Getting narced

[emttim]

I would like to jump all over Diver 85 as well. Is there a signup sheet or waitlist? It's for a party of three.

 

[Sas]

Narcosis affects everyone, Diver_85, whether they recognise it or not.

Anyway, I have been noticably narced a few times, usually kicking in at 32m (water temp at the time was 13-14C). First time I thought I was drowning and started to gasp for air, but just told myself to stop and think about the situation and I quickly realised that it was just me feeling odd from the narcosis. After that I was very euphoric and felt that way the next time I went below 32m too. Also the one time I went to 40m I felt like I was there for about 15mins when in fact it was more like 5min. Apparently I was checking my gauges every minute but to me it felt like longer in between! As you start the ascent, there is a definite switch from being narced back to feeling normal, in my experience. My buddy and I have come up with signs for being badly narced so we can ascend a bit if one of us is not feeling so good.

However, at depths just a bit shallower than 30m, I think at times I have been slightly narced, but just have not noticed it at the time. Like some times things just seem a bit fuzzy when I get back to the surface and think about the dive. Also I had a big wake up call with how narcosis can cause major stuff ups when I was at 28m and had to turn my buddy's tank valve back on. This is something I have done so many times but I turned it the wrong way at depth, my mind was a bit muddied so I believe I was narced even though I didn't feel it... everything was cool in the end though as I put him on my air and fixed it up very quick. (Before anybody flames me for this - already had one guy do so when I mentioned it on another thread - I am a new diver and I learned a lot from this incident so don't need telling off as I already know what I did wrong! Thanks ).

 

[Puffer Fish]

... edited by Almitywife.....

I know you are going to resist that urge to do that, even though his statement is a bit over the top...even he deserves to be treated with respect here...

 

[Darnold9999]

Personally never noticed the effects until I started doing something underwater that I had difficulty doing on the surface. Bought a new camera that has a significant learning curve. Thought I had it figured out on the surface, took it to 100 feet and while I did eventually figure out what I wanted to do it was a mental struggle and there is no way I had the same struggle on the surface.

The problem isn't when you are doing something well into your comfort zone it is when you are on the edge of your skill level - no matter what that is. Similar to drinking - everything goes well you don't notice the couple of beers, but in a close call your skills are impaired - no matter what those skills are.

 

[ucfdiver]

I dove to 140+ft once. My light signals were responsive and quick. My bouyancy and trim were as they always were. I turned the dive at EXACTLY turn pressure. I thought to myself "Man, I TOLD you I'm not susceptible to narcosis!".

Then my dive buddy pointed to the side to tell me to go over towards the side on the way back.....I shook his hand.

I was narc'ed and did not know it. That was my first extremely deep air dive, and my last. Had an emergency situation arose, there's a strong chance I'd still be having guilt trips for not being able to save my buddy, my FIRST AND FOREMOST RESPONSIBILITY DURING ANY DIVE! Helium and the training to use it isn't cheap, but I'd rather spend $1000 on training and $100 on gas for a dive than know that I couldn't save my buddy when he needed me.

Please don't fool yourself. Narcosis is someting EVERYONE is susceptible to. Being oblivious to it is perhaps even more dangerous.

 

[SlowRain]

Totally agree with the viewpoints around the unpredictability of being affected. In some respects it is much like alcohol consumption. There are exhaustive test programs that have shown that reactions are affected to some degree, even after one drink. Further that "just one" does not have the same effect on one person as it does another.

Narcosis is much the same...however the effects can differ on the same person one dive to the next. I am pretty leery of anyone who claims to have been below 140 and "not affected". I would submit you might have been effected less than perhaps the next guy, but totally not effected? Have a tough time with that one.

Someone asked about what you feel? Again...that is not a set of universal constants. The true danger is that you might not "feel" anything at all but your mental processing speed slows and narrows. This isn't like passing a certain depth and then all of a sudden have fish start talking to you, further what happened (or didn't happen) one dive could be different on the next.

Personally if it is below 140, I am going from EAN to trimix. Yes, it is expensive, but the results in my mind are worth the price and I might go Tmx sooner depending on what the dive is and the complexity involved...i.e. going in a wreck, etc.

 

[Theunis]

The first time I became aware of the dangerous effects of narcosis was a few years ago when I was diving on the Protea Banks, SA, for the first time. (This was not my first dive, only my first dive on the Protea Banks). I have never dove with nitrox and this was an air dive. We were at approximately 38 m (125 feet) and had purposely a very fast descent due to strong currents.

Suddenly I was experiencing extreme vertigo, exhaustion and paranoia. It (narcosis) has hit me without any warning like a ton of bricks. I felt as if I was about to blackout and drown and I was starting to panic. It took a lot of concentration and mental power to calm myself and to really understand what was happening to me. After realising that I was suffering from narcosis I did the counter procedure by ascending a few meters.

I've mentioned my narc experience to the DM after the dive and his advice was to control my breathing, descent feet first and most importantly concentrate. I must say his advice is working for me. My experience is that I normally suffers from narcosis when I haven't dove for a few months and then doing a deep first dive. During the next deep dives from the second day I tend to be fine and I don't feel the effects of narcosis.

Narcosis is one of the most dangerous conditions ANY diver may experience. Remember the severity of narcosis is unpredictable, you may feel a bit euphoric or drunk or you may suffer extreme narcosis with deadly consequences. But I do believe that an experience diver can deal with narcosis. If a diver dives deep such a diver must expect narcosis and be aware of the effects. If you don't get narcosis, good for you, but if you do get narced be prepared to deal with it!

 

[DandyDon]

Oh and id also add anyone who claims they have never been narced is either lying or just hasn't realised. Its a gradual degradation of mental processes and often invisible to the person suffering.

Whatever Narcosis actually is, it seems to start as soon as one submerges and simply increases with depth, often noticeable around 100 ft+whatever. It's probly part of the euphoric feeling some of us enjoy and/or anxiety some feel. I've never felt much from it other than an increasingly nice buzz, albeit a subtle one.

You're probably that guy that says, "I'm not drunk, give me my keys." Got news for you, it happens to everyone at depth. Much like alcohol, each person (mind & body) responds differently to it. Some may start to take their clothes and get wild, others may quiet and lazy. Either way your reaction time and judgment is impaired in some way, shape or form.

Some similarities between Narcosis and the mental effects of alcohol I think. I used to drink too much, became experienced at handling actions to an extent under significant influence, false feelings of sobriety, etc - and while this history may make it easier for me to accept the feelings of Narcosis, it may also make me less likely to accept the dangers.

Today I'm a real light drinker, but had 5 beers at dinner one night in Mexico this month and "didn't feel a thing," or really just didn't notice a change even tho it's a rare action for me now. The same weeks I dived to 139 ffw and didn't feel a change. While Narcosis can affect the same diver differently at different times, I seem to just enjoy it with too much acceptance and comfort - trying to remind myself that I must be messed up if I am that deep.

I would like to jump all over Diver 85 as well. Is there a signup sheet or waitlist? It's for a party of three.

He's got so many more dives than I, I'd be hesitant to jump him. He's simply comfortable with the feelings and his dive experiences have helped with that comfort I'm sure.

I used to say I was fine to at least 130'. Then I started to take a camera with me and tried to calculate F-stops.

You get used to the Narc and become more effective or learn work arounds just like a drunk can learn to seem sober with a 6-pack or 1/2 pint in them.

Yep.

 

[ianr33]

You may never narc out---even @ 200......This is not a predictable thing, btw I have never narc'ed, been to 175 and over 100 MANY times.....Saying that, I may narc the next 20 times over 100, who knows..

Depends what you mean by narced does it not ?

I have done lots of 150'ish dives on air (and a 200 foot bounce) have never been narced in the giving my reg to the fish/dont know which way is up type of way but I know i'm not 100% at those depths.

As an example: 150 feet in Cayman. Buddy gives me his long hose (He wanted an opinion on how the reg was breathing) I immediately gave him my long hose!
The thought process was along the lines of "something odd here,dont understand,donate reg just in case" I doubt I would have done the same thing at 20 feet.

 

[Blackwood]

Whatever Narcosis actually is, it seems to start as soon as one submerges and simply increases with depth, often noticeable around 100 ft+whatever. It's probly part of the euphoric feeling some of us enjoy and/or anxiety some feel. I've never felt much from it other than an increasingly nice buzz, albeit a subtle one.

I've never... felt anything. But I've been narced, and I knew it.

My narc experience is like one of the things Saspotato mentioned. I check my gauges all the g-d time. Over and over again. And I have trouble remembering from one check to the next. "Look, 120 ft." Ten seconds later, "I wonder how deep I am. Oh, 120." "How much gas do I have? Oh, 2800PSI. That's good." Fifteen seconds later, "Wait what? I'm at 2800 feet? That's certainly not good."

Contrasted with my normal (non-narced) experience in which I can generally relate to reasonable accuracy how deep I was and much gas I had at any given moment during the debrief. I've had instructors drill that level of awareness into me by asking things like "what time did we hit the cinder block, and how much gas did you have" an hour after the dive. Narced? Not a chance in hell I could do that.

My other experience is lack of navigational skills. On a checkout dive for the IANTD "Deep Diver" course, we came up in mid water. At about 90 feet (yes, I was narced at 90) with the bottom at 110 and viz somewhere in the ballpark of 5-10, I was told to swim due east (i.e. back to depth). Apparently, I kept heading south. Go figure.