Carbon monoxide poisoning - scary!

[Eric Sedletzky]

This was not dive related so don't worry that your LDS is putting C0 in your tanks!

I had an incident with C0 poisoning that I would like to share so people can see how dangerous and deadly this gas can be.

Last Friday I was doing some construction work at an auto body shop fabbing up an awning and using their indoor facility and benches to weld together all the steel.
There was a car running in a back corner of the shop for several hours. They were doing some engine diagnostic work on it so that's why it was running. The car idled very quietly and put out no odor so I had forgotten it was even running or it was even there.
There was a door open and a ceiling fan running so I didn't give it much thought that exhaust was going to be a problem. But looking back I don't think this was enough to clear all the fumes. I was mostly working in the building and was around the car at times. Other times I was in the doorway and a little bit outside. I even asked one of the employees if they were concerned about leaving a car running in the building and they said there was plenty of ventilation and they weren't worried about it.

I left the place by noon and felt fine as I was heading up the freeway back to the city where I live. Then a few miles up the freeway I started to notice that I was not feeling right, something was definitely wrong. I was getting nauseous, feeling achy, slightly dizzy, and uncomfortable.
I had to make a few stops on the way to pick up supplies before I went home. Just trying to get what I needed at the store and get to the counter was difficult but I tried to shake it off and continue with what I had to do. I thought I was coming down with something like a bad flu, but I've never encountered this feeling. I've been sick many times but this is not how any sickness comes on that I've ever known.
By the time I got to the second stop before home I was supporting myself on the counter thinking I was going to be sick. The feeling was miserable, almost alarming.
By the time I got home I was really not in good shape at all. I got in the house and drank some water to try and counter the nausea. I took a few tylenol to try and counter the headache I had coming on.
When I was standing in the kitchen I suddenly got the overwhelming feeling that I was going to yak complete with the increased saliva but It didn't happen. Instead I got very light headed and everything started to spin like right prior to blacking out. I grabbed the portable phone in the kitchen and made it to the couch in the living room without passing out and just sat there for a while trying to decide if I should call 911 on myself. Sitting still the light headedness eased a bit and I started to put two and two together as to what was going on. Then it hit me that this was indeed carbon monoxide poisoning from being in that shop with the car running.
I had all the symtoms, light headedness/dizziness, nausea, upset stomach, flu like symtoms, head ache, jittery, apprehensive and uncomfortable not knowing what to do with myself.
The next thing I did was went into my garage once I was stable enough to get up and I breathed off my O2 tank on my welder. I sat there for about 20 minutes and gave myself some O2 therapy which seemed to help.
That night was miserable. Crazy dreams, fitfull night of sleep, achy, sick feeling, horrible.

Long story short, it took a full 36 hours before all the symtoms cleared. It wasen't untill this morning when I woke up that I felt back to normal.

Looking back I probably should have called myself in. I guess in the moment I was more concerned about saving myself some embarassment if it was really nothing. The scary part of C0 poisoning is the delayed onset and the continuing increase in symtoms even after getting out of the environment.
It's not like solvent exposure that once you get out of the environment that the symptoms begin to clear from that point on. Carbon monoxide poisoning spikes later and continues to do it's dirty work for days after.
And it doesn't take much.

Be carefull out there and be aware of the silent killer.

 

[inventor]

Good post! Thanks!

 

[fisheater]

AAACCCKKKK!!!!

Sorry this happened to you. And, yes, you should have called 911. CO destroys your blood's ability to carry oxygen. Hence, oxygen therapy is of limited value. Get a professional involved. No reason for any worry of embarrassment.

My brother-in-law died of CO poisoning, using a propane space heater without (it turns out) sufficient ventilation. The paramedics said that, even if they'd gotten there just as he passed out, they couldn't have done much. His blood simply couldn't take in any oxygen where the CO had already bonded to the hemoglobin. (BTW, CO is often used to make our beef look bright red and "fresh." It bonds with the myoglobin and prevents any further oxidation.) Scary stuff.

Glad you're OK, but take it easy until your system has had a chance to create new red blood cells to replace the ones destroyed by the CO.

 

[aquaregia]

Complete recycling takes about six months, if I remember my inorganic class correctly. Hyperbaric therapy helps, so imagine that'd be a good excuse for lots of nitrox diving.

My housemates and I woke up with headaches this morning, so I just grabbed my CO detector. Read 70ppm! I took it outside in the fresh air and wind... still 70ppm. Time for a new detector.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

I'm really sorry to hear about your brother-in-law Oren, I had no idea.

So, on the verge of passing out sounds like it was a little more serious than I first thought.
The way I also understand how C0 works is the molecules attach themselves to your hemoglobin preventing you from being able to absorb oxygen into your bloodstream. They act as a blocker literally standing in the way and tying up the pathway for vital O2 to get into your bloodstream. And as such you can breath as much fresh air as you like but it will not do much good because you will not be able to absorb it. Pure O2 at least gives you the feeling that you are getting enough air and relieves that hypoxic feeling and the panting/shortness of breath somewhat.
Maybe a medical person or a doctor can chime in and fill in the details exactly of what happens and an expedited cure if there is such a thing.

Nitrox is definitely in my near future! The richest mix I can use.

I also heard chain smokers are at risk when they dive because of the increased partial pressure of the C0 they've taken into their system from smoking which may not be a big deal on the surface, but get down to depth that and they could have a problem. I don't know this for sure, but that's what I heard.

 

[Jaeger45]

Um, wow.

Glad you lived. Next time call 911! With a loss of conciousness, there might be an indication for hyperbaric treatments.

Still worth getting checked out by your doctor, as there can be delayed neurologic sequelae--subtle cognitive and memory deficits, etc.

People think about the RBCs, but CO also binds to molecules in the intracellular metabolic pathways that usually process oxygen, and it is thought that a lot of the damage is done there.

(Not a substitute for medical advice. YMMV.) Glad to hear that you're OK!

 

[Jaeger45]

In regards to oxygen therapy, it has an effect beyond helping you feel less short of breath. CO binds hemoglobin much more tightly than oxygen, decreasing the amount of oxygen your RBCs can carry. However, oxygen also exists in a dissolved state in the bloodstream. Giving 100% oxygen increases the amount of dissolved oxygen in the blood. This increases oxygen to the tissues. It also decreases the amount of time it takes to get rid of the CO bound to the hemoglobin in your RBCs. On room air, the half-life of carboxyhemoglobin (CO bound to hemoglobin) is about 300 minutes; on 100% oxygen therapy, it is about 60 minutes. Hyperbaric treatment decreases this to about 20 minutes.

In case you want more info:

http://navyemergencymedicine.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/CO-poisoning.pdf

 

[DandyDon]

Wow! Close call there. You really should have done the 911 thing.

Yeah work shops hardly ever have CO monitors but need them badly, because of engine work done, fork lifts, space heaters, etc.

AAACCCKKKK!!!!

Sorry this happened to you. And, yes, you should have called 911. CO destroys your blood's ability to carry oxygen. Hence, oxygen therapy is of limited value. Get a professional involved. No reason for any worry of embarrassment.

My brother-in-law died of CO poisoning, using a propane space heater without (it turns out) sufficient ventilation. The paramedics said that, even if they'd gotten there just as he passed out, they couldn't have done much. His blood simply couldn't take in any oxygen where the CO had already bonded to the hemoglobin. (BTW, CO is often used to make our beef look bright red and "fresh." It bonds with the myoglobin and prevents any further oxidation.) Scary stuff.

Glad you're OK, but take it easy until your system has had a chance to create new red blood cells to replace the ones destroyed by the CO.

I'm wondering he still needs to see a physician ASAP? Hyperbaric O2 therapy is how they treat CO survivors, which he barely is.

Complete recycling takes about six months, if I remember my inorganic class correctly. Hyperbaric therapy helps, so imagine that'd be a good excuse for lots of nitrox diving.

My housemates and I woke up with headaches this morning, so I just grabbed my CO detector. Read 70ppm! I took it outside in the fresh air and wind... still 70ppm. Time for a new detector.

What detector do you have? Most sensors are good for about 5 years, but low ranger sensors like we use to test scuba air need to be calibrated every six months or so I think to measure in under 10 ppm.

Yours may have become temporarily fouled if it's a low range. It happens. If your house has been around 70 ppm, that's bad. If you don't know, that's when you call the fire department, or just 911.

Homes need low cost CO monitors in every bedroom year-round, and larger facilities need more for large spaces - but often have none. I just read about a hockey game, a fund raising dinner, a church, a Viet Nam New Years party, and a Hiway Partolman with a home generator taking hits or worse this week - and one lady hospitalized but alive only because her neighbor's CO alarm went off.