dsteding
Contributor
Minipinny:My OW instructor once mentioned to my class to drink plenty of wate. It helps to prevent DCS at least. something to think about if you are going to do a deep dive.
I definitely feel narc'd in our cold, dark waters locally at 100 feet. I've even had the "war drums" as shallow as 80 feet. For what it is worth, I think I get more narc'd if I am a bit dehydrated . . . I tend to be good about it, but have started hydrating the night before I am diving and that seems to help. Saturday I was at 105 feet in 48 degree water with 10 feet of vis and felt clear-headed, although I would definitely say I was indeed narc'd.
I also have a theory that the symptoms of narcosis will mimic what you are nervous about, if you are worried about buoyancy (I was on my first deep dive-mine was fine, but I was more aware of it because of the depths) then you'll tend to think your buoyancy is going south on you. Must be the anxieties and the paranoia caused by a dark narc intersecting.
That being said, I think we are all narc'd at depths shallower than we feel symptoms, for me hydration just seems to mitigate the onset of obvious symptoms . . .