what happened ???

[jbd]

I'm thinking it's an ear thing. Last night's dive I didn't get vertigo ... but I did realize I was having difficulty maintaining my directional sense (unusual for me). I kept swimming "arcs" and nudging into my dive buddy ... and wouldn't realize I'd changed course till I looked at the compass.

Time to call the doc ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

I think Larry did a good job explaining the vertigo issue.

What I would like to know is why did you heart rate and breathing rate increase so much? I've had vertigo of both the caloric and alternobaric flavors and it didn't affect my heart rate or respiratory rate. Also didn't have a headache afterwards. I think hat issue deserves some investigation also.

 

[opiniongirl]

If you start hearing voices telling you to do very bad things you might want to mention that too.

....hope all is ok...keep us posted....it's no fun being an armchair diver..

 

[wolf eel]

I am no Doctor.
I had this happen ounce from a 120' pen dive. I thought for sure I was going to pass out and started to the surface exhaling the whole way to clear off as I hit the bottom of the net. I was completley going the wrong way. It was the last pen of 18 for the day. That was over 15yrs ago and have never had it happen again. I too had the ear crack and I did have a stress day. I thought the neck muscle had trapped air in the channel somehow? I have no idea as I am not a doctor nor was there one within a hundred miles in any direction.

 

[Uncle Pug]

I don't know Bob. Maybe do two or three more dives just to be sure of the symptoms before wasting valuable time going to a DOCTOR.

That's the plan for tomorrow.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Hi Bob.
If this bubble (of warmed air) is suddenly dislodged by a change in head attitude, then cold water can rush in to one ear and BINGO...vertigo.

I've had this happen to me....especially when lobstering under rocks. I'm busy minding the bugs, the current and the rocks and then I stick my head in a hole...upside down and I can feel the trapped air in my ear suddenly become exchanged for water. If that water would be cold then I'm sure it could trigger vertigo....except I dive in FLORIDA! and WE DON"T GET NO STINKING COLD WATER HERE! Well, not very cold.

The crackling in the ear?...probably something unrelated to your vertigo...unless you had just enough fluid in the middle ear to trap and then release some air...reverse block...alternobaric vertigo...But here we go again.

Why the headache following the dive...donno. May be unrelated to your other problems. You may also have altered the way your were breating when stressed...short shallow breaths that didn't remove the CO2 properly...eventhough you were breathing more volume of air.

You might still want to see the ENT to check on the middle ear. Perhaps you do have some fluid in one ear affecting balance and orientation. Hey! What's wrong with swimming in arcs (circles)?

Glad everything turned out OK.

Larry Stein

Thanks Larry ... that sounds very plausible, thinking back on the situation.

The headache? Dunno ... I'm certain my breathing pattern changed for a good couple minutes ... coming up from a long, deep dive and suddenly not being able to tell which way was up did tend to stress me out a bit. On the other hand, it was bloody cold that night ... could've just been "ice cream headache" when the hood came off.

Anyway, did a nice 62-minute dive tonight, symptom-free. Got three dives planned for tomorrow. I should know after then if this was just a passing thing.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[BILLB]

Thanks for the good doctor for clearing up my misconcepttions (way back at the beginning of this post).

I too have had more problems with vertigo on reefs than any where else. I see something, shoot down and then back up and over the reef to something else then bingo. I get dizzy.

I primarily dive in cold water (40's most of the time) and rarely experience vertigo except when chasing students. This I attribute to rapid pressure changes especially ascending. My ascents have always been slower than the average diver. I do get the "whoose" sound when my ears finally equalize on ascent at times.

 

[flytmedic]

I had a very similar experience at 100'. I first got very anxious, very near panic, (odd for me) i had to talk myself out of bolting...(i know, i know). I attibuted it to maybe a bad narc. On the way up i saw the ascent line, waving to a fro inthe waves, and got crazy vertigo. It was all i could do to stay under water. I got really nausiated, but finished my stop and stay well withing limits. by the time i was at shore i was fine. I never did find a conclusive opinion as to the cause.

 

[Table6A]

What was the water temp? When did you start to have the headache? When did it pass? Where did you get your tanks filled and did your buddies have any problems? Just curious...

 

[babar]

BTW Table6A

You don't do 6a's, do you? I have yet to do one. Just wondering.

babar

 

[Saturation]

Had an interesting experience during a night dive last evening ... and would like to get some opinions about what some others think might have caused it.

We were doing a relatively deep dive ... max 106 fsw, average 64. I was wearing my doubles kit ... my 10th dive in doubles, and only the second since September. I'm still learning how to use them, and as a result have to work harder to maintain proper trim. Last night's SAC was about 30% higher than I typically have for this dive profile when using singles.

About 45 minutes into the dive, having come up to a depth of about 30 fsw, I was watching a seal zipping through the remains of an old boat when suddenly the world started spinning ... vertigo! I couldn't tell up from down. My pulse started racing, and my breathing pattern shot thru the roof ... I really had to concentrate just to hold my position and try to slow my breathing down. After a few seconds I was able to focus enough to get one of my buddies' attention (we were diving as a team of 3) and signal that I had a problem and wanted to surface. I made my way to a nearby piling that I knew stuck up almost to the surface ... and by the time I got there my buddies were on either side of me. As soon as I focused on the piling I started feeling more normal. I signaled I was OK, but wanted to ascend. We ascended slowly, did our normal safety stop and surfaced.

After the dive I noticed two things ... I had a CO2 headache, and my ears were crackling.

Could I have suffered CO2 overload from having to work harder than normal for 45 minutes? Or was it perhaps something to do with the ears?

With a bit over 1,100 dives under my weight belt, this is the first time anything like this has happened to me ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

I concur with Larry Stein's assessment, and the description and resolution of the vertigo makes me think this is very likely a caloric or alternobaric vertigo.

I have actually given myself caloric vertigo in water in order to feel its effects, and how I would manage it. In cold water, 30-40F, Simply block one ear with a finger, and open another ear to ambient water, or force water into one ear by pumping that ear with a finger but pull back far enough to let the canal fill with ambient water. If your ears are clean [impacted wax will insulate your ear against temperature changes for a tad], once your ears detect the difference between free circulating 30-40F water and one that is covered, the vertigo will start.

Rapid treatment consists of removing a hood and forcing cold water into _both_ ears to equalize the temperature.

In long cold dives, muscle contractions from cold can include the Eustachian tubes, if not blocked by a developing infection. A slight difference in equalization will cause alternobaric vertigo and resolves once the pressure is equalized.

Rapid treatment consists of descending a tad to reduce the pressure gradient, and consciously equalizing before ascent. Since a reverse block can cause a more persistent alternobaric vertigo, the descent will buy the diver more time to regain more orientation.