Vertigo,Hypoxia or something medically wrong with me?

[catfishhunter 2]

I had a very scary situation on my second Jump last saturday. Was doing a two way and we was last out of the caravan.Altitude was 13500. as soon as we left the plane my vision went screwy. It was as if I was going head down with loose goggles. The two way never got together but I kept the other jumper in site but he looked like he was swirling all over the sky. I broke at 6 because of the dizziness and dumped at 5. When i tried to look up to check my canopy the thing was a blur. I did a contgrol check best I could but I really couldn't focus very well. I look down to spot the airport and the whole place was spinning. ABout this time I am tripping cuz no way I am gonna be able to land without bouncing if my vision and head don't clear up and FAST. I hang in my risors as I fly into the landing pattern. slowly things come back into focus about 2 grand but I still feel way dizzy. I was able to stand up the landing but was pretty wobbly.
Anyone ever experiance anything like this? Before I jump again I want to try to figure this out. The rig I was jumping doesn't have a cypress. I am not jumping without one again until I have some sort of defenitive answer as to what happened to me. This was by far the scariest thing I have experianced.

Going to try to get into see a doc and get a physical in the next week or two and try to rule out any sort of medical problem. Just hope it ain't a tumor or something

MAKE EVERY DAY COUNT
Life is Short and we never know how long we are going to have. We must live life to the fullest EVERY DAY. Everything we do should have a greater purpose.

[Nightingale 0]

call your doctor. Tell them what you told us, and they can probably give you some answers.

my questions for ya:

1. did you remember to eat?
2. were you taking any medication?
3. did you remember to breathe and not hold your breath?

[FrogNog 1]

More questions:
1. What is the altitude of your DZ (or a differen question, what was your MSL exit altitude, if your ASL was 13.5k)?
2. Do you smoke?
3. How high was your previous jump that day?

-=-=-=-=-
Pull.

[skyjunior 0]

We had a camera flyer have this happen to them about two years ago. We had a couple of skydiving doctors on the dropzone that day and they kind of checked him out. It appears that the video jumper had a slight cold.Additionally he used a bite switch
on his still camera. We think what happened is when he put the bite switch in on final jump run he started breathing through his nose which had some congestion, end result was he did not get enough oxygen to stay lucid. He did not have a cypress on that jump either, but he did have one the following week.

PLEASE REMEMB

[catfishhunter 2]

MSL of the dropzone at Mesquite is 2400ish so AGL at the time of the jump as about 15900. Yes I had eaten that morning. No I wasn't takening any medication. I believe I remebered to breathe

Yes I smoke. The first Jump was nearly the same altitude but wasn't on jump run nearly as long as this jump. We had a few large groups leave so I would say we was in the plane another minute or so extra. After the jump and for the rest of the day I did feel a bit of pressure in the front of my head( as if I was congested) but still not sure if I was just so freaked from the jump that I was trying to find anything at all to explain what had just happened.

One other deatil that I am not sure if it would have any effect is that a storm front was just coming in. Not sure if the low pressure system could/would have an effect. My home dropzone ( Ogden) is a couple thousand feet higher then Mesquite but I have Jumped many times in Mesquite so I am not sure if the difference in Altitudes would have a major effect but then again I have no reasonable explanation why this happened so anything is possible.

I am thankful for any suggestions/questions or similar experiances anyone can/will share. I do not wish to quit jumping but if this happens again I cannot take the risk of being unable to land safely or possibly blacking out. Bouncing does not sound like a good time to me

MAKE EVERY DAY COUNT
Life is Short and we never know how long we are going to have. We must live life to the fullest EVERY DAY. Everything we do should have a greater purpose.

[JKT 0]

Possibility - have you given blood or had an invasive operation where you required a transfusion recently (within the past three or four months)? This could cause you to become hypoxic at altitude. IIRC, the recommended period for not skydiving after donating blood etc is a minimum of three months.

Smoking won't help either, and I believe that 16 000 ft ASL is above the level that most people would normally start to get hypoxic anyway, but I'm not 100% on that.

-----

Official 100 jump wonder

[catfishhunter 2]

That was 15,900 MSL not AGL Agl was 13500 and mesquite is 2400ish MSL. Just realized I posted that wrong. No I haven't given blood in many years so thats not it. I know asking is kinda like asking a mechanic over the phone whats wrong with your car and he replies hold the phone closer to it and maybe I can figure it out. Will be trying to get into a doctor and rule out any medical reasons before I jump again.

MAKE EVERY DAY COUNT
Life is Short and we never know how long we are going to have. We must live life to the fullest EVERY DAY. Everything we do should have a greater purpose.

[FrogNog 1]

Quote

I do not wish to quit jumping but if this happens again I cannot take the risk of being unable to land safely or possibly blacking out.

Don't quit jumping, quite smoking. Not sure which is easier - that's a fast horse race!

-=-=-=-=-
Pull.

[Snowwhite 0]

When you go to the dr. be sure to have him check you for an inner ear infection. They don't hurt, you don't know you have them, but man can they screw up your equilibrium. I spent three days with vertigo, hanging on to my dining room floor for dear life. 24 hours on an antibiotic, gone!

skydiveTaylorville.org
freefallbeth@yahoo.com

[Phillbo 11]

See an ENT specialist .... Sounds like an inner ear issue..

But I don't even play a doctor on TV

[Tink1717 2]

My guess is (as a paramedic for 20+ years, I feel I can hazard a guess), that you were getting hypoxic. You stated that the plane was on jump run for longer than normal. That, and the fact that you smoke likely contributed to a hypoxic condition. Quit smoking and do aerobic exercise and see what happens. Also, I suggest you find a flight surgeon to assist in this diagnosis.

Skydivers don't knock on Death's door. They ring the bell and runaway... It really pisses him off.
-The World Famous Tink. (I never heard of you either!!)
AA #2069 ASA#33 POPS#8808 Swooo 1717

[bobsled92 0]

THe time I had an inner ear infection, sinuses poor to start with, I had a similarity of that. Vertigo symptems dizzy nausea almost blind while on a telephone pole at work.(1 hour to get down)
I have had hypoxia at 23,500 (troulbe with al eg strap loose=2 mins no mask, 1st out) and it felt like nitrous oxide to me. The 2 were very different.
Take profesional advice, I only know what has happened to me.

_______________________________
If I could be a Super Hero,
I chose to be: "GRANT-A-CLAUS". and work 365 days a Year.
http://www.hangout.no/speednews/

[skylord 1]

Catfish,

This is an amazing coincidence. I had something EXACTLY like that happen, but I was on the ground, in Kauai just 10 days ago, walking toward a breakfast meeting. I was looking at the pretty carpet patterns pass under my feet, and when I looked up, I got an INCREDIBLY strong sensation of pitiching over to the left. I dropped to all fours, it got worse, so I went into "safe" mode, rolled over on my back, and put books under my feet. The hallway was spinning like a son of a bitch, and I was so dizzy I could not focus on the room number just 6 feet from my face so I could count the number of doors back to my room. I'm only 45, but I thought I had just had a stroke. Scared me shitless. I wiggled all my extremities, and then thought to myself if I had just had a stroke, why am I so lucid?

I crawled back to my room after a few minutes, and was able to stand while leaning against the wall. I had the shakes and sweats. Long story short, the clinic I went to said I need to be in an ER. The ER neurologist evaluated me, found NOTHING indicating any "cerebral vascular accident", and just scratched his head. The nurse that wheeled me in to the exam room stopped by, started making small talk, asked me where I was staying, and told me she had the strangest thing happen on her visit to the same hotel. She was walking to her room with her husband, was looking at the floor, and suddenly got so dizzy she couldn't stand up. Wow, that sounds familiar!! I got the doc back in the room, we compared stories.

The diagnosis was "flicker vertigo" a phenomenon related to the passage of patterns past the eyes that disturbs the sense of balance and spatial orientation. The pattern can be carpet designs.

It was overwhelming, and it even physically kicked my ass. I slept for over 11 hours that night, and I got a headache the doc warned be about in advance. No cause for alarm. I experienced EXACTLY your symptoms. It can be exacerbated by low blood sugar, O2 levels, and lack of rest. I had two out of three.

My fear, frankly, and I apologize for not being forthright when it happened, is exactly what happened to you. I didn't want to get into freefall and have that shit happen. I would have pulled, but there was no way to safely land. I'm very thankful you recovered successfully, and I'm sorry I didn't post this when it happened to me so you may have had some forewarning before it happened to you. I've learned, but not well enough, that all experiences we have others can and should learn from. I was wobbly for several hours afterward.

So, that's the real reason I haven't been getting aggressively back in the air, plus a kick ass chest cold. I may do a tunnel jump at Perris first, and work back up slowly. I'm feeling better about NOT having a recurrence every day.

Get checked out by a good doctor, and think over what led up to the jump. Was the prop causing sunlight to flicker in your eyes? Anyway, let me know if you want to hear more about my little experience. I don't mind sharing it on this forum.

Bob

Bob Marks

"-when you leave the airplane its all wrong til it goes right, its a whole different mindset, this is why you have system redundancy." Mattaman

[JKT 0]

Quote

That was 15,900 MSL not AGL Agl was 13500 and mesquite is 2400ish MSL. Just realized I posted that wrong. No I haven't given blood in many years so thats not it. I know asking is kinda like asking a mechanic over the phone whats wrong with your car and he replies hold the phone closer to it and maybe I can figure it out. Will be trying to get into a doctor and rule out any medical reasons before I jump again.

Yep, sorry, ASL = above sea level so we were on the same page there. I think it is the ASL, not the AGL that matters when it comes to oxygen content of the atmosphere... so that 16 000 ft is what is relevant rather than the 13 500 ft, but is there anyone better informed than me who would like to comment?

Anyway, hope it isn't anything more serious than a head cold or something.

-----

Official 100 jump wonder

[mr2mk1g 10]

The short answer is that you were too high, should not have been that high, and that you were suffering from oxygen deficiency as a result! You had all the classic symptoms of hypoxia and yes you should do something about this!

At any altitude above 10,000msl your body starts to run out of O2. This doesn’t usually pose skydivers a problem as we are not above that altitude for too long. Its all about times of useful consciousness – if you spend too long, too high, you are going to have serious problems.

Go look at this web page for a start: http://www.aviationmedicine.co.za/hypres.php and find others like it. You can see there that at an altitude above 15,000msl everyone on that plane was suffering from the lack of O2. You were probably effected worse than the others because you smoke or for a multitude of other reasons.

The biggest point is that you really should not have been allowed to go that high without supplemental O2! Your DZ is opening themselves up to a world of shit by doing this on a regular basis!

From the SIM:

Quote

Sec. 91.211 Supplemental oxygen
(a) General. No person may operate a civil aircraft of U.S. registry--
(1) At cabin pressure altitudes above 12,500 feet (MSL) up to and including 14,000 feet (MSL) unless the required minimum flight crew is provided with and uses supplemental oxygen for that part of the flight at those altitudes that is of more than 30 minutes duration;

(2) At cabin pressure altitudes above 14,000 feet (MSL) unless the required minimum flight crew is provided with and uses supplemental oxygen during the entire flight time at those altitudes; and

(3) At cabin pressure altitudes above 15,000 feet (MSL) unless each occupant of the aircraft is provided with supplemental oxygen.

[catfishhunter 2]

Thanks again everyone. Your feedback has help me think of what happened with allot less anxiety.I will post what the Doctor says once I can get into see one but I am not nearly as freaked by the situation as I was before I posted.

If I didn't have enough reasons to quit smoking before I sure do now!

Thanks and Blue Skies!

MAKE EVERY DAY COUNT
Life is Short and we never know how long we are going to have. We must live life to the fullest EVERY DAY. Everything we do should have a greater purpose.

[freefallguy 0]

I wish I had heard something about this. There is oxygen available on the plane for anybody who needs it but you didn't say you felt bad before jumping. The airport is actually at 1975 MSL, not that the 600 foot difference would change much.
I know you said you were on jump run longer than usual but I don't think the forum realizes that means a minute or so not several. All of our turn arounds on Saturday were under 20 minutes so that is less than 15 to jump run. Jumps were all to 13000 (which means you probably were really at 13500 AGL)
Call me if you here anything from the doc. I would bet you had a head cold or something. You haven't had problems on any of your other times down here have you? Call me if you want to talk about it.
Quitting smoking is never a bad idea.(I hate sweeping up butts)

[catfishhunter 2]

I talked to Cher about it. I am assuming this is brad? I haven't had any problems at all down there. SkyDive Mesquite ROCKS! I love jumping there. If you remember when you asked if I was getting on a load I thought I had told you as well as Cher why I wasn't going back up but I might not have. ( this is John by the way of you haven't figured that our

So there is no mistake..What happened once I left the plane has nothing to do with the dropzone. I trust you guys and have made 90% of my Jumps from the same AGL up in Ogden which has a higher MSL. This was an anomoly that scared me and posted here to see if it was unique to me or if it has happened to anyone else knowing that no one can give me definitivce answers just shared experiances that I can learn from and be able to ask/answer the right questions when I see a doctor.

If anyone gets a Chance go see Brad and Cher in Mesquite. They are awesome people with a Kick Ass Dropzone.

MAKE EVERY DAY COUNT
Life is Short and we never know how long we are going to have. We must live life to the fullest EVERY DAY. Everything we do should have a greater purpose.

[INSANEDADDY 0]

Hey catfish, I was the guy you did a two way with from Texas. I remember you making a statement about being dizzy. Glad your OK. Get yourself checked out bro. When skydiving you have to be all there. And Yes Skydive Mesquite does ROCK. I had a blast. I know my girlfriend did not have as much fun as me......She is a trooper though. She did not even complain. Later -Matt

You dont't get to choose how you're going to die. Or when.......You can only decide how you're going to live........NOW.
-BASE 1605 Night BASE 227

[catfishhunter 2]

Thanks! Was a bit of a squirly jump but I did have fun. How was the rest of your birthday? Did ya win a bunch of money=(Jump Tickets) in Vegas?

Was pretty obvious she wasn't to into sitting around a drop zone all day. Your damn lucky to have her if she didn't even complain! I am sure you made it up to her though

Oh by the way I talked to a Doctor and described what happened and all the replies I got here and he thinks what everyone else said is probably what happened. He said if I still want to come in and get a check up I should but he didn't think it had anything to do with a physical problem per se. I am thining I will still try to get in and have a physical as soon as I can find the time though.

Thanks again everyone for your replies.

MAKE EVERY DAY COUNT
Life is Short and we never know how long we are going to have. We must live life to the fullest EVERY DAY. Everything we do should have a greater purpose.

[cyric77 0]

It sounds to me like you may have been a little hypoxic, but depending on your age, past medical hx, and family hx these symptoms could be caused by a number of things, the most serious being cardiac or neurologic. You should schedule an appointment with your PMD, and if your symptoms occur at anytime before your appointment go to the nearest ER immediately.

[Beerlight 0]

Plus, VISION is the first thing you'll lose in a low oxygen environment (such as the one you were in!).

And like everyone else said, pressure altitude, coupled with duration of exposure to that altitude makes hypoxic hypoxia a serious threat........