Dizzy and lightheaded 3 weeks after dry static apnea

[Avery_]

About 3 weeks ago I was trying to best my dry static time of 3:00.

I laid on my bed and calmed my breathing as usual, then held my breath for 2:50 on my first attempt. I felt fine, if a bit tired, and I know I should have taken a longer break afterwards, but only after about 30 seconds of rest time, I went for a second one.
This time I felt a headache in the back of my head at the 30-40 second mark, and 20 seconds later decided to stop this attempt.
My headache immediately disappeared, but the set of symptoms accompanying it - didn't.

Since then I've been feeling this light motion sickness whenever I move. Laying down on my bed or looking in 1 spot helps for a while, but it gradually returns when I start going about my day again.
On top of that I also feel sleepy all the time, but sleeping doesn't help. My balance isn't affected but I still feel dizzy, like I've just been on a VERY long car ride.
All this is accompanied by a sense of derealization, like I'm watching a dream and not actually present at the moment.

I've visited a neurologist, who suspects it to be brain cell death due to hypoxia. I'll be going to an MRI scan tomorrow, it's going to be a general one combined with the brain vessel check.

Is it actually possible to get brain damage from holding your breath?
Could it be that the short break didn't let my brain recover enough and I got CO2 poisoning/acidosis, or didn't get enough O2 and some cells died?
I really thought that cell death doesn't occur AT LEAST until a blackout. Is this not true?

If anyone knows anything about what could have happened - please let me know. It's seriously affecting my day to day life and I don't know what to do, and if I'll ever be able to return to freediving, considering that (or if) it can damage (specifically my) brain this easily.

 

[Avery_]

Update: got an MRI scan, brought it to a neurologist. No damage, nothing. Still dizzy and extremely fatigued. It's been a month since already. It's excruciating. What do I do?

 

[rollerGR]

Sounds like you most likely got light vertigo from pressure or/and inflammation of the otoliths inside the ear. I've had it very briefly after diving sometimes. You don't really do anything in this case, it is usually fixed by itself but if it persists for too long then probably consult someone specialized in that. Maybe look up remedies for vertigo too.

Cell damage is bs, if you pushed yourself hard during dry apnea you'd just fall unconscious and breathing would be restored automatically

 

[Avery_]

Sounds like you most likely got light vertigo from pressure or/and inflammation of the otoliths inside the ear. I've had it very briefly after diving sometimes. You don't really do anything in this case, it is usually fixed by itself but if it persists for too long then probably consult someone specialized in that. Maybe look up remedies for vertigo too.

Cell damage is bs, if you pushed yourself hard during dry apnea you'd just fall unconscious and breathing would be restored automatically

Interesting! What kind of pressure though? I was on dry land…

 

[Avery_]

Sounds like you most likely got light vertigo from pressure or/and inflammation of the otoliths inside the ear. I've had it very briefly after diving sometimes. You don't really do anything in this case, it is usually fixed by itself but if it persists for too long then probably consult someone specialized in that. Maybe look up remedies for vertigo too.

Cell damage is bs, if you pushed yourself hard during dry apnea you'd just fall unconscious and breathing would be restored automatically

Just to clarify, it has ben more than a month already, and I'm still feeling drowsy, restless, and detached. I really don't know what to do and where to go with this.

 

[rollerGR]

Interesting! What kind of pressure though? I was on dry land…

not necessarily hyperbaric pressure although this does cause it too especially if there is a cold present and the eustachians are obstructed.
Pressure during dry apnea could have been due to a couple of things my experience, pressure due to air in chest leading to blood cell buildup in the head, which is also affected by vasodilation as time goes by
Otoliths do not require any pressure to get detached (temporarily), a mild infection or inflammation can do it and after that they are sensitive.

the way you're describing sound pretty serious. otolith detachment is a guess because it matches the symptoms but doesn't mean that this is necessarily what's going on. Better check an ENT doctor for a checkup (here this can be done in public hospitals with some waiting not sure if something similar is available in your country)

 

[Avery_]

not necessarily hyperbaric pressure although this does cause it too especially if there is a cold present and the eustachians are obstructed.
Pressure during dry apnea could have been due to a couple of things my experience, pressure due to air in chest leading to blood cell buildup in the head, which is also affected by vasodilation as time goes by
Otoliths do not require any pressure to get detached (temporarily), a mild infection or inflammation can do it and after that they are sensitive.

the way you're describing sound pretty serious. otolith detachment is a guess because it matches the symptoms but doesn't mean that this is necessarily what's going on. Better check an ENT doctor for a checkup (here this can be done in public hospitals with some waiting not sure if something similar is available in your

not necessarily hyperbaric pressure although this does cause it too especially if there is a cold present and the eustachians are obstructed.
Pressure during dry apnea could have been due to a couple of things my experience, pressure due to air in chest leading to blood cell buildup in the head, which is also affected by vasodilation as time goes by
Otoliths do not require any pressure to get detached (temporarily), a mild infection or inflammation can do it and after that they are sensitive.

the way you're describing sound pretty serious. otolith detachment is a guess because it matches the symptoms but doesn't mean that this is necessarily what's going on. Better check an ENT doctor for a checkup (here this can be done in public hospitals with some waiting not sure if something similar is available in your country)

wouldn’t my balance be off then? Because it’s perfect, as it has been before the accident.

 

[rollerGR]

With vertigo balance is not affected although this might vary from person to person. I have had one severe case and my balance was fine, but my head was spinning. Other times I have gotten the uneasy nausea feeling when turning my head a bit quickly without any vertigo when walking
So I recommend getting it checked specifically for this reason because if there is detachment the recovery takes longer than simple inflammation
Again take what I say with a grain of salt, doesn't meant it's exactly what I think. but as I read your symptoms this is a very likely cause I can think of

 

[Avery_]

With vertigo balance is not affected although this might vary from person to person. I have had one severe case and my balance was fine, but my head was spinning. Other times I have gotten the uneasy nausea feeling when turning my head a bit quickly without any vertigo when walking
So I recommend getting it checked specifically for this reason because if there is detachment the recovery takes longer than simple inflammation
Again take what I say with a grain of salt, doesn't meant it's exactly what I think. but as I read your symptoms this is a very likely cause I can think of

Moving my head doesn't matter though, at all

 

[rollerGR]

Moving my head doesn't matter though, at all

if you don't get vertigo from moving your head left/right quickly then it's probably not the otoliths in which case it doesn't sound like anything familiar. so i will refrain from giving any advice.
Wish you a quick recovery!

 

[Avery_]

Just going to throw this one out there: is it actually possible to get brain damage from dry apnea? Like, there has to be some sort of way of accidentally overdoing it, right?

I know you’ll blackout and start breathing again if you hold your breath for too long. But what if you were to continue doing the exercise right after that? There has to be some sort of point where it becomes harmful, or is it really that safe?

Or could continued breath holds with little to no rest in between do something irreversible as well?

 

[Avery_]

It has almost been 2 months since it happened and I still haven't recovered in any way. Still feeling sick and tired on a daily basis. I'm not worrying about it as much as I did initially, which made it a bit more tolerable.

But I would still like to have at least some idea of what happened to me and why.