certain symptoms he did not experience
Symptoms of nitrogen narcosis include: wooziness; giddiness; euphoria; disorientation; loss of balance; loss of manual dexterity; slowing of reaction time; fixation of ideas; and impairment of complex reasoning. These effects are exacerbated by cold, stress, and a rapid rate of compression.

and what the hell is this dark narcosis BSIm sorry but that is simply a panic attack and has nothing to do with Notrogen narcosis
someone show me there is medical basis of such a thing then I will believe it otherwise the term "Dark Narcosis" is nothing more than a glorified term someone coined which caught on wide spread now everyone is using the term as an explanation for freaking out under water which is not a medical condition but more a mental state of panic. two separate conditions in which one has nothing to do with the other otherwise I have been dark narked out at the depth of 5 feet in murky lake water

 

[kaerius]

Well, narcosis can do many things. My one brush with narcosis meant I suffered from fixation of ideas, to steal above poster's lingo(my instructors called it rigid thinking), thankfully what I got hung up on was "follow the plan, obey the rules", I was completely calm, doing everything by the book.

On the other hand, I've been told a story about a pair of instructors with 10+ years experience hiding behind a boulder and throwing rocks at some navy divers doing an exercise, while giggling like schoolgirls, at 40m(133'), blowing through their air supply and ending up having to be rescued by aforementioned navy divers.

You never really know how it's going to hit you.

 

[oreocookie]

although narcosis does affect everyone differently there are certain symptoms he did not experience
Symptoms of nitrogen narcosis include: wooziness; giddiness; euphoria; disorientation; loss of balance; loss of manual dexterity; slowing of reaction time; fixation of ideas; and impairment of complex reasoning. These effects are exacerbated by cold, stress, and a rapid rate of compression.

and what the hell is this dark narcosis BSIm sorry but that is simply a panic attack and has nothing to do with Notrogen narcosis
someone show me there is medical basis of such a thing

I'm doing some reading to further my own understanding of what actually happened here, and I've found several websites you could have copied and pasted "Symptoms of nitrogen narcosis ... rate of compression" from, I've also found a few other sites listing extreme anxiety, depression and paranoia. The padi Adventures in Diving (AOW) book mentions "undue anxiety". if that isn't "dark", i don't know what is.

FWIW, it was 40 or 45F at depth, I didn't feel cold but I had some massive brain freeze.

 

[knowone]

I like the horizontal-vertical idea too and suggest clearing and not freaking out practice.
Whilst letting water in to clear fog is good, evacuating said water is good too, and had God intended us to dive with sloshing water swilling around, S-He would have made, on one of those days, a mask with two, holes

Mike, Mike, Mike.:snorkel2:

Procrastination is a luxury afforded those who have already decided.

 

[elmer fudd]

A dark narc is akin to a bad acid trip. The narcosis from depth is what makes you feel high, but in the right, (wrong), environment instead of being a pleasant, euphoric sensation it can seem like an anxiety attack instead.

The giveaway indication that it's due to narcosis is that when you ascend 30' or so the symptoms go away. If you take a group of divers and do a dive to 130' in 45 degree water and 4' of visibility, chances are at least one of them will have a bit of a dark narc experience.

When you get down deep in bad viz, any anxiety you might have been feeling in shallow water is magnified by the narcosis.