Altitude Sickness or Sinus issue?

[XeroJaeger]

Hey all,

Ok, I finished up my BI flights last night, and I've noticed something disturbing. After my first BI flight above 12000 ft., I came home and had a throbbing headache, woke up constantly all night (seriously, 8 or 10 times) having to valsalva (didn't help much), experienced vertigo, fatigue, etc. I chalked all this up to being too hyped up for the flight and exhausting myself (flight went pretty good), and maybe being dehydrated (didn't seem logical - I hydrate like a madman and it was a night flight).

I ignored all that since I didn't have a flight the next day and just trudged through it. Well after yesterday I feel horrendous. As I type I feel like I'm sitting on a boat, rocking back and forth. Headache, shaky fingers, constant sinus pressure, etc. Long story short - my body chemistry is four kinds of *&^@ed right now. I've had a sinus surgery in the past, and got it waivered, but I feel like I might be one of those unfortunates that get altitude sickness. Does anyone know if there's a "program" for this? I'm going to see the doc in the morning and I don't know if I'm going to like what he tells me.....anybody shed some light?

Best, and Happy Mother's Day.

-X.

 

[das]

You may want to check into "Mal de débarquement", or disembarkment syndrome. One of the key things seems to be: does it go away when you're in motion again (e.g., in a car, etc.)?

I'm not saying it's this, and it could be nothing, or just a temporary issue related to inner ear/vestibular function...but "altitude sickness" resolves after leaving the altitude that causes the problem.

I am not a doctor, and the best bet will be to consult professionals as appropriate, which you're already doing. Hopefully it's just vertigo caused by something simple; sometimes calcium crystals can come off in the inner ear and float around and cause problems. I know a couple of people this has happened to who were able to get the issue resolved.

If it doesn't end up being something simple, make sure the physican(s) you're dealing with considers or at least is aware of disembarkment syndrome.

 

[torpedo0126]

I was concerned about having that syndrome when
I got off a 40 day cruise and I would feel like I was still on the ship. However I saw a doc and found out that experiencing motion effects like that are pretty common, disembarkment syndrome is very rare and much more common is women.

I am also not a doctor and seeing the flight doc will probably be your best bet

 

[das]

I was concerned about having that syndrome when
I got off a 40 day cruise and I would feel like I was still on the ship. However I saw a doc and found out that experiencing motion effects like that are pretty common, disembarkment syndrome is very rare and much more common is women.

I am also not a doctor and seeing the flight doc will probably be your best bet

Agreed...it's probably NOT disembarkment syndrome; hopefully it's just a normal motion sickness related-thing that will go away, or that you can learn how to deal with...or maybe it's just a fluke and will go away on its own! Good luck with the doc.

 

[Gatordev]

Go see the doc. When you're on O2, your ears tend to take longer to return to normal from the pressure. I always felt like I had cotton in my ears for the rest of the day when I'd fly hops w/ the hose on. I had to valsalva more often throughout the day, but it would be fine by the next day.

It's possible you have junk up there in addition to the regular pressure change. Go see the doc (noticing a trend?) and they can poke around in there. I was at medical one day in the waiting room and there was a stud who needed his hears irrigated because of a bunch of build up in there. From what I heard eavesdropping, it sounded like he had some of the symptoms you have (but maybe not all...who knows).

It shouldn't be altitude sickness, since that's at altitude and the O2 "should" be preventing that (though I've gone hypoxic twice due to the fit of the mask) and it should go away once you're back on terra ferma.

Lastly, go see the doc.

 

[Schnugg]

Not symptoms to ignore...see the Doc...

 

[feddoc]

One more vote to see the doc. Preferrably not one from Wisconsin.

 

[XeroJaeger]

Thanks for the help, all. Saw the doc this morning.

There was good news, and bad news. The good news was that there was actually something to find (which means I wasn't just tired or making up apparent symptoms because I didn't 'feel good'). Small consolation, though. The verdict was that I'm experiencing sinusitis. Normally that wouldn't be so bad, I'd just recover and be good to go. But in my case, as a civilian I had CRS (chronic rhinosinusitis), had surgery, got a waiver. If this happens to me again, it could NPQ me. I have used the netty pot, every med under the sun. So it sucks for me, but I'd rather be safe than unsafe. So we'll see.

-X.

 

[das]

Re: the poll

I'm sorry...I guess I must have missed the part where I said:

"I am not a doctor, and the best bet will be to consult professionals as appropriate, which you're already doing."

"It's probably NOT disembarkment syndrome [...]"

"Good luck with the doc."

 

[spitfiremkxiv]

Sorry to hear about this, but good move on seeing the doc.

My recommendation: Don't go up high again, and then put helos as your first choice.

 

[HAL Pilot]

Re: the poll

I'm sorry...I guess I must have missed the part where I said:

"I am not a doctor, and the best bet will be to consult professionals as appropriate, which you're already doing."

"It's probably NOT disembarkment syndrome [...]"

"Good luck with the doc."

You're not a lawyer either but you try to act the part.

But then you seem to think you know everything about everything so I guess you knew this already.

 

[D_Rob]

I put "listen to das" 'cause of his sweet profile pic.

 

[FormerRecruitingGuru]

Even Das voted against himself.

 

[XeroJaeger]

Quick, and potentially unfortunate update (for anyone that cares or anyone who runs into similar situations) - My SIQ expired this morning at 8 and I had to go run errands before my PM SDO tonight (awesome, right?). Well I drove around for about 20 minutes, with some walking in between, and vertigo came back like a mutha. Looks like I'll be taking advantage of my 7 to 10. Yay for possibly being completely screwed.

-X.

 

[feddoc]

Sounds like the sinus infection has not cleared up. Completely screwed...nope.

Do you have access to an ENT specialist?