carbon monoxide - Environmental Disorders Message Board

fiddlestick5 · 01-06-2004, 12:07 AM

today my grandma ran her car in the garage with the door open, the whole house stunk like exhaust, but i didn't pay much mine to it. Well i started to get really tired and pretty much stayed that way the rest of the day.. it's been about 6 hours since that happened and i'm wondering if sleeping it off will help... it wasn't constant exposure or anything... i'm fatigued, mildly confused and it kind of feels like my eyes can't focus. I haven't had any head aches or anything, but i have had a stiff feeling and my breathing is mildly shallow.. but all in all i just feel tired.
I assume this is carbon monoxide. does this sound serious at all? or the kind of thing i should expect to bounce back from with a simple nights sleep?

comments tonight would be great.

bjlauder · 01-06-2004, 12:14 PM

I'd get out of there and call the fire department. I know it sounds extreme, but CM is scary stuff. I assume you know it's odorless and cumulative. You'll want to get lots of fresh are and, at a minimum, open the windows in your house. If you have natural gas appliances (or even older electric appliances) I'd recommend you get a detector at Target or something. Good luck.

aardvarklips · 01-14-2004, 05:30 PM

you should be fine in a couple of days i think. if your grandmother starts doing this on a regular basis, i'd suggest getting a carbon monoxide detector. i believe they are around $15-$20. ours saved us. we lived in a ratty apartment for 13 years. we felt like we had the flu most of the cold weather season (worse in the winter when you are cooped up). anyway, my mom borrowed a friend's detector to test it out. we found it was hitting around 15 (which is dangerous). so we called the local firestation to have them check it out, and you will not believe this, but it hit 45! which by all acounts should have killed us years ago. thankfully we had a very drafty place.
just on occasion i don't think it will be horribly bad for you, but on a long term basis, it's nasty. we had the furnace fixed over 4 years and we are still feeling the mess it caused

bjlauder · 01-15-2004, 06:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aardvarklips

you should be fine in a couple of days i think. if your grandmother starts doing this on a regular basis, i'd suggest getting a carbon monoxide detector. i believe they are around $15-$20. ours saved us. we lived in a ratty apartment for 13 years. we felt like we had the flu most of the cold weather season (worse in the winter when you are cooped up). anyway, my mom borrowed a friend's detector to test it out. we found it was hitting around 15 (which is dangerous). so we called the local firestation to have them check it out, and you will not believe this, but it hit 45! which by all acounts should have killed us years ago. thankfully we had a very drafty place.
just on occasion i don't think it will be horribly bad for you, but on a long term basis, it's nasty. we had the furnace fixed over 4 years and we are still feeling the mess it caused

You were 10 above OSHA's acceptable standard of 35 ppm. 50 can be lethal to humans. I'd say you guys are very lucky. Did you go to the Doctor to get a checkup. I've always heard that Carbon Monoxide remains in your system for a long period of time and the buildup effects are cumulative (as you stated, being exposed for 5 minutes is different than 8 hours a day for 10 days).

aardvarklips · 01-16-2004, 09:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bjlauder

You were 10 above OSHA's acceptable standard of 35 ppm. 50 can be lethal to humans. I'd say you guys are very lucky. Did you go to the Doctor to get a checkup. I've always heard that Carbon Monoxide remains in your system for a long period of time and the buildup effects are cumulative (as you stated, being exposed for 5 minutes is different than 8 hours a day for 10 days).

i think we went to the doctor, but i don't remember. i know it wasn't safe for me to give blood donations. our family doctor always thought it was the flu or strep throat( which it does mimic, so always watch).
my youngest sister and our family cat always had it the worst because they were always over the heater vent. we can't prove it, but we think that some over her learning disability is from the long term exposure, as the health problems of myself and my other sister. the cat tend to throw up more in the winter and she'd lose her fur. she also became really swollen in her belly area. (when we moved it went away).