Narcosis

[boulderjohn]

The test I like to use in AOW is to give the student a letter of the alphabet and ask for the five letters before it in reverse order. Since everyone can do it but no one ever does, it is not dependent upon an individual's normal skills, as math is. (A CPA might nail addition problems at any depth, whereas a person who rarely uses math may flounder at any depth.)

 

[SailNaked]

I like the video of the guys in the chamber filling out a form with their information on it, and then doing a simple childs puzzle, some had very few symptoms till later some early but they all eventually just start shaking unable to think or do anything.

for me it is my memory that goes first, makes for great diving at depth, no thoughts of the real world just fishes and water.

 

[JDostal]

I actually got to do a recreational chamber ride down in Chicago with a group of friends. I think there were 9 of us in the chamber (it was huge). They pressurized to 165 feet if I recall and let us hang out there for 10 minutes. It was a blast. My father in law (also a diver) was rummaging through the medical supplies blowing up rubber gloves and bouncing them around. The air density made everyone talk funny. My stomach hurt for a few days I was laughing so hard.

 

[Ardy]

I had a really bad narcosis like experience about 15 years ago. I helped my outlaws paint their ceiling before going on a dive in Foster NSW Aust. I finished the ceiling jumped in the car and in about 3/4 hr I was in the water. We decended to 33m and then followed a line along the bottom.

I started to fixate on pebbles and forgot about my buddies ahead, couldn't take my eyes off the pebbles or move on. Then it got worse and I couldn't keep my reg in my mouth. I was feeling totally remote from the real world and started to think I was on dry land. I held the reg in my mouth with one hand and slowly followed the line back with the other to the anchor rope, then started to ascend. At 20m it was all gone and reality returned. I exited the water with a lot of relief.

I think I could have died down there. Think I was lucky there was a line to follow, not sure I could have done a free water ascent.

 

[joe27march]

Got it don't paint then dive.

Really I have never heard of "dark narc" until now. The guys I know just call it narc'd.

 

[DennisW]

As it has been said before, I just have to say it again. If you dive, you experience the effects of Nitrogen Narcosis. You may not know it, but you do.

So, having said that, I have had a few instances where I knew I was narc'd, but most where I did not feel the effects. I have had hallucinations and that was a very interesting experience that scared the bejeezus out of my instructor. Both he and I should have known better than to have me in that position so early in my diving career. But, we were younger and inexperienced. I think we both know better now. It is a good thing it turned out ok.

I have had the really paranoid feeling and also where I felt I was having a hard time breathing. An ascent helped both situations and after I felt better, I descended again and continued the dive. However, if you don't feel comfortable continuing a dive after ascending, then call the dive then and there. I think the one where I felt like I had a hard time breathing could have been a combination of Nitrogen Narcosis and CO2 build up. I also felt like my wet suit was too tight. On that dive my buddy unzipped my jacket and I felt better. Who knows what made me feel bad, could have been one or all 3 of those things.

In any case, pay attention to how you feel and never, never hesitate to call a dive. That way, maybe you will be diving for over 20 years, too.

 

[Flogenburner]

I've found the best way to tell if you were narced on a dive is to dive it with nitrox and see if you feel different. I know that it made a world of difference for me, and it was only EAN28.

 

[boulderjohn]

I've found the best way to tell if you were narced on a dive is to dive it with nitrox and see if you feel different. I know that it made a world of difference for me, and it was only EAN28.

You may have felt different, but it should not have had anything to do with the nitrox. Nitrogen is not the only gas that has a narcotic effect. All gases have that effect to some degree, including oxygen. In fact, oxygen's narcotic effect is roughly the same as nitrogen's, so there really should not be much difference between diving nitrox and diving air in terms of narcosis.

If you want to get rid of the narcotic effect, you have to go to a gas mixture that replaces the nitrogen (and some oxygen as well) with a gas with a very low narcotic effect, and the one that deep divers use for this purpose is helium.

 

[bamamedic]

I've found the best way to tell if you were narced on a dive is to dive it with nitrox and see if you feel different. I know that it made a world of difference for me, and it was only EAN28.

Didn't make a darn bit of difference to me. I was fairly narced on a dive to 130' while breathing nitrox, but had done a very similar dive on air a few weeks prior with no perceptible narcosis. I think that there's been studies done that show oxygen is as narcotic (if not more) than nitrogen.

What does make a difference for me is whether I have a visual reference (a wall or a line - I always feel more "in control" if I'm next to a wall) and whether it's dark or light down there (I "feel" less narced when it's light). I've had paranoid narcs (where I'm constantly looking for my partner, checking and rechecking my SPG, etc, etc) and euphoric narcs (where I'm giggling so much that I flood my mask LOL), and I infinitely prefer the paranoid narcs, 'cause at least I know I'm checking on my partner and paying attention to my gas supply.

 

[DennisW]

Nitrox does not keep you from the affects of Nitrogen Narcosis.