Hypercapnia?
heart beating through my chest at depth,,why??
- Thread starter buleetu
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This happens to some people. Apart from the question of being healthy? If all is cleared. Primarily is an excited and or diving to 18m after a while or so can raise the heart beat as the system is not use to it. The pressure causes the heart rate to rise. Of course there can be other issues. Which in order to determine them you'll require to pass a full examination; recommended by a Diving Physician.
Dive frequently and don't rush to anywhere. Take it slow and your comfortable.
Enjoy your diving and have fun!!!
Dive frequently and don't rush to anywhere. Take it slow and your comfortable.
Enjoy your diving and have fun!!!
Crush
Contributor
Where on earth did you hear that?! Did you just make it up?!
Stoo
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Umm, I don't believe that there is any correlation between pressure and any sort of changes in heart rate... Other than the dive (under pressure) is exciting...
This sounds to me like possibly a case of a little CO2 buildup... A little trepidation, possibly an under-tuned regulator and any number of other factors can cause an increased breathing rate and an increased heart rate.
I'd suggest you make sure your gear, and your fitness level are up to snuff...
And take it easy out there!
Seraphimx
Contributor
I can't say anything about if it's a medical condition or not but it happens to me from time to time being a new diver and sometimes stuck into some pretty though dives.
A dive guide here gave me a good advice. Sometimes it's just the going down and going up that's the problem, not the cruising at depth.
He told me that whenever I feel I'm out of breath or feel panicked or when I can say "I'm not doing well".
Just stop, close you eyes and slow down your breathing for has long as it takes.
Open your eyes and continue.
Seriously, it works for me.
1) My heart accelerate when I was at Lock 21, it's a "sunken" lock and the current is pretty strong, viz was horrible 3 feet max. We had to crawl on our bellies in 15-30ft of water. When I reached the Lock and could grab unto the railings. I noticed my heart was really pumping. I closed my eyes, breathe in breathe out for 1min, opened my eyes and continued the dive, there was horrible condition but I still had fun.
2) Went to a wreck with a lot of current going down but not so much on the wreck. 90% of divers on the boat were mainly tech oriented or serious rec divers. Going down the chain I was told not to fin because I would just exhaust myself. I followed their advise but my heart-rate was really high I could feel it thumping. I spent at least 500psi just going down. Once I got to the desired depth, I closed my eyes and did the same process. Truly a nice dive, I spent almost no air for the depth 70-80ft.
Theses are the two dives on which I have spent the less air in my short dive "career" and they were also some of the hardest/demanding for Air Supply since my SAC rate is crappy.
But surprisingly I spent less air than on all my dives.
Just relax. It'll make diving more enjoyable.
But I know saying it is easier than doing it, try using that trick, maybe it'll help, you never know.
A dive guide here gave me a good advice. Sometimes it's just the going down and going up that's the problem, not the cruising at depth.
He told me that whenever I feel I'm out of breath or feel panicked or when I can say "I'm not doing well".
Just stop, close you eyes and slow down your breathing for has long as it takes.
Open your eyes and continue.
Seriously, it works for me.
1) My heart accelerate when I was at Lock 21, it's a "sunken" lock and the current is pretty strong, viz was horrible 3 feet max. We had to crawl on our bellies in 15-30ft of water. When I reached the Lock and could grab unto the railings. I noticed my heart was really pumping. I closed my eyes, breathe in breathe out for 1min, opened my eyes and continued the dive, there was horrible condition but I still had fun.
2) Went to a wreck with a lot of current going down but not so much on the wreck. 90% of divers on the boat were mainly tech oriented or serious rec divers. Going down the chain I was told not to fin because I would just exhaust myself. I followed their advise but my heart-rate was really high I could feel it thumping. I spent at least 500psi just going down. Once I got to the desired depth, I closed my eyes and did the same process. Truly a nice dive, I spent almost no air for the depth 70-80ft.
Theses are the two dives on which I have spent the less air in my short dive "career" and they were also some of the hardest/demanding for Air Supply since my SAC rate is crappy.
But surprisingly I spent less air than on all my dives.
Just relax. It'll make diving more enjoyable.
But I know saying it is easier than doing it, try using that trick, maybe it'll help, you never know.
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If you didn't take your pulse, we are lacking the biggest piece of information to evaluate the situation, which is how fast your heart was beating.
It is quite possible to become aware of one's pulse when it is only slightly faster than usual. I get tachycardic (fast, pounding pulse) when I'm overheated in my dry suit before diving, and also when I get CO2 loaded when overexerting at depth. It's not pathologic; it's a normal cardiac response to stress. Either CO2 retention or anxiety could have been responsible for your symptoms. They could also have been pathological, but if they only occur when diving and are not reoccurring regularly, I doubt a physician's evaluate of an otherwise healthy 30 year old male will turn up very much.
It is quite possible to become aware of one's pulse when it is only slightly faster than usual. I get tachycardic (fast, pounding pulse) when I'm overheated in my dry suit before diving, and also when I get CO2 loaded when overexerting at depth. It's not pathologic; it's a normal cardiac response to stress. Either CO2 retention or anxiety could have been responsible for your symptoms. They could also have been pathological, but if they only occur when diving and are not reoccurring regularly, I doubt a physician's evaluate of an otherwise healthy 30 year old male will turn up very much.
freewillie
Contributor
Think you just got a little scared looking over the edge.
Just because this is a litigious nation, this is not intended to diagnose or treat any condition, and is intended for educational purposes only.
Not sure how much an EKG or stress test would help in an otherwise healthy 30 yr old unless you had risk factors for heart disease. Risk factors would include significant family history (family with heart attack before age 50) hypertension, diabetes, and smoking. EKG is only helpful if you have prior heart damage from a heart attack otherwise would likely be normal. Stress test only positive if have really bad blocked arteries. If physical stress from diving doesn't produce sx short breath or chest pain not very helpful in someone your age and likely to be normal.
Now, that being said, if you showed up in your doctor's office you probably would get a stress test just to CYA as a doc. Oh, you live in Europe. Sorry, my bad. Doctors there are allowed to use clinical judgement. No wonder health care cost so much in the US.
BTW. No correlation to heart rate with pressure except for the physical exertion of diving. Carotid sinus massage will slow the heart rate down.
Just because this is a litigious nation, this is not intended to diagnose or treat any condition, and is intended for educational purposes only.
Not sure how much an EKG or stress test would help in an otherwise healthy 30 yr old unless you had risk factors for heart disease. Risk factors would include significant family history (family with heart attack before age 50) hypertension, diabetes, and smoking. EKG is only helpful if you have prior heart damage from a heart attack otherwise would likely be normal. Stress test only positive if have really bad blocked arteries. If physical stress from diving doesn't produce sx short breath or chest pain not very helpful in someone your age and likely to be normal.
Now, that being said, if you showed up in your doctor's office you probably would get a stress test just to CYA as a doc. Oh, you live in Europe. Sorry, my bad. Doctors there are allowed to use clinical judgement. No wonder health care cost so much in the US.
BTW. No correlation to heart rate with pressure except for the physical exertion of diving. Carotid sinus massage will slow the heart rate down.
Another possibility is that your heart was compensating for the sudden fluid shift that occurred when you entered the water. Your peripheral blood vessels constrict, which redistributes blood to your core and increases your preload, or the amount of blood that's coming back to the heart from the body. Increased preload can cause the chambers of the heart to stretch a bit more, so to speak. It's completely normal. That's one possible explanation, especially if you were extremely well-hydrated before this dive. I agree with some of the other posters here in that there was probably an anxiety component, along with maybe some CO2 buildup from improper breathing technique. It can't hurt to get checked out, though. Meanwhile, FWIW, stop telling yourself stories under water. All those "what ifs" are in your brain, they're not reality. It's great to mentally rehearse your response to an emergency, but don't let your mind run away with you.
Re the question about heart rate: immersion itself can affect the heart rate. With the peripheral vasoconstriction that occurs, especially in cold water, blood pressure and mean arterial pressure will increase. The heart rate may decrease to compensate for this. We just saw this demonstrated in one of our immersion pulmonary edema test subjects yesterday. Increasing the partial pressure of inspired O2 can produce the same effect, though the cause of the vasoconstriction is different.
Best regards,
DDM
knfmn
Contributor
I'll +1 that. I was doing a dive a couple of weeks ago and had slammed a couple of large iced coffees before getting on the boat. We got down to ~40 ft in depth and my heart felt like it was going to beat out of my chest. I surfaced with my (thankfully understanding) buddy for a few minutes while I calmed down, then descended again and continued the dive. I could still feel my heart beating faster than I liked, but not as badly. Lesson learned....no more coffee before diving.
Kristophe
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