Experience nitrogen narcosis (?) around 25ft twice but no such feeling at deeper depth

[CoffeeMoffee]

Hi divers,
I'm still a new diver with 33 dives recorded. Half of the dives are weekend fun dives in cold water (Monterey, CA), and another half dives are tropical dives in Florida and Hawaii. I have dove in depths ranges from 30ft to 100ft. The max depth was 102ft with Nitrox in Hawaii.

So I noticed that I have the feeling of slightly getting drunk two times at around 20-30ft depth. The first time was a shallow dive in 80F tropical water, happened after diving for about 20min; The second time was a dive in 55F cold water, happened after diving for about 10min. Both used air. The symphony lasts about 5sec, then backed to normal and I can continue to dive (to a deeper depth). When it happens, I still can read my watch, but I obviously have this strange feeling for awhile, like floating in the space.

It's strange because I never had such feeling at deeper depth. I'm not sure if what I experienced was nitrogen narcosis or something else. Anyone has similar experience?

 

[MidOH]

Go easy on equalizing your ears.

And never ever, go underwater in the hotel pool. Especially if you had any ear issues.

 

[Cthippo]

Second that it may be an equalization issue. I have gotten that a couple times while ascending from my safety stop. I will get the spins pretty intensely, but it clears when I surface, so I just enjoy the ride.

 

[Angelo Farina]

Looks like vertigo or other temporary disturbance of your circular channels (an organ responsible of equilibrium and located just behind your ears)..
Typical effect due to equalizing with the crap Valsalva method, or of sudden inflow of cold water in the ear channel while tilting the head.
I had this due to the second cause 2 or 3 times. I do not use Valsalva, but I have seen this happen in divers still using Valsalva.

 

[Capt Jim Wyatt]

Vertigo is my opinion too.

 

[CoffeeMoffee]

Thank you all!! I didn't think about equalization or vertigo before. This is very helpful, and I will pay attention to this. Especially the second time this happened in Monterey dive, I did find it was harder for me to descend on that day for some reason. Eventually I equalized my ears, but it may be related to the drunk feeling.

 

[Divin'Papaw]

I see you're diving in cold water. Here is another possible cause. This sometimes happens to me in cold water when I get cold water under my hood on one side of my head and not the other. If one ear gets exposed to cold water and the other does not ... bammm ... vertigo!! I get it every time that happens. It eventually subsides on its own as the cold water warms under your hood and against your ear, or sometimes I would let a bit of cold water in on the other side. That would typically clear it up right away.