panic attack after 300 dives

[valeska]

Hi. I'm new at Scuba Board. My husband is always on it but for the first time, he hasn't been on Scuba Board to ask you guys out there why this happened to him. Day before last we went diving. My husband uses force fins. The ones the Russian navy supposedly use that are great under water and lousy above water. We did a boat entry and we were going to do a line descent at a very deep site but as he entered the water the strong current took him to the back of the outrigger so he had to swim vigorously to get to the line. He said that he should have done a negative entry cause his fins are useless above water. Anyway, he was tired by the time he got like 10 meters down the line then for the first time in 3 yrs after around 350 dives a panic attack. He said he felt he couldn't breathe and he just felt like removing his mask and shooting up to the surface. The current under was not strong unlike in the surface. You could not see the bottom though and we knew this particular dive site was difficult to find and that the currents could be fierce. My husband signaled our dive master that he was going back up to the boat which he did. He has no history of panic attacks, but his sister does. Is this something medical or genetic? Does this happen to logical people for no apparent reason?

We had to abort the dive cause our line got off. We tried again but again the line got off. So we just did another dive site.When the currents tapperred down we finally got to do that dive. AFter that we did our 3rd dive. In a way I thought my husband was kidding when he said he got a panic attack. I thought he aborted the first dive because he got tired from finning when the current above swept him away. It was only after our third dive that when he said that he felt like taking his mask off that I realized he was serious. Help!!! Does this really happen for no apparent reason?

Valeska

 

[carrielsal]

It is possible that your husband was suffering from CO2 retention. Increased exercise at depth is one of the many things that can cause this. Some symptoms of CO2 retention can include shortness of breath, headache, increased heart rate; all which can contribute to the feeling of panic.

 

[lowviz]

.............We did a boat entry and we were going to do a line descent at a very deep site but as he entered the water the strong current took him to the back of the outrigger so he had to swim vigorously to get to the line. ............... You could not see the bottom though and we knew this particular dive site was difficult to find and that the currents could be fierce. ....................We had to abort the dive cause our line got off. We tried again but again the line got off. .................When the currents tapperred down we finally got to do that dive...............Does this really happen for no apparent reason?

Valeska

I'm totally missing the "no apparent reason" part. Panic is the primitive part of your brain's way of thumbing the dive when the frontal lobe doesn't seem to be working...

You should sense a growing level of concern as conditions continue to get out of control. What you are up to on any given day can be quite variable.

 

[keithdiver]

It is possible that your husband was suffering from CO2 retention. Increased exercise at depth is one of the many things that can cause this. Some symptoms of CO2 retention can include shortness of breath, headache, increased heart rate; all which can contribute to the feeling of panic.

I have had the same thing happen to me .:shocked2:

 

[David_57]

This is not unusual I have experienced something similar my self when swimming in strong current to the down line, for me I was out of breath when I went under felt like the reg was not delivering enough air so went back up hung on the the buoy removed my reg tried to relax the went back down to about 10 or 15ft rested for a minute or so and was able to continue the dive, I know a couple others aborted the dive because of they were out of breath, this was my fourth dive in a couple of years on this wreck about my 250th dive. Like I said not a problem when on or close to the surface but a big problem when at depth, this is why you have to monitor your workload especially when finning against current if you feel you are breathing a little to hard take a rest hold onto a rock and chill out, although most quality regs are quite capable of delivering enough air if you over exert yourself and get into a heavy labored breathing situation you have a feeling that you are not getting enough and this can trigger a panic response to head for the surface where there's plenty of air. I find it helps to work on my cardio 3 times a week I recoup much faster.

 

[JKPAO]

You have to ask yourself, self am I good to dive?
Answer could be different at depth!
See you topside! john

 

[valeska]

I don't think so cause it was the first dive of the day. But then again maybe you are right cause when he got swept away he did hyperventilate while fighting the current to get to the front of the boat. Gee thanks. Thats a thought.

 

[David_57]

99% sure he panicked because he was out of breath breathing heavy had the feeling the reg was not delivering enough air brain went into flight mode and he headed for the surface IHO.

 

[valeska]

Yeah, maybe my husband was pushing it. For the last 6 months, he has been doing pilates MWF, gym TTH, 18 hole golf on Saturdays and two Sundays a month we dive 3 dives in a day. He is not spring chicken. He is turning 50 very soon.

 

[valeska]

Nice to know he wasn't the only one!