What does DCS feel like?

[lostinspace]

I've read all the advice about what the symptoms are, but I would be really interested to hear from folks who have actually experienced DCS as to what it feels like, and how could you tell it was DCS?

The reason I'm asking is currently intellectual curiousity and also because I have never met a diver yet who has had it, and I want to be sure I have the ability to recognise the symptoms either in myself or in someone in my company.

thanks.

 

[vlada]

I've read all the advice about what the symptoms are, but I would be really interested to hear from folks who have actually experienced DCS as to what it feels like, and how could you tell it was DCS?

The reason I'm asking is currently intellectual curiousity and also because I have never met a diver yet who has had it, and I want to be sure I have the ability to recognise the symptoms either in myself or in someone in my company.

thanks.

There are so many sympthoms, each case can be quite different from the next one. It is easier to diagnose when the sympthoms are neurological, harder when it is just the muscle pain. For neurological sympthoms, learn the 5 min neuro exam - do a search, it was explained here

In my own case and couple of friends who had episodes of Type 1 DCS, we all had pains in various joints that were very similar to strained muscles. A common line that a lot of us used trying to explain what we were feeling was "it just does not feel right" - i.e. deep inside you you know it is not just a muscle pain, but denial is a very powerful feeling

How do you recognize it for sure? You do not - as soon as you suspect that something may not be right, you get on a phone, call DAN and tell then exactly what you are experiencing. Does not cost you anything, and in very mild cases (like the one i had), the advice was to take a bunch of pills and show up at the chamber next day as a precaution. Unfortunately, my sympthoms worsened, so i ended up with two chamber rides, but that's a different story.

 

[Tim Ingersoll]

In my own case and couple of friends who had episodes of Type 1 DCS, we all had pains in various joints that were very similar to strained muscles. A common line that a lot of us used trying to explain what we were feeling was "it just does not feel right" - i.e. deep inside you you know it is not just a muscle pain, but denial is a very powerful feeling.

Denial is a mother. I waited 18 hours to ride the chamber. You will know it when it happens. The problem is getting over the denial.

 

[lostinspace]

ok - but how do you know it is not just muscle strain?

and, what does happen if someone just ignores it? do sypmtoms worsen or get better?

 

[fdog]

lostinspace, my experience manifested itself as skin bends. I had an itch in the skin of my upper right arm that wouldn't go away.

At the time, I taught diving at UCD, which had a chamber; all the instructors were chamber attendants as part of the job. My hit was after taking our basic scuba students for a get-aquainted chamber ride.

I was thrown back into the chamber 5 minutes later, and the itch went away at about 50' as if a switch had been thrown. Table 5 for treatment, and no long-term effects.

All the best, James

 

[pasley]

You probably know several divers who have had DCS. Because there is a “you must be a bad diver” stigma (underserved I might add as stuff sometimes does just happen) many are reluctant to talk about it. Ask you dive partners if they have ever been bent. You may be surprised at the answer.

DCS feels like any symptom you are experiencing. The experience will vary depending on where the bubble is, size of bubble and number of bubbles. If it is in a joint or against a nerve or spine or brain.

My symptom, a very minor, as in if you were doing anything or even just having a conversation, you would not notice it, ache in my ankle the next day. I had gotten knocked down by a wave and chalked it up to that…. at first. 36 hours after the dive the discomfort (could not really call it a pain) did grow in intensity and moved into my calf with a, that’s not too bad but I would not want to live with that for the rest of my life pins and need thing.

One week later, after a shallow dive (Doc said wait 7 days), it became apparent that I was not fully over the first DCS and I had another bout. Drove to 1,400 feet elevation 48hours after the dive and this time there was pain as in let me get your attention pain. Not Lloyd Bridges (Sea Hunt) rolling around on the deck pain (as he did in every episode), but a hmmm, let me rub my knee and calf that does not feel good pain.

Bottom line, the symptoms can be anything including: Paralysis, Tingling, numbness, Fuzzy foggy brain feeling, sharp pain, vague pain, iching, rash, to anything else. So if you feel anything that is not normal following a dive, it is time to call DAN and get an expert to look at you.

ok - but how do you know it is not just muscle strain?

You don’t. That is why a qualified dive medicine professional needs to look at it. Note I said qualified dive medicine professional. The clowns in the emergency room had no clue what DCS or DCI or the Bends was and, since I was not bleeding or having cardiac arrest, put me in a room off to the side and forgot about me for four hours while the decompression chamber doctor kept calling down looking for me. Unfortunately, the hospital rules required me to go through the emergency room and get a chest x-ray to ensure there was no blockage in the lungs before my chamber ride. But there staff there was clueless and I was in denial and did not stress that I was a potentially serious case and time was the enemy.

What does happen if someone just ignores it? Do symptoms worsen or get better?

The doctors and other experts will chime in here on this I am sure. But from a layman’s point of view: The longer you wait for treatment the lower the odds of a 100% cure are. You are risking lifelong paralysis or worse if you ignore it! Symptoms will often get worse as the bubble against the nerve continues to deny the nerve blood and oxygen eventually killing the nerve. Depending on where the bubble is (joint, skin or nerve), and the severity of the hit your symptoms could improve (in very mild cases this could happen) over time or get worse (more normally the case). But the risk is paralysis or death if the bubble moves to the wrong place. DCS is not the place for self-treatment. Bottom line, if you even ask the question is this DCS, call a professional!

In my case, I waited 36 hours to seek treatment. Foot was tingling for almost 2 years after and that could have been avoided with prompt treatment. I was lucky.

 

[lragsac]

I've read all the advice about what the symptoms are, but I would be really interested to hear from folks who have actually experienced DCS as to what it feels like, and how could you tell it was DCS?

The reason I'm asking is currently intellectual curiousity and also because I have never met a diver yet who has had it, and I want to be sure I have the ability to recognise the symptoms either in myself or in someone in my company.

thanks.

I think you see from the responses here a couple of threads emerging. First, the individual experience of DCS is just that--highly individual. Second, and this is most unfortunate, there is a great deal of stigma surrounding DCI. Third, and this is in my opinion directly related to the stigma issue, divers who experience DCS very often struggle with denial before seeking treatment. Sometimes I think it is difficult for someone to initially be sure they have DCS when their symptoms are mild and very isolated, as in Melvin's case with his ankle hurting. In my case, I surfaced from a pretty conservative profile dive and experienced, within a few minutes after getting back on the boat, severe vertigo and nausea. I had no other symptoms; felt fine otherwise. Although many months later no definitive diagnosis has ever been delivered in my case (I did not improve with chamber treatment, which occurred some 6 1/2 hours after onset), isolated inner ear DCS cannot be ruled out. Of course, neither can simple barotrauma be ruled out, despite the fact that I never had any problems clearing, or pain, or reverse squeeze or anything like that. My point here is that, before this happened, I thought I was fairly well versed in DCS and didn't think that recreational divers could experience isolated vestibular hits. It has been documented, but it is exceedingly rare.

 

[archman]

I got mild DCS via a chamber dive in Galveston. There was a progressive loss of sensation in the toes, that didn't really exhibit to me for several hours. Since I caught it so late, recompression therapy left some permanent numbness in my right big toe. Boo.

 

[lostinspace]

folks - thanks - some interesting stories and experiences.
it is quite scary that it is so hard to define.
I understand the denial - it would be really hard to call personally.
I wonder if this is a training issue? Is there any way the basic training can emphasise that it can happen in reality to anyone and not "just careless" divers, as the training tends to suggest? I mean no-one wants to have the stigma or be marked as "someone who got DCS", but how does that stigma arrive in the first place?

 

[opiniongirl]

The majority of the data in the Dan accident report (this is somewhat of an interesting and awakening read) is from cavalier divers, pushing the limits, or rocketing through them.

Although this by no means is a 100% accurate report, as it is only based on reported injuries, the # of diver error hits outweighs the "out of left field" hits.

Probably the knowledge that most hits are diver error give it the stigma...as for the training, I guess that would depend on the instructor, but I think the manuals do give an accurate warning.