Welcome to ScubaBoard, an online scuba diving forum community where you can join over 100,000 divers from around the world discussing all things related to Scuba Diving. To gain full access to ScubaBoard you must register for a free account.
As a registered member you will be able to:
Participate in over 500 dive topic forums and browse from over 3,000,000 posts.
Communicate privately with other divers from around the world.
Post your own photos or view from 80,000 user submitted images.
Gain access to our free classifieds marketplace to buy, sell and trade gear, travel and services.
Use the calendar to organize your events and enroll in other members' events.
All this and much more is available to you absolutely free when you register for an account, so sign up today!
If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact the ScubaBoard Support Team.
Marine Science and PhysiologyPost all medical questions related to decompression or diving here. Questions and discussions about the marine life we love to share the ocean with and how to protect them are also welcome.
Thanks, everyone, for the feedback on the report. It's my hope that some of the information I've shared will help at least one person avoid learning some of the lessons I have the hard way.
I wish to add my thanks for the really informative posting. Thank you for the time it required to write this piece.
Dr Deco
__________________
Michael R. Powell, M.S., Ph.D. "If a man empties his purse into his head, no man can take it away from him. An investment in Knowledge always pays the best Interest." - Benjamin Franklin
Wow, thank you for sharing this. It was very informative....definitely gives you something to thinkn about. Glad you were able to get it worked out, and I hope the diving is as successful once you get to get back in!
__________________
"Worrying about buddies on a full DIR boat is like worrying about where you're going to score weed at Burning Man." -Rainer
Thank you for this report, I hope more divers see it and learn from you about sometimes inexplicable DCS and PFO's and the possible connection
Could not agree more.
And the denial part: I had multiple bouts of vertigo, faint to severe after dives over the years, and put it down to ear barotrauma as I often have equalizing issues. No other DCS symptoms so this made sense to me and one of the ENT's I saw.
Started suspecting a PFO as I periodically got the "aura" thing going, but without migraines. Read a lot on it, and looked like just diving conservatively might be good enough, though I had had the transient vertigo after "within NDL" dives before.
Finally the sudden hearing loss and vertigo got me into a serious series of exams, resulting in getting my PFO closed. So much makes sense now looking back. I think there is a lot of denial of how much risk is increased with a PFO. All PFO's are not equal as BubbleBlocker has described. Mine was a hole that was pretty much open all the time, not just under exertion.
I still think anyone that has had anything suspected to be an undeserved bout of DCS, particularly vertigo, get checked out for a PFO, even though it sounds like some doctors do not want to test for it. Could end up like me, deaf in one ear, with a small stroke from an air embolism probably the cause of it.
__________________
“Stupidity has a certain charm - ignorance does not” - Frank Zappa
Very
I know someone that had a PFO that was a cause of severe DCS after a dive ... bubbling in both sides of the brain and in the spinal column
... If I remember correctly, they used to get some pretty severe headaches before this, not associated with diving
I'm not sure what critera to use, but if anythings fishy, maybe getting tested for one is a smart move
Thanks for the clear and in depth posting of your experience. (Parts of it were all too familiar.)
I'm glad that you are recovering and will be returning to diving.
Thanks - - -
Linear Mode
