Should I give up diving ?

[photographer]

Thanks to everybody,

I will elaborate a little further.

I used to be a software engineer and one of my tasks was analytical troubleshooting. And now I ended up troubleshooting myself.

So, these are the striking common factors:

All the incident cases (3) are after a dry suit dive. Never had anything like this before (diving in a wet suit or on land). Nor do I have any history of any other medical problem that could be even vaguely resembling.

In each case the symtoms are identical.


My background tells me that this (dry suit and/or prone to DCS after the first incident) is highly unlikely to be a coincidence (even though we are not talking about a software robot).

Couple of extra pieces of info :

* In the chamber visit the tingling went away (at 2,8 bar oxygen at 55 feet) but in the first incident after the first chamber visit it reappeared within minutes of surfacing while breathing air on land. At 55 feet in the chamber I had to breathe air every 20 (or 15 ?) minutes and I felt that the tingling reappeared just a little bit while still being decompressed (but on air).


* After the "test" dive I noticed the symptoms three hours after surfacing. They could have been there earlier because I got back home at that time and the little tingling is very hard to notice when you are wet, carrying the equipment etc. Furthermore, it's been four days now and I still feel a little, little bit of tingling so it has not completely healed itself (yet ?).

* After the second incident, about four days after the dive my fingers got very cold (not related to diving) and suddenly the tingling got a lot more powerful (like fireworks in the fingertips every couple of seconds). I put my hands in hot water and the tingling normalized within 20 seconds.

* And one more thing. In the mornings when I wake up I do not notice any tingling (this has been consistent). The tingling starts 30 - 60 minutes later when I am already active.

* And then the dry suit setup. I have used the same drysuit for the past five years. I have not put on weight during that time. The suit has five finger rubber gloves permanently attached and therefore there is no wrist squeeze. The fingers get cold but not freezing cold. I wear a lot of undergarment. I don't feel cold in general (except for the face). I wear a suspender weight belt that is heavy. The neck is a little bit tight and I have thought of enlargening it just a little bit. And, all in all, dry suit diving requires a lot more exercise on the surface (before and after diving).


What next ?

The symtoms and how they behaved in the chamber still lead me towards DCS but I am not sure.

I will listen to people's opinions and advice and let the time pass. Probably, after a couple of weeks I do a second test dive. I am thinking now that it could be a dry suit dive (cold water) at a very shallow depth (15 feet, like Bubbletrubble suggested) on Nitrox. So I will keep everything else identical except the depth. I feel like a guinea pig, but at least I am still fighting.

and I won't abandon this thread. I will let you know how this all ended.

BR,

Photographer

PS I am still interested in other's opinions

PS2 Rick and Scubaren, what do you mean when you say that your tingling is spine related.

 

[Saturation]

On bold items:

#1 is a finding not associated with DCI.

#2 a physical exam, Tinel's sign check, check of cervical spines.

When DCS affects the entire arm, one has to differentiate a spinal segment bends from a localized joint bends. If an entire arm is affected and confirmed, its more a spinal or CNS bends. A visit with a doc is preferred over just board advice as the tests to assist in diagnosis are done by a physician and cannot be done do-it-yourself.

* After the second incident, about four days after the dive my fingers got very cold (not related to diving) and suddenly the tingling got a lot more powerful (like fireworks in the fingertips every couple of seconds). I put my hands in hot water and the tingling normalized within 20 seconds.


What next ?

The symtoms and how they behaved in the chamber still lead me towards DCS but I am not sure.

I will listen to people's opinions and advice and let the time pass. Probably, after a couple of weeks I do a second test dive. I am thinking now that it could be a dry suit dive (cold water) at a very shallow depth (15 feet, like Bubbletrubble suggested) on Nitrox. So I will keep everything else identical except the depth. I feel like a guinea pig, but at least I am still fighting.

and I won't abandon this thread. I will let you know how this all ended.

BR,

Photographer

PS I am still interested in other's opinions

PS2 Rick and Scubaren, what do you mean when you say that your tingling is spine related.

 

[Bubbletrubble]

* After the second incident, about four days after the dive my fingers got very cold (not related to diving) and suddenly the tingling got a lot more powerful (like fireworks in the fingertips every couple of seconds). I put my hands in hot water and the tingling normalized within 20 seconds.

@photographer:
FWIW, this observation is consistent with Raynaud's disease. Immersing your hands in hot water causes local vasodilation and increased blood flow to the area. The fact that increased blood flow mitigated the paresthesia argues strongly for a vascular etiology.

During the episode, did you notice your skin turning pale/blue/red in the affected area? Was there any swelling/inflammation associated with your symptoms?
Do you or anyone in your family have a history of scleroderma, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, Sjogren's syndrome, or carpal tunnel syndrome? (If so, this would be consistent with secondary Raynaud's.)

One method of preventing Raynaud's flare-ups is to keep extremities warm. Perhaps you could wear extra insulation underneath your drysuit gloves. Take care not to wear so much insulation that it restricts blood flow to the hand since that would be counterproductive.

This is just another thought...but based on your ScubaBoard username, you probably are dragging along a camera on your drysuit dives. If so, how are you holding onto your rig? Most people would be holding onto the camera with the left hand and depressing the shutter button with the right hand. Is your rig neutrally buoyant? If it's even slightly negatively buoyant, you may be clutching at it rather tightly...and this could be reducing blood flow to your left hand. I could see how dragging along a camera for an hourlong dive could give rise to your symptoms...especially if you have a previously undetected mild form of the disorder.

Hmmm. Perhaps on your shallow water test you should bring along your camera.

Hope this helps...

 

[scubaren]

"PS2 Rick and Scubaren, what do you mean when you say that your tingling is spine related."

I have had tingling over the years from a past upper back injury. It all started many years ago when I was hiking downhill and fell while holding onto a tree. My back felt "funny" but I ignored it. It eventually tightened up so badly (between the shoulder blades) that I needed constant chiropractic care just to function. I feel fine now but since the injury when I use a 50+ backpack or use scuba gear I get the tingling in my hands and arms from time to time.

 

[Thalassamania]

A few thoughts:

I am not a physician. Consult with a good hyperbaricist.

In the science community a single episode of DCS is a contraindication to future diving.

There are many things that can cause finger tingles besides DCS, as was mentioned they often have a circulatory problem at their base.

I am not surprised that conditions that stem from poor circulation are relieved by hyperbaric oxygen or immersion in warm water.

 

[ryssyr]

here's an experiment. put on your drysuit, weightbelt, zip up and hang out around the house with it for an hour (try to do it in AC). then after donning, doffing the gear see if you get a flare up. It may be that you are getting old (like me) and the setup is pinching a nerve or doing something funky with your spine as stated above.

This should be easy to test and then you can at least rule out fit/pinch out of the water.

I had an issue with numb arms and it was from my laptop bag slung over one shoulder and humping through airports. I moved to a backpack for my laptop and the distributed weight stopped tweaking my back.

just a suggestion, not medical advice!

 

[Dr Deco]

Hello photographer:

I am currently in London and do not check the Board as frequently as in the US.

As the others have stated, this does not sound like DCS. The time of appearance and definite lack of any rondomness of location argue against DCS. It does sound like a nerve compression issue.

 

[ScottBuck]

Whatever it is see your doctor get ALL the necessary test, and let him tell you not to dive. I would go down kicking and screaming before I stop diving!

 

[photographer]

Thanks Bubbletrubble, Dr. Deco and others

To summarize there are basically (at least) two strong theories

1. After the first incident I have become very sensitive towards DCS in those nerves (ie left hand fingertips) that got damaged in the first incident (if it were DCS, which is possible because of multiple, though conservative dry suit dives which required a lot more exercise topside than in wet suit diving). However, I did not get bent on subsequent warm water wetsuit dives with profiles more aggressive than the followup dry suit dives that once again produced mild tingling.

2. Some sort of a nerve squeeze. I wear a suspender weight belt that weighs about 35 pounds. The shoulder strap squeezes a little especially in the vertical position (like while ascending a line). I don't have wrist seals so that is not a likely place of a squeeze. However, the lack of a seal means that air goes in and out of the glove and therefore when I put hands down the air flows out and then there is a light squeeze on the whole hand. This might be the case during the majority of the dive.


Bubbletrubble : My hands (or toes) are not prone to coldness. The time a got fireworks in the fingertips I did not notice any color or other change in the fingertips. And yes, I always carry a camera but always with the right hand. I have put extra flotation on the camera rig and it is slightly negative. When I shoot I have the camera in the left hand (right hand index uses the trigger) but that is just a part of the whole dive. I often carry a torch in the left hand so that is something to think about.


Photographer

 

[DandyDon]

How old are you, Photographer?