Please help me! (possible trigger)

[Kay85]

Hi, so I'm new here but have a long history of panic attacks and depression. I've been on citalopram and now sertraline for around 7yrs now I think (and I'm only 26!). So this is random but today I was very very silly and decided to scrub my shower screen door whilst I was in the shower, with bleach. So for around 20mins I was inhaling steamed bleach...I know I know, I am stupid.

It's now 3hrs later and I just feel like my chest is tickly, like irritated. Which I guess makes sense and would be normal after inhaling bleach. Now being a panicker I am totally freaking out majorly. Is it going to get worse and am I not going to be able to breathe? Or will it be at it's worst it's going to get after 3hrs? What do you all think? At this point I can't tell if some of my symptoms are bleach related or anxiety. The more I think about my breathing the more I freak out and the worse it feels. I feel like I can't cope with this fear. Will I be ok? Please nobody freak me out by saying I'm going to die of bleach inhalation or anything, I'm feeling very very vulnerable to panic being made worse right now and just looking for some reassurance.

Thank you

---------- Post added at 16:25 ---------- Previous post was at 16:15 ----------

I mean I've searched the internet and it says bad inhalation causes headaches, nausea and vomiting....which I don't have. But I need to stop thinking about those symptoms cos I may have them through thinking of them and then I'll completely go into meltdown. Shall I go to A&E? I don't want to seem like an idiot :weep:

[london]

your fine the most it will done is clear your nose thats good
god bless

[Kay85]

But my chest still hurts? Maybe I should go to hospital I'm so scared

[Stormsky]

i use bleach all the time in shower, doing the same as you... and people use it as close range every day... so it wont kill you

[Kay85]

You do? And you're ok right? So I'm ok too?

[Stormsky]

im fine, but i dont have health anx... so i dont worry .... i use bleach up close in the shower, then rinse it off with hot water, and do it all the time..... if you imagine having symptons you can actually bring them on.... i had a huge bonfire last week, and breathed in way too much smoke too! all sorts of plastic stuff was on fire too... that made my chest and breathing a bit crap for hours, but people have fires all the time too , and i was fine after that as well....

[Kay85]

Ok...it's just my chest has felt funny for almost 12hrs now and it's scaring me pretty bad. Thank you so much for the reassurance it means so much right now!

[Stormsky]

its been 12hrs since you used the bleach, so anything majorly bad would have happened by now if youd ingested it.... try to relax, the more you concentrate on your chest the more youll bring on pains etc

[swgrl09]

I do this a lot by accident ... Your feelings might be from your panic, not the bleach. We're you using straight bleach or a diluted spray with bleach in it?

[Kay85]

Straight bleach...and 24hrs later my chest still hurts. Do you think I've damaged them forever? It'll heal right?

[beauty2010]

Hi
If bleach was that dangerous to clean with it would not be allowed to be sold as a cleaning product.
It might take a little longer for your lungs to feel OK, especially if you are thinking about it and focusing on it. I once cleared out a dusty cellar and my lungs felt funny for a few days, but then they were fine.
B

[Kay85]

Hey, thank you all so much for your replies. Just checking in to let you know that my chest finally feels better. It took around two weeks though :-o!!! I actually ended up in A&E (for the first time ever in my life!) on like, day 5? Cos I was so worried that it wasn't improving. They had a listen to my chest and did an ECG which was fine. My heartrate however was 140bpm and my blood pressure 150 systolic!!! Wowwwwweeeeee! I'm sure it was just from anxiety but going to get my BP checked again sometime soon when I'm feeling more calm just to be sure!
Thank you again for the reassurance I was so scared. Lesson learnt - better to live in a dirty house!