Felt dizzy and like I was going to pass out while on Cozumel dive, what could it be?

[Midu]

I consider myself a healthy person, I am 30 years old, athletic and have no known medical conditions. I was recently in Cozumel and on one of the dives, a regular reef drift dive at approx. 60 ft, on 34% Nitrox, I was suddenly feeling very dizzy and felt like getting black in front of my eyes.

I was fully conscious and aware of what was happening which scared me and I opened my eyes wider to stay conscious and aware of the situation. Then after a few seconds everything was ok again. I did not analyze the Nitrox percentage myself which was stupid and thought maybe there was a mistake in the mixture but the dive wasn't really deep and blacking out is not really a side effect of Oxygen toxicity like convulsions.

Was could that have been? Anyone experienced something similar?

 

[tursiops]

Sounds like severe vertigo.....perhaps caused by your ears not clearing at the same time and the attendant confusion in your inner ear balance system.
Alternobaric Vertigo | Ears & Diving - DAN Health & Diving

MODS: this might better be in the Medical forum.

 

[BRT]

I'd go with swimming too hard and not breathing enough.

 

[Midu]

The vertigo thing sounds a bit like it even though I didn't have any nausea or vomiting at all.I'll repost this at the medical forum.

 

[Jayfarmlaw]

I'm thinking like BRT. Are you skip breathing or shallow breathing (sip breathing) to try and stretch your air? Did you have a headache after the dive?

 

[Dan G]

I've had dizzy spells when one ear was still not fully cleared and the other ear was.

 

[lowflyer]

Don't know for sure what you experienced, but vertigo doesn't necessarily include vomiting. One can experience vertigo or dizziness in diving by too much looking up and down and around. Can be helped by not moving head and concentrating vision on something a ways off.

 

[Midu]

Yeah, I think it was vertigo, at least it sounds like it. In the moment I could not physically control my body meaning that I couldn't consciously figure the situation out. I kind of opened my eyes wide and squinted to get my head and vision back to normal and then it subsided but it was kinda scary. I never had any problems equalizing my ears though, would you notice if one side is not equalized?

 

[Altamira]

I think you should call DAN and go to a doctor, preferably a dive doc, to get an opinion from a trained medical professional. When it comes to your health and possibly your life, I don't think I would depend on advice from divers that are not trained or qualified to give medical advice or diagnoses. Your problem could be one of the suggestions above, but it could also be a lot more serious, and you are not going to find the right answer by listening to people on SB that are just guessing what may have happened to you.

 

[Kevrumbo]

I consider myself a healthy person, I am 30 years old, athletic and have no known medical conditions. I was recently in Cozumel and on one of the dives, a regular reef drift dive at approx. 60 ft, on 34% Nitrox, I was suddenly feeling very dizzy and felt like getting black in front of my eyes.

I was fully conscious and aware of what was happening which scared me and I opened my eyes wider to stay conscious and aware of the situation. Then after a few seconds everything was ok again. I did not analyze the Nitrox percentage myself which was stupid and thought maybe there was a mistake in the mixture but the dive wasn't really deep and blacking out is not really a side effect of Oxygen toxicity like convulsions.

Was could that have been? Anyone experienced something similar?

Fainting and Diving | DIVER magazine