Worst dive so far - Vertigo

[lv2dive]

I don’t want to beat this horse into the ground (importance of analyzing gas) but bc I do think it’s important so I am going to tell a story about myself.

I used to dive in NC a lot. First decade or so of diving, I dove air but switched to Nitrox after I got into diving more seriously. Anyway, on this one trip, fairly soon after I started diving Nitrox, I got to the boat and the tanks were waiting. I asked the captain for the analyzer and he said the boat analyzer was broken but he had analyzed them and they were 30%. (There were no stickers on the tanks). I asked everyone else on the charter if anyone had an analyzer but no one did - I was very concerned bc I did not want to dive tanks I had not analyzed. The captain assured me he had analyzed them, and also that the only Nitrox pumped in the area was 30% and I did not need to worry. I did go ahead and dive (with no issues), but I did not enjoy the dives very much, and as soon as I got home from that trip I ordered my own analyzer so I would never be in that position again.

You’re right you should always analyze gas but I didn’t get vertigo from the gas and I knew it was a max of 40%. What was bad was the fact that you don’t want to build s habit of not analysing.

 

[Raystafarian]

If your wife suffers periodically from vertigo, out of the water as well, potentially she has Menierre's Disease.

Good info, thanks! Luckily no, the ENT confirmed the trauma and she's been good since that healed!

 

[dberry]

My wife had a spell of vertigo last year. It would hit whenever she sat up in bed too quickly or turned her head abruptly. The ENT determined the cause to be the little solid particles that float in the inner ear having moved to the wrong place. The cure was a series of motions that seem almost silly in retrospect, but it basically involves holding your head in a certain position to let the particles settle, then slowly uncurling in a specific direction. This helps the particles "unwind" through the spiral-shaped cochlea until they get back to where they belong. She did these exercises for a few weeks and hasn't had vertigo since.
https://www.webmd.com/brain/home-remedies-vertigo

 

[Landlocked123]

This exact thing happened to me about 8 years ago in 30 feet of water. Same symptoms you describe. I researched and all the symptoms and folks I spoke to told me it was an episode of Alternobaric Vertigo. I could not function. I was in low viz and the only way I got out of it is staring at my Petrel against my mask and was only able to know which way was up or down by reading the depth. Any attempt to look else where and perform any other task was not doable. Unless someone has experienced this there is no way to understand the confusion, dizzyness, and total lack of orientation that arises. Follow your bulbbles...bla bla... did not work. I honestly thought I was going to expire that day. Had it not been for the Petrel's display I am not sure what would have happened. Hundreds of dives later it has never happened to me again and I hope it never does. Glad you are ok. Now you will know what to do if it ever happens again. On topic last weekend I was diving at the local quarry and I was speaking to one of the staff members there who is a very experienced diver. Full Cave and UTD instructor ...he told me he had a similar incident and was taking a few weeks off to have his ear checked out. The symptoms were the same. Instant and non expected. See link below

Alternobaric vertigo - Wikipedia

 

[Landlocked123]

By the way many folks believe that this is how Kennedy Jr died when he crashed his plane off of Martha's Vineyard. He may have got a bout of it and not known how to fly on instruments. One of my buddies is a seasoned pilot. He told me what they are trained to deal with this and most pilots have experienced this many times. They just have the training on how to react. You basically have to focus on the gauges. Not only because they are telling you the truth but also because the act of staring at them helps lessen the feeling of spinning. I can confirm that day focusing on my computer is what got me out of it. I do a lot of low viz diving and this is one of my concerns I take with me on every dive.

 

[wnissen]

My wife had a spell of vertigo last year. It would hit whenever she sat up in bed too quickly or turned her head abruptly. The ENT determined the cause to be the little solid particles that float in the inner ear having moved to the wrong place. The cure was a series of motions that seem almost silly in retrospect, but it basically involves holding your head in a certain position to let the particles settle, then slowly uncurling in a specific direction. This helps the particles "unwind" through the spiral-shaped cochlea until they get back to where they belong. She did these exercises for a few weeks and hasn't had vertigo since.
https://www.webmd.com/brain/home-remedies-vertigo

The most common type of vertigo is the one you describe, benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (I had to look that one up, despite being diagnosed with it at one time). However the diagnosis is very straightforward, a tech can do it, doesn't require an ENT. When I got vertigo on dive #3, it was a fast ascent, I was dehydrated, had just had surgery a few weeks before so fitness was at a low ebb, etc. The DAN-referred ENT said my ears were fine and I should just try again, taking things slowly. (For the record, my non-diving general practitioner said the same thing.)

And it worked! I am now very careful to hydrate, keep my fitness level up, and take it nice and easy on ascent. Knock on driftwood, I have had no further incidents in twenty more dives. I also found that my ears were flooded for 48 hours after diving, but Doc's ProPlugs really helped, so maybe that is part of the solution. Just be aware that if one falls out you need to remove the other one, or else risk thermal vertigo! Ironic, I know.

For the OP, though, I'm sorry your buddy didn't realize something was obviously wrong. If someone is drunk and keeps saying they are fine, we know they are not fine. But somehow in the water it's not clear there is a problem.

 

[KevinNM]

By the way many folks believe that this is how Kennedy Jr died when he crashed his plane off of Martha's Vineyard. He may have got a bout of it and not known how to fly on instruments. One of my buddies is a seasoned pilot. He told me what they are trained to deal with this and most pilots have experienced this many times. They just have the training on how to react. You basically have to focus on the gauges. Not only because they are telling you the truth but also because the act of staring at them helps lessen the feeling of spinning. I can confirm that day focusing on my computer is what got me out of it. I do a lot of low viz diving and this is one of my concerns I take with me on every dive.

Nah, the dude flew into clouds/fog, started descending in the fog, entered a slow descending circle and crashed into the water apparently unaware that he was in a turn, so was trying to pull the nose up. Almost certainly a classic graveyard spiral. He might have fully lost orientation at the end, but it wasn’t the start. That’s why you don’t fly at night in bad visibility without an instrument rating. Plus he had a bunch of poor choices. 10 mistakes JFK Jr. made - AOPA
Not to mention he apparently tried to have a midair with a commercial jet. https://nypost.com/2007/06/17/inside-jfk-jr-s-daze-of-doom/

An FAA pamphlet on what happens when a non-instrument rated pilot flies into instrument conditions. 178 seconds to live

 

[Landlocked123]

Right my dive buddy who is a pilot told me that sometimes you feel 100% you are turning left in zero viz clouds etc but the instruments are telling you that you are turning right etc... Either way I think the analogy of focusing on your computer helped me get past the incident. I think it depends on what the conditions are when it happens to you. For me the most startling thing was that I could not tell up or down due to the viz.

 

[EireDiver606]

This exact thing happened to me about 8 years ago in 30 feet of water. Same symptoms you describe. I researched and all the symptoms and folks I spoke to told me it was an episode of Alternobaric Vertigo. I could not function. I was in low viz and the only way I got out of it is staring at my Petrel against my mask and was only able to know which way was up or down by reading the depth. Any attempt to look else where and perform any other task was not doable. Unless someone has experienced this there is no way to understand the confusion, dizzyness, and total lack of orientation that arises. Follow your bulbbles...bla bla... did not work. I honestly thought I was going to expire that day. Had it not been for the Petrel's display I am not sure what would have happened. Hundreds of dives later it has never happened to me again and I hope it never does. Glad you are ok. Now you will know what to do if it ever happens again. On topic last weekend I was diving at the local quarry and I was speaking to one of the staff members there who is a very experienced diver. Full Cave and UTD instructor ...he told me he had a similar incident and was taking a few weeks off to have his ear checked out. The symptoms were the same. Instant and non expected. See link below

Alternobaric vertigo - Wikipedia

Yes it was highly unpleasant and I

This exact thing happened to me about 8 years ago in 30 feet of water. Same symptoms you describe. I researched and all the symptoms and folks I spoke to told me it was an episode of Alternobaric Vertigo. I could not function. I was in low viz and the only way I got out of it is staring at my Petrel against my mask and was only able to know which way was up or down by reading the depth. Any attempt to look else where and perform any other task was not doable. Unless someone has experienced this there is no way to understand the confusion, dizzyness, and total lack of orientation that arises. Follow your bulbbles...bla bla... did not work. I honestly thought I was going to expire that day. Had it not been for the Petrel's display I am not sure what would have happened. Hundreds of dives later it has never happened to me again and I hope it never does. Glad you are ok. Now you will know what to do if it ever happens again. On topic last weekend I was diving at the local quarry and I was speaking to one of the staff members there who is a very experienced diver. Full Cave and UTD instructor ...he told me he had a similar incident and was taking a few weeks off to have his ear checked out. The symptoms were the same. Instant and non expected. See link below

Alternobaric vertigo - Wikipedia

exactly how I felt. I thought I would expire for a few seconds because I had no idea what was happening. I didn’t could have expired though because there are lobster pot lines all over the place and if I got entangled without the vertigo going away....

 

[Sparksi]

Didn't read all the comments, but giving my piece nontheless:

It could be something that's called alternobaric vertigo, which means the ears equalize at a slightly different rates. As for me, I have zero problems decending. Unless i've had a longer break in diving I don't really need to equalize more than just swallow and wiggle my jaw a bit. At least most of the time.

Coming back up, on the other hand is a different story. Especially after shallow dives, and I've noticed the 4 meter deep olympic pool is the worst and the tiled pattern really doesn't make it any better...Sometimes it's just slight discomfort, sometimes I need a short breather, but nothing major. Happens very rarely on deeper dives to 30-35m, for some reason.

This one time, however, coming up from 45m to our first deco stop (18m? 12m? cant remember), it struck me really bad. I totally know what you mean by spinning 360, or more like the horizon is spinning. I felt really, really sick. I was able to read my computer fine and gather my composure just enough to realize i'm now behind my deco schedule (which, in afterthought, was totally fine in this case, but still added to my anxiousness about the situation). I just couldn't make myself ascend, let alone in a controlled manner. I signaled my buddy (who was aware of this prior) that I REALLY, REALLY need to stay here a bit and try not to throw up. After a couple of minutes (according to the dive profile - hours according to my brain) my other ear decided he's done tormenting me and equalized. Immediately gained my sense of direction and stopped feeling nauseous. We finished our deco just fine and surfaced.