narced

[buleetu]

is it possible to be narced at 22 metres?

i had a surface swim in current right before decending and i was still a little out of breath when i got to 22,
i was freaked out and nearly paniked but i tried to calm my self down and asended to 18m,
was i narced or just scared because i was a little bit out of breath?



thanks guys

 

[almitywife]

maybe you were overworked and needed a few moments to rest?

ive been diving for over 10yrs and i still get narced about 24mtrs. usually i just feel a bit light headed but we did a trip to tasmania about 14mths ago and other divers said i amused them no end by hiding in the kelp and playing like a seal while hubby was trying to get me out of it

 

[Riger]

Buleetu,

Here is an extract from a Wiki section. Link is below.

Narcosis while diving (nitrogen narcosis, inert gas narcosis, raptures of the deep, Martini effect) is a reversible alteration in consciousness that occurs whilst scuba diving at depth. It produces a state similar to alcohol intoxication or nitrous oxide inhalation. It can occur during shallow dives, but usually does not become noticeable until greater depths, beyond 30 metres (100 ft).

Nitrogen narcosis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Hope this helps

Best Regards

Richard

 

[CamG]

Greetings buleetu,
Narcosis can affect different divers at different depths. Not always deep dives bring it on. I have experienced "dark" narcs brought on by C02 build up as well. This sounds like possibly what you experienced. In these situations try to pace yourself and stop to regain breathing control. Usually for me it passes as fast as it came. If conditions are beyond your comfort level / training / experience thumb the dive! It is better to live to dive another day! Do not let others tell you what you can handle be acutely aware of your own skills. There are a lot of threads on narcosis do some searches and read up.
It will help you while dive planning. The greatest advice on narcosis I have heard is that as soon as we go descend below the surface we are narced! That is why we research and train to educate ourselves then apply what we learn. Dive experience is the fruit of this labor and awesome safe dives are a positive outcome as well!
Good luck and do not let this dive set you back just keep learning and training!
Cam G Keep diving....keep training....keep learning!

 

[Garrobo]

I have around 200 dives now in the three years that I have been diving, many of them in the 130+ feet range,and have never noticed being narced. I sometimes wonder if I have been narced and just haven't felt it. Although I am pretty much sobered up now, in my earlier years I was stoned so often on booze or dope and was able to muddle through it without killing myself maybe I am just innoculated from the effects. Maybe I am missing something here.

 

[wedivebc]

Narcosis is something that affects you as soon as you go underwater. At what depth it becomes noticable varies greatly between divers. I seem to have either a great ability to tolerate it or a poor ability to recognize it depending on how you look at it.
Your heavy work surface swim played a huge factor in your relatively shallow narcosis and you were probably retaining large amounts of CO2 when you felt it come on. Sometimes when I feel it come on is when I first decend and I will usually stop for a minute and get my breathing under control and let it pass before I continue. One thing that CO2 produces is a fearful or panicky sensation. This feeling has been termed "dark narc" (I think our own Uncle Pug gets credit for the term) and is a combination of narcosis impairment and an irrational feeling of impending doom brought on by CO2.
Anyway slow down and control your breathing and it will probably not bother you next time.

 

[TSandM]

Your heavy work surface swim played a huge factor in your relatively shallow narcosis and you were probably retaining large amounts of CO2 when you felt it come on.

I totally agree with Dave. The description of being out of breath and feeling panicky is classic for CO2 retention.

I am a real believer that nitrogen begins to fog the brain at shallow depths (the Martini rule), but the effect is usually mild about the 100 fsw or so level. The combination of nitrogen and CO2 (which is also VERY narcotic) clouds thinking and can induce a feeling of panic or dread, which is a bad combination for producing rational responses.

Slow, deep breathing doesn't seem intuitive as a solution, but it is.

 

[WarmWaterDiver]

This is a great discussion thread!

I hadn't heard nor seen the term 'dark narc' before, but this describes what started happening to me a few years ago, that has since vanished after having corrective surgery for PFO. It's certainly right in line with having a 'spillback' of CO2 loaded blood back into the arterial system, then shutting off the spillback / recycle flow.

I have felt some effects of N2 narc but it's usually at 30+ meters before I notice it, and not always consistent. In tests where I've been given several 6 digit numbers to add up on a slate both on the surface and below 20 meters depth, I've had the same amount of time required to perform the task.

 

[buleetu]

thank u to everyone for ur replies

i definatly think it was more of an issue with co2 retention than of nitrogen narcosis, have any of u ever blew up a lylow or a couple of large ballons or something, this makes me dizzy when i do it, i think that this dizziness and my thinking made the situation feel worse than it actually was, in my case my thinking can be very scary when im underwater at times, and if i come to my training depth barrier (padi open water) or the viz is bad perhaps, my head starts to kick in with negitive thoughts of things that go wrong below 18 metres for someone not trained, all my dives since this happened to me have been great,even one i done to 33 metres for 2 or 3 minutes and then back up to 18 metres when we rounded a large block of coral, i wasnt too comfortable at 33 metres but i was only there for a min or 2 and i definatly didnt feel narced at all,but i guess if i was handed a rubix cube or something like that i probably wouldnt have a chance of doing a line of it let alone complete it,

would u think that my level of fitness and the fact that im a smoker has a part to play in my body not being able to eliminate co2 as good as it should or could? or am i simply not breathing it out deeply enough as my instructor suggested to me today??

thanks guys,

please dont flame me for going to 33 metres without doing the advanced open water course, i havent done it since that dive and wont again until im very comfortable in my skills and have the proper training to do it safely, i done this dive with just the 2 of us, my instructor and i,not an insta buddie like im diving with all week and i was very comfortable to do it and with his skills as a guide

 

[Walter]

is it possible to be narced at 22 metres?

Assuming you're breathing air or nitrox and are not in a 1 ATM sub, it's impossible not to be narced at 22 meters.