What does DCS feel like?

[lostinspace]

og - but none of the divers above said that they pushed the limits - or folks, did you?

 

[Tim Ingersoll]

I think a large percentage of the divers who report hits on this board may be put into the category of undeserved hits. The deserved hits are the ones that generally don't get posted on the boards. If you want to read my story search for "bent in Cozumel" in the Mexico forum. Judge for yourself.

 

[netmage]

I think a large percentage of the divers who report hits on this board may be put into the category of undeserved hits. The deserved hits are the ones that generally don't get posted on the boards. If you want to read my story search for "bent in Cozumel" in the Mexico forum. Judge for yourself.

I had an incident a few weeks ago. Had two uneventful Deco dives in Lake Michigan w/ my instructor and another of his former students.

After the second dive on the way back into shore I started getting a queesy feeling in my stomach. Like most diving mornings I'm rushing out the door to get to the boat and skipped breakfast. Had two bottles of water while on the lake. Then I started getting a little vertigo. I tried to rationalize this away as motion sickness. I sat down for a few moments and delt with it. Once we neared the boat ramp I felt like I had to sit down and went inside the cabin. After sitting down a moment my left arm went limp & numb and I knew something was up. I called for one of the other divers to get the captain and tell him I needed O2. My instructor came over and began running through the 5-min neuro while the capt. pulled the O2 out.

I used the word uneventfull above to indicate we had no failures, runaway ascents, etc to explain the hit. In hindsight our tables were probably a little close to nominal. So in the future I will likely pad additional conservatism into my plans & get checked for a PFO as this was one of my first deco dives outside of class.

 

[lragsac]

og - but none of the divers above said that they pushed the limits - or folks, did you?

Nope. I sure didn't push any limits. It was a single dive to a max depth of 72', although most of the dive was spent at 60'. Total dive time was 39 min. I do a brief deep stop, very slow ascents (30 fpm or less) and stop at 30', 20' and 10'. I had not exercised before the dive (which was from a boat) or dived for several days before. I was not dehydrated. But again, in my case I'd say the jury is still out on whether I had DCS or barotrauma.

 

[scubaknight]

hello

 

[scubaknight]

-Scubaknight

 

[opiniongirl]

I understand that new research indicates that hydration is a major factor on the majority of hits, undeserved or not...hydration is a predisposition to DCS.

IMO, the recreational tables were designed to have an extreme amount of conservatism built in, due to legal implications. I think the percentage of "left field hits" is likely quite small when compared to the number of dives done. Deco / technical is totally different altogether, not suggesting this number is higher or lower, but tech diving is really quite different.

 

[BlueDevil]

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.

I have often read that the majority of DCI cases are 'undeserved' hits, so I am surprised as to where your data comes from - it does not sound consistent with DAN data that I have seen. The statement that 'most hits are diver error' and 'the # of diver error hits outweighs the "out of left field" hits' is in fact the opposite to what I have always been led to believe. The below quote confirms what I am saying:

Research by Divers Alert Network(DAN) reveals that two out of every three divers being recompressed for symptoms of decompression illness were diving within recommended no-decompression limits.

If you have information which is contrary to the often quoted stats that the majority of DCI cases are within accepted limits of tables/computer I would be really interested to know the source.

Cheers, BD

 

[iluvcozumel]

I became bent after a week of 3 a day dives and dehydration. Nothing out of the ordinary, a couple of dives early in the week to 100', slow ascents...

On friday of the week I began to feel stomach queasies and then got the foggy brain feeling. I new something wasn't right so my girlfriend convinced me to go to the doc in Cozumel and she pointed out that the rash on my upper right arm was skin bends, so into the chamber for a five hour cruise with my new best friend Julio.

It amazed me how great I felt when I came out of there. Skin bends disappeared, but came back next day, but doc told me I would be ok. No diving for 90 days though.

Now I dive very conservatively and make darn sure I drink lots of water and no alcohol on dive trips.

 

[lostinspace]

I became bent after a week of 3 a day dives and dehydration. Nothing out of the ordinary, a couple of dives early in the week to 100', slow ascents...

On friday of the week I began to feel stomach queasies and then got the foggy brain feeling. I new something wasn't right so my girlfriend convinced me to go to the doc in Cozumel and she pointed out that the rash on my upper right arm was skin bends, so into the chamber for a five hour cruise with my new best friend Julio.

It amazed me how great I felt when I came out of there. Skin bends disappeared, but came back next day, but doc told me I would be ok. No diving for 90 days though.

Now I dive very conservatively and make darn sure I drink lots of water and no alcohol on dive trips.

Hey everyone - thanks for all the experiences!
In my research I found this information from the UK organisation BSAC about last year's decompression incidents: http://www.bsac.org/techserv/increp03/decoincidents03.htm
Makes for interesting reading.