Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Other subjects
Original poster

anyone had experience of carbon monoxide poisoning?

28 replies

queenrollo · 21/04/2008 08:18

dp has had a terrible headache for two days and been feeling nauseous....had a stressful couple of days so we put it down to that.

but when i woke this morning i felt very groggy, and nauseous and a little bit headachey. Dp said his head still hurts like hell, all in the back of his neck too.
I felt ok over the weekend but dp has been sat in the bedroom working, while i've been downstairs with ds. We were fine all last week when we were staying at dp's place.

I hadn't really thought about it until this morning but the boiler is in a cupboard in our bedroom. I haven't got a detector but am going out to buy one this morning.
i just wondered if anyone had any experience of this? and if it is carbon monoxcide am i going to lose my heating until i can have the boiler fixed? i'm in rented accomodation (for the first time in my life) so should i phone my landlord if there is a problem or do i have to sort it out.

OP posts:
SquonkTheBeerGuru · 21/04/2008 08:22

It is the landlord's responsibility.

It is also his responsibility to get the boiler checked often (I think every year, but I may be wrong on that) to make sure that it is safe and not giving off carbon monoxide.

Get a detector and make sure that your family is safe.

It might just be a bug that you've all got, or flu or something, but get the monitor, as the symptoms are the same as Carbon Monoxide poisoning.

Good luck.

hairtwiddler · 21/04/2008 08:25

Go out and get one NOW! My experience has made me evangelical about this.
It's a long story but I was in rented accomodation (had just moved in)and I came down with flu like illness. Headaches, sweaty, and couldn't keep food down. When I struggled out to get groceries I felt a bit better. While at the supermarket I got a detector as I've always bought one in rented accomodation. I got home and put it on the wall and it turned black immediately.

I could have died in that flat. No one was around to check on me. It was only luck and common sense that saved me.

gas emergency numbers

Please don't faff about over this. Call the emergency numbers first then let your landlord sort it out later.

Original poster
queenrollo · 21/04/2008 08:30

i've just checked the paperwork i was left by the previous tenant and the boiler was serviced in august last year. I'll get a detector and see if i have a problem and if so i'll phone the landlord......fortunately he is a star. When it broke before Christmas he had an engineer round that afternoon to fix it.

We get ds ready in our room at night before bed and sit and read for a bit, last night ds asked for medicine and said his head hurt, which is very unusual for him. He was fine this morning......at 7am full of beans

I've not had central heating for years....the last place i had it the gas fire nearly killed us, and we had no idea there was a problem until a friend who worked for British Gas came round one night and said it wasn't 'burning right'.

off to get dressed in a minute and see if there is anywhere in town i can get a detector........

OP posts:
hairtwiddler · 21/04/2008 08:31

please look here too

3littlefrogs · 21/04/2008 08:33

B&Q or homebase do them. Also - have you considered the possibility of contamination from a neighbour? Are you in a flat, or could someone else's emissions be coming in somewhere?

hairtwiddler · 21/04/2008 08:33

You can get them in Woolworths I think. Good luck and let us know how you get on. Sorry if I'm using scare tactics but I had such a close escape and don't want anyone else to go through the same!

Original poster
queenrollo · 21/04/2008 08:36

my place is like an annexe on the back of a house (also owned by the landlord) the people who live on the front have three kids, and probably have a detector.

it's not scare tactics hairtwiddler, this really isn't the sort of thing to put off.

i live in a small town so few shops but if i can't buy one today i know my friend has one so i will borrow hers.

OP posts:
hairtwiddler · 21/04/2008 08:39

Good! I hope you don't have to live withough heating. If it has to be condemned though maybe someone can lend you an electric heater.
If you live anywhere near the North East I'll come round there with one (and my fancy detector) myself!

GentleOtter · 21/04/2008 09:05

We had a very close shave regarding carbon monoxide poisoning last month queen - we have an oil filled Rayburn which started burning oddly and the smell of unburned kerosene was enough to turn your stomach.
I had a good carbon monoxide alarm (£20) from B&Q which went off - it turns out that the chimney was blocked and the fumes were coming into the house. I had some CM poisoning symptoms as I was the one who was mostly in the kitchen but dread to think what could have happened if there had been no alarm.
Also, it is quite a heavy gas so opening a window at night is not a help as it sinks to the ground then builds up.
Please kick your landlords bottom to get this problem rectified. Today.

Original poster
queenrollo · 21/04/2008 11:36

well i've been and bought a detector......put it in the bedroom about 10 minutes ago and it's still got a reading of 0ppm.

now i'm getting paranoid about going to bed tonight......

just had a text of dp and he still feels awful

OP posts:
SquonkTheBeerGuru · 21/04/2008 11:39

00pm, does that mean nothing?

It is possible that you all have a bug. If you are still worried, check with your local fire brigade - number in the phone book, not 999.

I think they have carbon monoxide monitors which may put your mind at rest...

FluffyMummy123 · 21/04/2008 11:41

Message withdrawn

Original poster
queenrollo · 21/04/2008 11:44

0ppm means it's not detecting anything.....

i'm so used to having low level headaches it never occured to me it could be something like this but dp doesn't usually suffer with
headaches......

i'll give it a while and then have a think about whether to ring the fire briagde or not.......

OP posts:
NorthernLurker · 21/04/2008 11:47

Is the boiler on now though? It needs to be doing it's thing to be giving off Carbon monoxide doesn't it?

Original poster
queenrollo · 21/04/2008 11:49

i put it on when i got in but it doesn't say anything about that in the instructions

OP posts:
NorthernLurker · 21/04/2008 11:54

I don't even have a boiler but I suppose combustion needs to be taking place to produce the gas? If it's on now and the alarm isn't registering i guess that sounds good - does it say how long you should leave it to register?

HappyMummyOfOne · 21/04/2008 11:56

They are pretty instant at going off if there is anything in the air - a 0 reading is good.

The alarm ones are so much better than the sticker type ones as they will wake you in the night, a sticker is only good if you constantly check it.

MrsJohnCusack · 21/04/2008 12:01

this happened to me as a student - headaches, aching neck and limbs etc.etc.

got the gas people out to check, heater was leaking tiny amounts of carbon monoxide. i was bloody lucky TBH. only reason I called them was because I could smell gas - carbon monoxide doesn't smell, but normal gas was leaking too luckily for me because I smelt it.

can't you get the gas people to come and check it? They ahve an emergency number for suspected gas leaks, won't cost you anything I don't think. then you will have an answer.

Original poster
queenrollo · 21/04/2008 12:01

it said it starts detecting after three minutes......

i think i'm going to turn the heating off tonight and see if we feel better in the morning.

i hate central heating to be honest.....much prefer open fires.

OP posts:
Original poster
queenrollo · 21/04/2008 12:18

something just occured to me......and it may be nothing.....

the vent for the central heating is basically next to the bedroom window. if we have the window open could the fumes from the vent be coming back into the room? we do sleep with the window open a bit.

if it's cold outside i can see the steam from the vent blowing right past the window?

or am i talking rubbish?

OP posts:
NorthernLurker · 21/04/2008 12:23

I thought vents were supposed to be a certain distance away to prevent exactly that?

Original poster
queenrollo · 21/04/2008 12:30

hmmmmmmm

i've turned the heating off now and opened all the windows to air the house. i'm going to leave it off til tomorrow and see how we all feel.......

OP posts:
hairtwiddler · 22/04/2008 22:27

How are you all doing queenrollo?

islandofsodor · 23/04/2008 10:33

My Mum suffered from carbon monoxide poisoning. She got headaches and felt sick. My Dad is a gas central heating engineer but what happend was the next door neighbour put something in his garden that blocked the flue.

My Mum used to sit in the room affected so she got the symptoms whereas everyone else didn't.

Don't mess about, get it checked. Your Landlord has to have a Gas Safety Certificate done every year but it isn't any guarantee. All it takes is for something to be blocked in the meantime.

Saggarmakersbottomknocker · 23/04/2008 10:38

Hope you're OK rollo.

A friend of mine had a very lucky escape from carbon monoxide. After being unwell for a few days she found her ds unconscious one morning, she then collapsed on the landing and her dp just managed to dial 999 before passing out by the front door. They were all blue-lighted to hospital for oxygen therapy.

Swipe left for the next trending thread