Worst dive so far - Vertigo

[Trace Malinowski]

My problem is I don't drink at all!

 

[chillyinCanada]

Omg!!!

This is much worse than I feared!

Medic! Medic, can we get a medic over to Trace's house, stat. (Bring beer)

 

[Trace Malinowski]

I've had oxtox at a ppO2 of 1.4 ATA on Nitrox32 at 112 feet in strong current. My dive buddies looked like choppily edited video tape and appeared to be skipping ahead. A DAN physician believed these visual disturbances were micro-seizures of the cerebral cortex and I was lucky to have survived. Always analyze gas. Never assume. Despite the fact that there are extreme oxygen exposure tables in Navy diving manuals and such, high ppO2's are nothing to mess around with. Even when you are in the "safe zone" the environment may throw some work at you which doesn't mix well with high ppO2's.

 

[chillyinCanada]

I've had oxtox at a ppO2 of 1.4 ATA on Nitrox32 at 112 feet in strong current. My dive buddies looked like choppily edited video tape and appeared to be skipping ahead. A DAN physician believed these visual disturbances were micro-seizures of the cerebral cortex and I was lucky to have survived. Always analyze gas. Never assume. Despite the fact that there are extreme oxygen exposure tables in Navy diving manuals and such, high ppO2's are nothing to mess around with. Even when you are in the "safe zone" the environment may throw some work at you which doesn't mix well with high ppO2's.

Is this post of yours in the right thread, Trace?

 

[Trace Malinowski]

Yes. Sorry. Badly explained post. The point was that EireDiver wasn't exactly sure what EANx % he was diving. While what he suffered was most likely what we used to call the "twirly bends" back in the day due to ear issues during ascent, COVENTID (convulsions, visual disturbances, ear disturbances, nausea, twitching, irritability, dizziness), tells us that an unknown nitrox mix + one of these symptoms might also be oxtox. So, never guess at what mix you might have. A few feet deeper or a little hard work on an unknown mix and your vertigo might become something far worse.

 

[chillyinCanada]

Ah, I see
Thanks Trace, I'd also been reading the PP02 thread, which is why I'd made the leap.
As you were . . .

 

[CT-Rich]

I had extreme vertigo a couple weeks ago while posting to SB. I was lying in bed and BAM! I felt like I was a kid again on my sister's Sit-N-Spin. I had never encountered anything like it. Lying down was worse than sitting up and sitting up was bad. Lying down was torture. Any time I was seasick or had a fever lying down helped. I kid you not. I was crying. I just wanted it to stop and it lasted for hours. I was puking a lot. I first thought it was an ear thing then I started to worry I was having a stroke or a brain issue. The next day, it was a bit better, but still fairly wonky. I decided that maybe I had the beginnings of an infection and self-medicated with Cipro and ibuprofen. A day or two later I was fine. It was my only week off from diving. Unfortunately, I missed the opportunity to do things like go to the mall and get a cheese pretzel like a normal person, but fortunately, it didn't cause me to cancel classes. This week, I'm back underwater teaching trimix and things sound far louder. My first dive I felt a little wonky.

According to my girlfriend, the above happens to her any time she gets an ear infection. She's never cried though. She's tougher than I.

Hopefully that's all it was an not the first bout of Meniere's.

You may want to have that checked out. Vertigo can be a symptom of some pretty serious conditions. That was what caused my brother in law to find out he had a brain tumor.

 

[Trace Malinowski]

You may want to have that checked out. Vertigo can be a symptom of some pretty serious conditions. That was what caused my brother in law to find out he had a brain tumor.

"It's not a tumor." (said with an Arnold Schwarzenegger imitative voice)

 

[EireDiver606]

I'm a bit confused as to how assuming you were breathing 40% (although knowing it was less...) was "safe".

I agree it was definitely a flaw that’s why I said it was bad. I would have never got anywhere to my NDLs anyway.

[/QUOTE]As others have posted here, always analyze. If you don't, you're rolling the dice and the stakes are very high. People have died due to assumptions of the gas they're breathing.[/QUOTE]
100% correct. I agree completely.

 

[EireDiver606]

I had extreme vertigo a couple weeks ago while posting to SB. I was lying in bed and BAM! I felt like I was a kid again on my sister's Sit-N-Spin. I had never encountered anything like it. Lying down was worse than sitting up and sitting up was bad. Lying down was torture. Any time I was seasick or had a fever lying down helped. I kid you not. I was crying. I just wanted it to stop and it lasted for hours. I was puking a lot. I first thought it was an ear thing then I started to worry I was having a stroke or a brain issue. The next day, it was a bit better, but still fairly wonky. I decided that maybe I had the beginnings of an infection and self-medicated with Cipro and ibuprofen. A day or two later I was fine. It was my only week off from diving. Unfortunately, I missed the opportunity to do things like go to the mall and get a cheese pretzel like a normal person, but fortunately, it didn't cause me to cancel classes. This week, I'm back underwater teaching trimix and things sound far louder. My first dive I felt a little wonky.

According to my girlfriend, the above happens to her any time she gets an ear infection. She's never cried though. She's tougher than I.

Hopefully that's all it was an not the first bout of Meniere's.

Man that sounds real bad. At least mine, although underwater in darkness, only lasted 2-3 mins.
I got a lot of ear infections as a young child and maybe that is related to vertigo. This is the first time I got vertigo though.