Old Air?

[video joe]

After 8 months since my last refill of regular air I dove this past Sunday May 23rd. Yesterday I came down with a cold. Swollen glands in the thoat, sour thoat and basically feel week. What the chance that my old air caused this? The steel tanks we're vis checked in August of 09 and I've been very good with that.

Thanks,

 

[ps1mhd]

Unless your last fill was a bad one NO.
I have done dives with air two to three years old with no trouble.
( I have ten tanks of different sizes)
If you want to be sure have the tank VIZed early that way you
can make sure nothing has gone bad in the tank and get a fresh fill,


Mike

 

[DocVikingo]

Hi video joe,

Given a properly maintained, well sealed cylinder charged with air free of moisture and contaminants, one should be able to safely breath the contents just about forever. However, scheduled VIP and hyro obviously mean periodic refreshing.

Regards,

DocVikingo

 

[ScubaSarus]

Scott

Swollen glands/lymph nodes can be a sign of DCS. Whether they are an early sign or a late sign I don’t know. I’m sure your dive was shallow and conservative but you most likely was wearing a drysuit; and with your camera may have been going up and down in the water column more than usual. You could also have done a fast ascent. Other factors as fatigue and dehydration before the dive could have been at play. This is mostly speculation from reading this link: Safe Diving - Am I Bent?

I'm not sure which lymphnodes are usually affected in DCS.

If I recall, we got our DAN insurance at the same time last year and that was late in the summer so you can call them for further info.
My thought is: this could be an argument for diving Nitrox with an air computer profile providing you keep the dives above 100 ft depending on the Nitrox mix you are using.

I know when we dive Ft Wetherill we usually don't dive the best profile and we do go up and down over boulders a lot.

Please call DAN; as a member, they will be grateful you called them on this.

I think if your air was bad your lungs will be burning or you'd have a nasty headache, nausea with other symptoms. I know your tanks are well maintained and highly doubt bad air.

 

[video joe]

Chris, thanks for the thoughtful reply. As it turns out Race has been sick for the past week and I can remember at least three occasions where he coughed right in my face. Now Ava's got the same symptoms "sour throat and generally weak".

 

[video joe]

Hi DocVikingo,

thanks for taking the time to reply. This is good to know! I'll keep up a good maintenance record.

 

[video joe]

Mike,

thanks for the info on this. I've always wondered if my long winter wait to dive was creating an issue with stale air. Glad to hear it's not anything to worry about. It's probably just one more cold brought home from the kids.

Scott

 

[DocVikingo]

Chris, thanks for the thoughtful reply. As it turns out Race has been sick for the past week and I can remember at least three occasions where he coughed right in my face. Now Ava's got the same symptoms "sour throat and generally weak".

Hi video joe,

It's entirely possible that you all are just passing around some sort of "bug" through mechanisms such as coughing in near proximity to each other. Don't do this, wash hands often, etc.

You also might want to try sanitizing all of the gear that goes into your mouths, e.g., second stage mouth pieces, snorkels, etc., with a product such the following -->
Trident Germicide Mouthpiece & Regulator Sanitizer LP61 with reviews at scuba.com

Regards,

DocVikingo

 

[video joe]

Hi Doc Vikingo,
yes, your probably right! Thanks so much for the suggestions. I'm feeling great now and believe it has passed. I like the germicide idea and plan to get it!

Have a great one!
Scott