banjoman1948
Registered
This is the second time this has happened to me in as many years. I got bends symptoms (aka Decompression Sickness DCS) but didnt really have DCS. Ive been diving steadily for the last seven years and have logged over 135 dives. Im 59 and in very good health.
I was on a boat dive out of Jupiter, FL doing two drift dives in about 90 swf. Before the dives the Dive Master instructed that those of us breathing air should keep our bottom time to 25 minutes.
On my first dive my maximum depth was 91 swf although I kept my nominal depth between 77 and 83 swf. After 25 minutes I started my ascent at a rate under 1 ft every 2 seconds. Keep in mind this was a drift dive, so there was no anchor line to make my ascent on. It was purely finning up and keeping an eye on my depth gauge. At 30 swf I made a safety stop for one minute and a five minute safety stop at 15 swf. My total surface-to-surface time was 38 minutes. I had a 1 hr, 2 min surface interval between dives.
On my second dive my maximum depth was 78 swf keeping a nominal depth between 66 and 75 swf. Again, after 25 minutes I ascended at the same rate making a one minute safety stop at 30 swf and a five minute safety stop at 15 swf. My total surface-to-surface time was 37 minutes.
As I was driving home, I started getting a rash on my chest and abdomen about two hours after the last dive. An hour later I got those headaches that cause part of your vision to get blurred. Needless to say, I thought, Oh s__t! Am I getting the bends? But after a while, both of those symptoms went away. Then I started feeling tingling sensations in small areas of my arms and legs, but there was no joint pain. I was also feeling extremely fatigued. Let me caveat that by saying I had a 3 hour, 15 minute drive each way to Jupiter and had to get up at 4:30AM to make it to the boat.
That night I woke up at 2AM and started getting really scared because I had a 2 hour flight scheduled for 7PM that day and still had some tingling in my bicep and still felt wiped. I tried to reason that my flight was more than 30 hours after my last dive but that didnt help. I called DAN (thank goodness I had DAN!) and relayed my situation. The dive physician on the line believed I didnt have DCS, but suggested I go to the emergency room in the morning.
After spending four hours in ER where they took blood, x-rays, and an MRI of my head, the attending physician who had experience in dive medicine said it didnt look like I had DCS and cleared me for flying that night.
Now my wife, who hates me diving to begin with, went ballistic since this was the second time something like this has happened and strongly recommended I give up diving.
Sorry this is so long, but this forum is a good place to vent and I need some good feedback. I plan to suspend diving for the next month but dont plan on giving it up. I know Ill be paranoid about getting those symptoms again even though I plan to dive conservatively once I get back into it. Has anyone out there had similar situations?
I was on a boat dive out of Jupiter, FL doing two drift dives in about 90 swf. Before the dives the Dive Master instructed that those of us breathing air should keep our bottom time to 25 minutes.
On my first dive my maximum depth was 91 swf although I kept my nominal depth between 77 and 83 swf. After 25 minutes I started my ascent at a rate under 1 ft every 2 seconds. Keep in mind this was a drift dive, so there was no anchor line to make my ascent on. It was purely finning up and keeping an eye on my depth gauge. At 30 swf I made a safety stop for one minute and a five minute safety stop at 15 swf. My total surface-to-surface time was 38 minutes. I had a 1 hr, 2 min surface interval between dives.
On my second dive my maximum depth was 78 swf keeping a nominal depth between 66 and 75 swf. Again, after 25 minutes I ascended at the same rate making a one minute safety stop at 30 swf and a five minute safety stop at 15 swf. My total surface-to-surface time was 37 minutes.
As I was driving home, I started getting a rash on my chest and abdomen about two hours after the last dive. An hour later I got those headaches that cause part of your vision to get blurred. Needless to say, I thought, Oh s__t! Am I getting the bends? But after a while, both of those symptoms went away. Then I started feeling tingling sensations in small areas of my arms and legs, but there was no joint pain. I was also feeling extremely fatigued. Let me caveat that by saying I had a 3 hour, 15 minute drive each way to Jupiter and had to get up at 4:30AM to make it to the boat.
That night I woke up at 2AM and started getting really scared because I had a 2 hour flight scheduled for 7PM that day and still had some tingling in my bicep and still felt wiped. I tried to reason that my flight was more than 30 hours after my last dive but that didnt help. I called DAN (thank goodness I had DAN!) and relayed my situation. The dive physician on the line believed I didnt have DCS, but suggested I go to the emergency room in the morning.
After spending four hours in ER where they took blood, x-rays, and an MRI of my head, the attending physician who had experience in dive medicine said it didnt look like I had DCS and cleared me for flying that night.
Now my wife, who hates me diving to begin with, went ballistic since this was the second time something like this has happened and strongly recommended I give up diving.
Sorry this is so long, but this forum is a good place to vent and I need some good feedback. I plan to suspend diving for the next month but dont plan on giving it up. I know Ill be paranoid about getting those symptoms again even though I plan to dive conservatively once I get back into it. Has anyone out there had similar situations?
