Panic Attack

[rachelscott51]

I, too, have had a couple of panic issues. Once it was that the group I was diving with was swimming much faster than me and got out of sight (shame on them). I was short on breath (from trying to keep up) and I got panicky. But, I was able to slow my breathing down, and finally surfaced slowly. The others finally did as well and we could continue the dive, though they slowed down a bit. I've also had a little trouble with long surface swims in cold water (as my wetsuit and hood were tight) and have to rest before going down because of panic-type feelings. However, I've found that when I'm frequently practicing yoga and concentrating on my breathing during my practice there, I do much better. Also, my dive buddy is completely apprised of my sometimes apprehension so we can deal with it together.

 

[Kestrell]

Sounds crazy but I've seen this type of response induced by too much caffeine in the system. We now have a personal rule - no caffeine before diving. It seems to help.

I have heard of Sudafed (or its equivalent) also causing this type of problem too.

Did you take anything pre-dive?

 

[Kestrell]

I have heard of Sudafed (or its equivalent) also causing this type of problem too.

Did you take anything pre-dive?

Just read your other post where you said you took an antipiotic.

While you could have just paniced, it is also possible that you had a reaction to the meddicine. Drug companies obviously don't test their drugs at depth, so there is no telling what effect a drug will have on you when diving.

While I don't know anything about the particular drug you took, there seems to be some pretty credible reports of Sudafed causing some problems with some divers.