Worried i have Carbon Monoxide Poisoning :(

[meg86]

Hello :)

Last night my mum left the gas on very low by mistake when she was cleaning, luckily in our house we close all the doors at night, so the kicthen door was shut, the living room door and my bedroom door where shut.

I woke up this morning and went down stairs and smelt a little Gas not loads but a little and saw that it was turned on.

I became soooo anxious and shocked that this had been on all night, last night i couldnt sleep and had a really bad tension headache and found like i was air gasping, i have had this many times as part of anxiety so put it down to that.

When i realised this morning i thought OMG i have been poisoned!! i have a bit of a headache and my throat feels a bit dry but apart from that i feel fine and my mum does and my boyfriend does and even my cat seems fine.

Thanks to good old anxiety i am scared that this will have some lasting damage that hasnt shown itself yet :weep: Im at work and obviously not feeling that ill but need someone to tell me im not going to die.

Thanks xxx

[meg86]

And yes i have just purchased a Carbon Monoxide alarm from ebay lol ahhh x

[PanicOver!!]

Hi it is unlikely you would have carbon monoxide poisoning from the gas being on as it is the result of a faulty combustion of the gas and is far more likely in central heating systems even if you have most people that suffer mild carbon monoxide poisoning make a full recovery

If you are worried go see your dr as it can be detected with a simple blood test

[nomorepanic]

We have left a gas ring on before and suffered no lasting effects.

Like Panic said I think it is a different kind of gas that you get carbon monoxide poisoning from and not a gas cooker.

[Cell block H fan]

Yes, pretty sure its poisonous gas fumes from a flue that cause it, its a safe gas on your cooker. Can still cause an explosion! But not poisoning? If you feel rough, see the doctor though x

[meg86]

Think i over reacted a bit on this one :weep: dam anxiety thanks guys xx

[daisycake]

Hiya, relieved to find someone with this worry - I always thought I was the only one! I dont want to bore you by going into it all - but I ruined my summer over this - with constant panic attacks and worries that I was going to have CO poisoning.. It only stopped, when my Mam snapped one night and called a Gas engineer to check the cooker - and we didnt have any, in fact the engineer said it rarely ever comes from cookers and its more likely a risk from a boiler - which is when they do recommend an alarm! Apparently having your window/door open while cooking should be K but don't quote me on that!!
Yeah it comes from gas that's been burnt - so yes, I don't think you're at risk of that.. Having the windows open today etc should help :) - maybe if you are still concerned call NHS Direct or something but I would reckon if you feel fine just now you're not going to get ill.. hope you are feeling better anyway - and don't worry about overeacting, that's what anxiety does to us :) (trust me, I've been a lot lworse).

:hugs:daisy x

just to add that what I said above is just what I was told - dont want to get into trouble for giving out wrong advice or something x

[spaced]

hi I've had carbon monoxide poisoning from a faulty gas fire you'll be fine as every one has said faulty appliances cause the poison and it doesn't have any smell to it like gas we all made a full recovery even though the gas service people said we were very lucky to be alive so don't worry your doing the right thing getting an alarm every house should have one

[phil06]

I'm glad I found this post I thought I was the only one..been in a panic for hours.

Basically the heating packed in. My question is once the heating is turned off I can't get poisoned? I heard something about it being blocked or something..and that being a danger. But it's turned off, new boiler goes in tomorrow..will I be ok?

I have all the panic symptoms and worried what one I have?

[guitarpants]

If you're walking and talking, you're fine. Even IF you had any kind of poisoning, you should not have any lasting effects. The danger of CO poisoning is that it's undetectable, and the only time it's really dangerous to a person is if they can't leave the immediate area. For example, if they lose consciousness and it continues to build up in their blood. So I would say you are perfectly in the clear. Having a CO detector is very important and they work very well, that should give you reassurance. If there was any CO present, the alarm will sound.

[phil06]

If you're walking and talking, you're fine. Even IF you had any kind of poisoning, you should not have any lasting effects. The danger of CO poisoning is that it's undetectable, and the only time it's really dangerous to a person is if they can't leave the immediate area. For example, if they lose consciousness and it continues to build up in their blood. So I would say you are perfectly in the clear. Having a CO detector is very important and they work very well, that should give you reassurance. If there was any CO present, the alarm will sound.

Thanks that's reassuring. I mean I had a headache soon as somebody mentioned the poison thing I googled and that's when I did find panic symptoms. I can walk and talk so I guess I'm ok. Hopefully when the new heating goes in they fit a new one as my mum and dad took the old one down.

[guitarpants]

What CO does is it mimics oxygen so your red blood cells pick it up instead of the oxygen your body needs and causes slow suffocation. If you're awake the first thing you'd notice is dizziness and possibly some sort of headache. In that case going outside will relieve it. It's like holding your breath for a long period of time, it's not going to do any damage unless you just stop breathing entirely.

Now the problem is that anxiety also causes dizziness and headache. So it's difficult not to go around in the vicious circle. I really don't think there was any CO in your home, it's rare that it happens, and even if it does, with a CO detector, there will be virtually no danger. It will alarm before it reaches dangerous levels.

I feel that to overcome a fear or health anxiety it's good to know facts and reasons, what can and can't happen. I find myself that people telling me what my symptoms are not caused by doesn't help, I know to have a reason and know why. That's why I gave you the info in the first paragraph. Let the CO detector be your medication and rid you of any worry. It basically eliminates any possibility of getting CO poisoning without you knowing. Consider it impossible to happen.

[phil06]

I'm in panic about this again as I feel dizzy with a headache. The people came today and fitted a new boiler but its turned off as they still have to sit bits in the loft. Moment I think about it I feel all funny..and sick and I keep googling and if it's not that I'm worried what if it's swine flu. Until somebody mentioned it to me it was at the back of my head until 2 days ago then I was like omg..and now I've been in this awful mess and state about it.

It's soo irrational but this health anxiety really strikes worry!...the good news is I've had no heating in over a week so perhaps if I am walking and that I am fine? :blush:

[nomorepanic]

We had a bolier replaced 2 months ago and it was all disconnected for 2 weeks

You are fine !

[phil06]

We had a bolier replaced 2 months ago and it was all disconnected for 2 weeks

You are fine !

Thanks. :)

[spaced]

okay earlier on in this thread I said I'd had carbon monoxide poisoning Phil you don't have it and you're going to be fine, none of us that had it had any long term effects at all, once your new heatings up and running get an alarm that way you will have the peace of mind knewing your safe.