For the past couple of days I have been so incredibly tired. I have had a headache, confusion and dizziness as well. My young son has been experiencing stomach ache, nausea and being extremely light headed upon standing. I thought it was the start of our contracting the current flu epidemic. My older son has been out with his friends most of the time and my husband was away in another state on business so they have been feeling fine. When my husband arrived home yesterday, he immediately complained of a really weird smell in the house. I smelled nothing at all.
He was in the basement trouble shooting the source of the smell while I took the dog out to the backyard to go potty (normally I take him out the front door). The air blowing out from our basement was really strong smelling although I did not know what it was so I joined my husband in the basement and we found that the smell was coming from the central air heater. My husband called our air repair company and explained the situation with a smell coming from the unit. The technician warned us that the heating coils were most likely burning out and to be aware of carbon monoxide blowing through the vents in the home. This concerned us of course and regardless of the bitter cold in Chicago, we opened the windows, turned on the ceiling fans and aired out the house. Just to be on the safe side my husband went and purchased two carbon monoxide detectors/alarms. He installed one in the basement and another on the upstairs level where our bedrooms are located.
My oldest son spent the night with friends and right before bed I took my youngest son on a jog to get some fresh oxygen pumping through our blood. Then before my husband and I went to sleep we cracked some of the windows and went to sleep. Sure enough in the middle of the night the detectors went off warning us of high levels of carbon monoxide.
My husband turned off the heat. We all bundled up in warm clothes and got my son and our dog some fresh crisp air. Then we slept the rest of the night as best we could with the windows open enough to create a flow of fresh air. Without those detectors we honestly may have not woken up this morning!
Now my sons are out of the house and my husband and I have the windows open and fans on. We cant get the heater fixed until Wednesday when I am off work, so we will live life like they did in the good ole days without the modern comforts of central heating. I am lucky that my sons and I made it two days in the shut up house with such high levels of Carbon Monoxide. Thank God we were at work and school most of the time! So frightening. . . and the boys and I never smelled a thing.
A lot makes sense now. Our physical and mental symptoms are explained. And I have had blog partners and friends send me a large amount of corrections to my posts from the past few days which is not normal for me. I was thinking it was because I am so tired and combined with the Carbon Monoxide Inhalation I now understand what has been happening to me and my family.
I honestly thought that Carbon Monoxide Detectors/Alarms were more hype than necessity. I had never heard of anyone affected by this and so we never bought them. We have smoke/fire detectors of course but not the other. Now I know better. I hope to educate my dapper friends so that you and your family can stay safe!
2.) Second, if you have the above symptoms and suspect that their could be poisoning in the air in your home PLEASE ventilate the area as you get the people and pets out of the house, away from the house and into fresh air.
3.) Call the fire department to assess the air quality, locate the source and make recommendations as to whether medical treatment is required.
Hobbies on a Budget
That’s nuts! I’m so glad you guys are ok! I know you have been really tired this weekend and having a hard time focusing. Yikes!!! I am going to have my husband put one in for us this week! Thanks for sharing and again! So Glad you guys are ok!!!
Cloth Diapers
That is definitely scary thing to go through. Good thing that your husband was able to smell something. I know they say carbon monoxide is a silent killer because of the lack of smell with it.
Growing Up Gardner
That is great advice and good to know. We have a detector and I was considering taking it down because it’s such an eye sore in the hallway :/ It will stay now! Thanks for sharing.
Amanda
aprila
I am so glad your family is okay. Thanks for all of the great tips and list of symptoms. I ordered a carbon monoxide detector the other day.
Jennifer Williams
That is so scary. Our detectors went off in the middle of the night as well. We had a gas stove with the old pilot light, the light went out so gas was just pouring into our house. I am still terrified of all gas related products. Glad you will all be okay.
Jan Lee
I don’t have any of the detectors as I rent and the landlord doesn’t have them in the building. When I lived with my parents, my father installed detectors for Co2 and smoke/fire. They were worried that given their older age, they wouldn’t notice anything. The detectors never went off for the Co2 thank goodness, although the smoke alarms sensed every wisp of a fly passing by, lol. Sorry to hear you had such a scare, but glad you are better now, and have the detectors in! 🙂
Michele V
I have had carbon monoxide poisoning when I was a child from a log in the fireplace. We have CO2 detectors in our house. They are required for landlords to keep them in their units.
Elle S.
This is such a scary, important post! I had a scare once in a not so nice apartment but luckily it was the landlady’s cheap batteries to blame. Inspectors only come around once a year so it is good to stay pro-active!
Elle
hey_wren@yahoo.com
Gina Brickell
We don’t have a carbon monoxide detector in the house. I’ve been hearing so much about it though lately that I have definitely thought to get one. Sounds like it’s as important as a smoke detector!
Sacha Schroeder
Oh my! How scary. this could happen so easily! Thank you for the information!
chattykat59
Wow! What a SCARY experience to have gone through! I’m so GLAD you all are okay and that you are passing on the info to remind us how important it is to get those detectors up! Thank you!
Jessica Robinson
It’s nice to hear you’re okay. We actually just got a carbon monoxide detector installed when SDGE did some other things to lower our bill costs, it was all for free.
tickmenot
Our furnace wasn’t working right, so we called a repair person. When he was here, he tested the carbon monoxide levels. It was so high, he told us we had to leave the house for the night. We immediately got detectors. We have had a couple more problems since living here, but the detectors have gone off so we were able to stop the problem before it got out of hand. Always get detectors with a battery backup!
Dianna
Sorry you had to go through this– so very dangerous– but a great reminder for everyone– I certainly am glad you brought it to everyones attention,because it can happen to anyone/And thank goodness your husband came home in the nick of time–He’s your Superman–:-)
polly
glad you are all safe…the detectors are life savers! take care!
meegan whitford
We have never had a scare but we do have detectors in our home
Jessamine Dungo
Wow that’s scary. I’m glad you’re okay. We don’t have detectors at home and would seriously think of buying one. Thank you.
celina k
So scary, isn’t it?? I’m so glad everyone was okay! We actually don’t have a detector, we really need to buy one. It just always seems that there are more important things to buy or spend that money on! But really, nothing should be more important than our safety! I have had scares both at my in-laws house and at the place I work, and it’s not fun!
cathy henatyszen
scary stuff… they call it the silent killer…
the alarms are great, just need to make sure the batteries are good… also good to have all gas appliances tested for leaks
J. 76
Have you all been checked by a doctor? Carbon monoxide binds to hemogloben and can cause problems even after exposure is over. Treatments can be anything from getting pure oxygen to having to spend time in a hyperbaric chamber.
Please call your doctor or health department for advise on what to do next. Neurologic symptoms can develop long after exposure. It’s some nasty stuff!
price21100
Wow scary! We don’t have detectors but might be worth getting!
Tara A
Wow, so glad you guys are okay. We have a carbon monoxide detector on each floor. I test them more than I need to, but the thought of carbon monoxide poisoning really scares me since it’s a silent killer.
sweetinsahmnity at gmail
Char W
Wow, that is a scary thing to have happen to you and your family! I am glad that you are all ok. We have never had a scare and we do have a smoke/carbon monoxide detector in our house. Another thing to consider is getting a carbon monoxide detector if you own an RV too.
Char W
Wow, what a scary thing to have happen to you and your family! I am so glad that you guys are all ok! We have never had a scare like that and also have smoke/carbon monoxide detector in our house. It is also a good idea to install a carbon monoxide detector if you own a travel trailer/RV/motorhome.
desitheblonde
i had this and then i was getting sick and then the doc did not know what was wrong with me so they found out i had it in the house and then the bird died
charychild
Wow, I’m so glad you caught it in time! We don’t have an alarm for that in our house… I know we should.
Tina Kohrman
I know exactly what you went thru. If it wasn’t for me having a carbon monoxide detector a couple years ago I may not be here today. They are a life saver and very important to have. I am so glad that you and your family are ok. Thanks for sharing this with us. Have a wonderful Sunday!!
Dree Getz
We don’t have alarms in our house. I know we need them.
Darlene ysaguirre
We have them in our house we have the one that detects levels and speaks if it does its really quite loud lol
Mer
How terrifying! I’m glad everyone was ok, and thank you for the reminder to go check my own smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.
jackeline
Wow…I’m glad our apartment manager had them placed in the units a few days ago. I just moved from Florida(where we never use heat) to Seattle and wasn’t sure why the alarm needed to be installed. I’m sure happy they did!
Kristie from Kristie's List
That is really scary. We just moved to a new place in a new state, and it didn’t have smoke or cm detectors!!
Wendy Mastin
Yes, we have carbon monoxide detectors in our home. Very dangerous if you don’t have them. You are very lucky.
Michele P.
wow…while I don’t have a detector, these are some symptoms I have been having. Dr. has said it was a virus but the furnace had recently been repaired about 2 weeks ago… wonder if something went wrong? payday is friday and I am heading to buy one as soon as I get out of work.
Kasee
I’m glad you guys are all okay!
The scare that we had was kind of comical, but I sure am thankful for the alarm in our RV! We went camping for Thanksgiving, and that meant loading as much of our gear into our toy hauler as we could and putting the remaining gear and our side-by-side Polaris Ranger on our trailer behind the second truck. (With 6 of us, off-roading is quite an adventure in packing.) When our last tie-down strap broke, we decided to store the gas cans in the RV shower stall, closing the door to hold any splashes in. A traffic mess and a slow restaurant created quite a delay in our arrival at the Calico Ghost Town campground, so we arrived after dark. As we pulled into our space, blocking the road while we backed our RV in and moved all the quads out, our carbon monoxide detector was blaring – it could be heard echoing throughout the canyon. I was mortified, disturbing the peaceful night, but SO THANKFUL we were warned. I hadn’t even though about the fumes that any spilled fuel could cause. Of course the odor was horrible, but even after the scent was gone, the alarm was still going off – letting us know that there was still an odorless danger lurking about. I had erroneously assumed that having the back door down to unload gear would be enough to air out any fumes. We slept with the windows open and the vent fans on that night. And it was darn cold, too!
Sarh Snarski
Wow! That is scary, especially being a mom of three young kids. Glad you are all okay and now have the knowledge of what to look for in the future if it were to ever happen again! I’m thinking we’ll be purchasing detectors soon!
Renald
This happen to us. The land lord did not fix our gas stove right and he didn’t put in carbon detectors. I do not know why?? My friend smelled it next door and called the fire department.They did alot of paperwork and I went to the doctor with a bad headache. I had to put up a cabbon detector . I wish I had sooner.
Liberty Boblett
So glad you and your family are okay! That is a scary situation! Glad you are spreading the word.
Beth @ E. lizard Breath Speaks
that is something we all have in this family – we gave my brother a detector for Christmas & we are all good.
happy to hear you all are ok. that is so scary. ( :