Trying to figure something out

[Jmarsland]

Thank you all! That really helped me understand what was going on, I thought I should have been narc'd but I just didn't notice any difference. Thanks again and Happy Diving!

 

[Rhone Man]

Everyone is different but I think most adult divers of any experience, you only start to really notice your own narcosis symptoms at about 130 fsw. I remember doing a drift dive at 140 fsw and thinking to myself: "I feel fantastic! No narcosis at all!" and only realised on my way up that it had been the euphoria, and I hadn't checked my SPG all the time I was at depth.

I also remember (when I was 15) going to about 185 fsw and the experience was very much like what I read that LSD is like. I was tripped out of my head. I am doing TDI Extended Range in February, and I will be interested to see if I have a similar effect at those depths now as an adult.

 

[don Francisco]

Narcosis isn't a simple thing and isn't digital as in was "was I narc'd or not". Most folks have some degree of impairment at depth, but not necessarily enough to notice. Different people are affected differently and even the same people can be affected differently on different dives.

As others have said, the excercises given to trainees at depth aren't necessarilly a good indicator. When I was certified I was given long addition, problem was I solved it faster at 100' than at the surface. An instructor friend gives all his students 2 problems one spacial (puzzle), one mental (arithmetic) and tells me that in his experience some students have problems with both at depth, some one but not the other, and some neither. So much for the test.

So you see it's fairly subtle, and can be anything from a bit of difficulty reading gauges or calculating remaining air time, to problems managing multiple tasks, to not thinking as clearly, to full blown halucinations. Odds are you had some impairment, just not enough to to make you say "wow, I was narc'd".

 

[kathydee]

Yeah, the effect of narcosis is real. Still, the do-it-at-the-picnic-table and then do-it-at-depth thing is kind of a parlor trick. I mean, the only real comparison would be to do the test in 30' of dark water and then in 100'. Sitting at the picnic table will give most people better results than at any depth, where you are also focusing on trim, buoyancy, position in the water, etc. Just being in the underwater environment on scuba will slow down the thinking process.

I totally agree - but in my case some of the numbers actually seemed to dissapear at 100ft. I did feel really drunk - the whole situation was laughable!

 

[Reg Braithwaite]

Most folks have some degree of impairment at depth, but not necessarily enough to notice. Different people are affected differently and even the same people can be affected differently on different dives.

My understanding is that the amount of impairment as measured with an objective test of some sort is not always correlated with a person's perception of their own impairment. So some people may be strongly affected but report that they felt fine, while others may report being stoned to the bone but have the same ability to perform tasks as those reporting no impairment.

So... I take the view that I am narc'd at depth even when I don't feel narc'd. I am taking a Heliox course next season, and I am told that diving to 100'+ on mixed gas really shows you how badly you were impaired diving on air. We shall see!

 

[dumpsterDiver]

......I also remember (when I was 15) going to about 185 fsw and the experience was very much like what I read that LSD is like. I was tripped out of my head. I am doing TDI Extended Range in February, and I will be interested to see if I have a similar effect at those depths now as an adult.

I had something similar when I was young, 14 or 15, solo dive to around 130 on a new Jersey ship wreck. I felt a little buzzed, but quickly realized I was having considerable trouble coordinating the sweeping of a dive light and following it with my eyes. I remeber thinking, "you are stoned, you better be really careful".

I don't have any problems at those depths anymore, possibly a lot more experince helps or possibly not being a kid, who knows?

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

Like others hve stated, the impairment caused by nitrogen narcosis is really variable, even within the same individual. I rarely dive deep these days (getting older), but as a teenager did air dives well beyond "recreationl limits". Impairment (that was noticed) varied. I do remember a dive off the Kona coast where I had to hold position mid-water at 150' (as a safety diver team) with nothing but hypnotic blue water and bubbles and a safety line to look at while we waited for the "deep" diver to come back up the line... I remember the beginnings of hallucinations and thinking "man, this is not good". So it varies a lot.

 

[DaleC]

I've experienced both kinds of narcosis. With a group it manifested as a "too confident" feeling that had me descending deeper than planned with no alarm bells going off mentally and while soloing it manifested as an increasing overall anxiety that drove me to shallower depths.
I think the best test is to try driving at depth. If you fumble around mumbling to yourself and can't put the keys in the ignition - you're narced!

 

[Walter]

I recently did an Adventure dive as part of my AOW and we reached depth at 96 feet off of Molokini, and I'm trying to figure out if I got narc'd at all...I don't think so but I want to be sure.

You were narced.

I have never been narc'd (that I know of) in the past, though that was by far my deepest dive to date.

If you've dived, you've been narced.

I didn't get a nervous or panic feeling nor did I feel like I just finished of a tasty daiquiri.

It's common not to feel nervous, panicked or drunk.

I've read and listened to what others have explained about their experiences but I'm just not sure...

Forget about experiences and look at what happens to your brain when breathing nitrogen under pressure.

Any thoughts?

A few. You are confusing noticing some often discussed symptoms with being narced. Everyone (even those who deny it) is narced on every dive. Effects of narcosis are meaurable (although not noticed by the diver) as shallow as 30 feet. The deeper we dive the more pronounced the effects become. On most dives, even on most deep dives, most divers do not notice anything different. Sometimes we notice feeling wonderful or scared or a tad slow on the uptake, but we usually notice nothing. How we feel can be an indication of narcosis, but usually how we feel is a very poor indication of narcosis. I remember one deep dive I made to shoot fish in a deep hole in the Gulf. I felt no different than I did on a 30 ft dive. I was watching my time, watching my depth, watching my air supply while keeping perfect buoyancy and looking for dinner. Hell, at 168 feet I was even multitasking quite well. I had no symptoms of narcosis at all. Even my aim was perfect, I short the biggest snapper ever and killed it instantly with my shot. I can't swear it was due to narcosis, but on the way up, someone must have swapped fish with me because when I got on the boat that monster I shot was barely legal.

 

[seaducer]

I've as deep as 140 on air, and have never noticed the symptoms of narcosis. A pic of me at that depth kind of looks like I am a bit drunk, but I was able to read guages, computers, work my camera, other gear, and keep track of the other divers in the group with out noticing any mental impairement.

It is a bit like drinking, you can be over the legal limit and make a fatal error without feeling a thing. Luckily narcosis is much more manageable for the typical diver.