panic attack followed by headache that doesn't want to go away

[PRL]

Any possible deficiencies in your diet? Low potassium, magnesium, or vitamin D, might cause those symptoms under any exertion. A headache lasting more than 24 hours with good sleep is troubling.
Might be time for your annual checkup. Blood work should show any deficiencies.
From the way you are writing about this, this does not sound like a panic attack. Are you sure you were not in light shock?

[bullfroger]

I really think you need a medical evaluation. These events happened so shallow I don't think the are related to your gear.

[leoconnor]

The point you are making here is that the cracking pressure is something that can be adjusted once you're in the water, right? I have 2 mouthpieces: one with and one without an adjustment. I was told that the one with the adjustment is my back-up one.
.

Can you provide more clarification on this statement please? Not sure I am understanding correctly. Do you have 2 different regulator sets? Or is it possible that you were breathing from octo? Sorry if I misread.

[ScubaSeaMonkey]

I know this thread is a few weeks stale, but Limoges Diver, did you ever find out the cause of your problems? You mentioned low blood sugar in a couple of your posts? Do you have diabetes or are you hypoglycemic? Do you have a blood sugar testing kit or are you just assuming low blood sugar because of the way you feel sometimes? As others have already stated, you should probably get a full blood workup done or perhaps an mri to look for nerve/muscle problems.

[Hatul]

I had two incidents last week (it's Sunday morning of labour Day Weekend as I'm writing this):
....
On Friday, I decided to do a shore dive on a lake (i.e. no current). I knew the waters pretty well, and I made sure I was well-fed, well-hydrated, and that my gear was working well(checked regulator pressure (low pressure was 140 psig as per the manufacturer's instructions). I inflate my wing, and use my snorkel as I'm sw...he swam out to me, and helped me back to shore. By the time I got on sore, I had a pounding headache and my neck muscles on he back of my neck hurt real bad. I felt almost nauseous , very week (BTW, I had not over-exerted myself - I run, hike, etc... a lot more than what energy I expended then - I was doing very relaxed dive), but the main thing was this splitting head ache that hurt with every beat of my heart.
That headache and neck pain started at 4:30 ish when I had the panic attack, and got a bit better once I got back to camp. All day Saturday I still had the headache and neck pain (ibuprofen is helping a bit, but not much). If I was to chart t pain levels with 10/10 being 4:30 Friday, by Saturday morning it was about 7.5/10, and this morning 9:00 AM Sunday it's about a 5.5/10

Any ideas why I have this headache and neck pain? As it's the long weekend, i won't be able to see a specialist for a couple days, and I don't trust the emergency room doctors (that got stuck with the Labour Day Weekend ****) at the local hospital (I'm back at home in the middle of farmland) to know anything about diving accidents.

My main confusion centres around the fact that I was only at 10 feet and only 10 minutes underwater and not under physical exertion. Also, I knew my regulator was OK since I had used it on multiple dives a couple weeks prior, and checked the delivery pressure - I also made sure the valve was open all the was by taking deep breaths ad checking for the pressure gauge to make sure it didn't go down (indicating a problem with the regulator or a partially-open valve).

Thanks.

I got a headache just reading your post.

[RonFrank]

My bet is that it has nothing to do with diving and that is likely confirmed by now. You don't get a 3 day headache from diving to 10' for 10 minutes. Maybe the OP will fill us in, or not.

[blackvans1234]

Could you be a diabetic?

I do not believe there is a correlation between c02 retention and headaches specifically in diabetics, but you never know.
The body is a weird thing, you never really know.


Edit- How about hypertension?

I know you're 48, but other than that I have no idea what kind of shape you're in.
High blood pressure could be exacerbated by diving, which could lead to the headache, and then after diving, your pressure may not drop (because now you're stressed about the headache IE- keeping your bp up by being stressed, which lets the headache continue)

Keep in mind that Hypertension is not solely caused by being obese, or even overweight. Plaque buildup in the arteries (which starts in the late teens!) can slowly build up over the years, and then becomes a problem.

I would go to your normal Dr. and have a physical, aren't you getting pretty close to the big nifty 50 prostate checkup?

:mooner:


Seriously though, prostate cancer kills. By the time most men have symptoms, it has already spread

[Limoges Diver]

Can you provide more clarification on this statement please? Not sure I am understanding correctly. Do you have 2 different regulator sets? Or is it possible that you were breathing from octo? Sorry if I misread.

Sorry: back-up = octo.

[Limoges Diver]

Could you be a diabetic?

I do not believe there is a correlation between c02 retention and headaches specifically in diabetics, but you never know.
The body is a weird thing, you never really know.


Edit- How about hypertension?

I know you're 48, but other than that I have no idea what kind of shape you're in.
High blood pressure could be exacerbated by diving, which could lead to the headache, and then after diving, your pressure may not drop (because now you're stressed about the headache IE- keeping your bp up by being stressed, which lets the headache continue)

Keep in mind that Hypertension is not solely caused by being obese, or even overweight. Plaque buildup in the arteries (which starts in the late teens!) can slowly build up over the years, and then becomes a problem.

I would go to your normal Dr. and have a physical, aren't you getting pretty close to the big nifty 50 prostate checkup?

:mooner:


Seriously though, prostate cancer kills. By the time most men have symptoms, it has already spread

My bet is that it has nothing to do with diving and that is likely confirmed by now. You don't get a 3 day headache from diving to 10' for 10 minutes. Maybe the OP will fill us in, or not.

I know this thread is a few weeks stale, but Limoges Diver, did you ever find out the cause of your problems? You mentioned low blood sugar in a couple of your posts? Do you have diabetes or are you hypoglycemic? Do you have a blood sugar testing kit or are you just assuming low blood sugar because of the way you feel sometimes? As others have already stated, you should probably get a full blood workup done or perhaps an mri to look for nerve/muscle problems.

It went away eventually - about a week or more. I have not seen the doctor on this, but I will this month before going diving again in April. I have not been diving since this episode, and look forward to diving again.

I want to thank all of you for your replies, and I'm sorry I didn't reply sooner: my e-mail notification was off, and I entered the busy season for my work: September to December.

[TONY CHANEY]

Just from the point of view of a Respiratory therapist also assigned to Code Blue, Code Chest pain, Code Trauma and Code Stroke teams. It's IMHO not a CO2 hit. Increased ventilation (hugh deep breaths or rapid breathing) blows off CO2. This is why free divers use to hyperventilate prior to diving. They would blow off as much CO2 so the drive to breath is diminished. Again IMHO, the best answer seems to be hypertension. And if it is, and trust me on this, you need to get it under control ASAP. Look up stroke via Google or other means and you will see almost always a headache which is the worst the patient has ever had as well as it lasting for days as well as all the other symtoms you described. Or it could be, related again to hypertension, and what I thing is TIA. Please check out the following link. TIA (Transient Ischemic Attack) I am not a doctor and am not trying to give medical advice but I feel that you really need to get this checked out. If it is, then can be controlled with medication. I wish you well.