Was this DCS during OW cerification

[emydive]

I'm brand new to the board. Just got OW certified last summer.
I had a real scary experience and have'nt been ready to try again.
But just booked a flight back to the same spot (free stay) but starting to get the willies!
Cant figure out how this was DCS if my dives were well within limits.
First day went fine: 21' max for 53 min. and 13' max. for 44 min.
Second day went fine: 28' max. for 30 min.
Then the dreaded Third Day: 49' to 65' for 32 min.
On that dive I was exhausted as I was fighting a drift dive (not knowing how to handle a drift dive nor knowing what that meant at the time)
I did my emergency assent on the way up per OW training.
After we came up for another tank, I was fine for about 10 min.
Then I was overcome with ? panic? Dont really know but my hands and feet started getting numb. Fingers looked paralyzed. 5 minutes later I'm breathing oxygen and another 5 min. later, I'm back to fine again.
No other symptoms ever came up.
Didnt dive the next day and 2 days later did another dive: 32' max for 25 min.
Everything went fine.
Other than starting out shallow and well within limits again, I really dont know how to assure this does'nt happen again.

 

[Duke Dive Medicine]

I'm brand new to the board. Just got OW certified last summer.
I had a real scary experience and have'nt been ready to try again.
But just booked a flight back to the same spot (free stay) but starting to get the willies!
Cant figure out how this was DCS if my dives were well within limits.
First day went fine: 21' max for 53 min. and 13' max. for 44 min.
Second day went fine: 28' max. for 30 min.
Then the dreaded Third Day: 49' to 65' for 32 min.
On that dive I was exhausted as I was fighting a drift dive (not knowing how to handle a drift dive nor knowing what that meant at the time)
I did my emergency assent on the way up per OW training.
After we came up for another tank, I was fine for about 10 min.
Then I was overcome with ? panic? Dont really know but my hands and feet started getting numb. Fingers looked paralyzed. 5 minutes later I'm breathing oxygen and another 5 min. later, I'm back to fine again.
No other symptoms ever came up.
Didnt dive the next day and 2 days later did another dive: 32' max for 25 min.
Everything went fine.
Other than starting out shallow and well within limits again, I really dont know how to assure this does'nt happen again.

Hi Emy,
The symptoms you are describing do not sound like decompression sickness. Your dives were well within no-decompression limits, even using square-dive tables. The only hitch is the exhaustion; fatigue can be a risk factor for DCS, but your dives were so mild that even with the extra nitrogen uptake I can't imagine that you were bent. It sounds to me like you may have hyperventilated. A couple of questions:
1. What was the reason for your emergency ascent after the last dive?
2. What do you mean by "fingers looked paralyzed"?
Best regards,
DDM

 

[boulderjohn]

Although it is possible to get DCS diving within recreational limits, you were so very far within limits that it seems very unlikely. Furthermore, your quick resolution of the symptoms makes it very unlikely.

A more likely accident would not be DCS by lung overexpansion injury caused by not exhaling properly during the emergency swimming ascent. That, however, is also unlikely because of the quick resolution.

Panic is not normally a symptom associated with DCS.

I am getting outside of my range of expertise here, but I would look at your discomfort and possible fear about doing a drift dive as an instigating factor. That could possibly bring on the panic, and and panic can bring on other symptoms. One thing that breathing oxygen can do is help you get rid of a buildup of carbon dioxide in the body. Carbon dioxide buildup can come from a number of causes, mostly related to improper breathing. Carbon dioxide buildup causes panic--that's why you feel panicky after holding your breath for a while.

If you go to the dive medicine forum (and this thread might be better answered there), you will see I posted a recent thread related to a strange numbness in my hands that came and went suddenly. You may find it interesting. The consensus of the medical experts was that it was not really diving related--the problem was in me and could have happened anywhere.

As for making sure these things don't happen again, there is absolutely nothing in your dive characteristics that should be a problem.

EDIT: You got a reply from a better source while I was typing.

 

[Bubbletrubble]

The profiles that you described aren't that impressive in terms of nitrogen-loading, so DCS would be rather low on the differential.

At first glance, your admission of "exhaustion" drew my attention. This led me to think along the lines of overexertion ± inadequate breathing leading to CO2 retention. Yet, you didn't complain of a post-dive headache which is quite common with CO2 retention. And, following the dive, there was a period of 10 minutes during which you were asymptomatic...before the onset of "panicky" thoughts and tingling in the hands/feet set in.

After reading others' responses (particularly those of Midget, PatW, and Hemlon) and seeing your later posts, I've become more convinced that your symptoms were caused by anxiety/stress which led to a hyperventilation episode. Having a squishy ear and thinking about having to fight the current on an upcoming dive probably kick-started it all.

For future reference, here are a few tips that you might find helpful when you find yourself diving in current again:

• Don't overexert yourself trying to fight the current. Monitor your breathing rate and don't let it get out of hand.
• Use natural shelters from the current -- duck behind rock outcroppings or plan to spend the majority of your dive on a sheltered side of a dive site. Fish will "show" you where the sheltered areas are located.
• Plan your exit to be downcurrent. (definition of drift dive)
• Bring with you appropriate surface signaling devices (air horn, flare, dye, SMBs, mirror, rescue tape, light, EPIRB) in case the current carries you away from the dive boat/shore/current line.
• Commit yourself to a high level of physical fitness. This actually applies to all divers at all times, but proper conditioning is particularly important for divers braving current.

You're at the beginning of your diving adventure now. It's a really fun sport. Enjoy it.
Over time, you'll probably find that under the right conditions drift diving can be an enjoyable, "lazy" way to dive.

Glad that you had a good outcome...

 

[boulderjohn]

By "emergency assent," I think you meant "safety stop," correct?

No, he probably meant an emergency ascent.

He was doing OW certification dive #4. At some point during OW dives 2-4, the diver must do a Controlled Emergency Swimming Ascent (CESA). It is rarely done on Dive #2, so it would most likely be done on either dive #3 or dive #4. It is up to the instructor when it is done.

I would be very surprised, though, that this would be done on a drift dive. If this is PADI, the instructor is required to use an ascent line when supervising the CESA so that the student's ascent can be effectively controlled in case the student starts to rocket to the surface.

 

[PatW]

Given the fact that the dive was so far within decompression limits, I would think that decompression was not a problem. Of course, there could be some if the diver came up from 65' without a safety stop after down for 32 minutes. But even then, it would seem unlikely.

I think the diver got upset during the dive. The diver was fatigued. Then the diver reached a state of emotional distress which was referred to as "panic". It is pretty common for people who are stressed out to imagine symptoms that are either very mild or are not there.

If you take a course in parasitology, almost everyone becomes convinced that they either have or could have all sorts of strange diseases. I think something like this could have occured here. It is a sort of reverse placebo effect. Things like this are often called "all in the brain". But even if it is, it is still all too real to the person suffering from it.

 

[emydive]

Yes it was a CESA. I dont know from what depth I started the CESA but I was totally out of air when I reached the surface. And my finger would not bend and were numb!
Maybe panic set in because I was worrying about going back down for the second dive.

 

[Midget]

Hyperventilation (hypocapnea) can cause tingly and numb fingertips. If you were panicked, you could have easily been hyperventilating.

 

[Midget]

Bubbletrouble, hypercapnea is NOT defined as a serum bicarb level over 45 mmHg.

 

[John C. Ratliff]

I am not going to speculate on the medical side of this incident, but will ask for more information. I think it would be helpful if the medical people knew a few more things:

--What was the water temperature?
--What were you wearing?
--What is you body tyge (skinny, fat, normal weight)?
--What was the weather conditions and were you possibly cold before the dive?

All of these could affect how your body reacted to specific conditions. Take a look at this post in a different thread to see how the Panic Syndrome can affect you too. If that is all it is, I think simply relaxing and learning to enjoy the dive could be the solution.

It is fairly "normal" to be really uncomfortable early in a diving experience. I once had a guy from Asia dive with me in a 20 foot deep river (the South Santiam), and upon initially getting into the water he "freaked out." He couldn't even put his face in the water with his face mask on. We did some talking, then went to the shallows and got the "feel" of scuba breathing for about five minutes. Then we ducked down and swam to slightly deeper water, and stopped. He was now comfortable, so we swam upstream to a deeper part of the pool. I remember we found first a tennis shoe, then a pair of pants on the bottom. Apparently, someone rafting had not had a pleasant experience in this river, but although I half-expected it, we did not find a body. He ended up having a great dive, even though the first part was "shaky."

SeaRat