Mysterious Illness Turns Out To Be Prolonged Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
Imagine living with an incurable flu for a quarter of your life, suffering symptoms including malaise, muscle ache and fatigue; the forty-year-old you becomes more debilitated over time, walking like an elderly woman with the help of a cane, eventually becoming mostly bed-ridden. You see doctors, yet the condition continues to baffle you, your family and your doctors.
This mysterious illness that left a mother with extreme fatigue for 10 years, turned out to be chronic carbon monoxide poisoning, resulting from a slow leak in the home’s heating and water systems. Yet, her CO monitor did not detect it.
Imagine your home, the place you relish for safety and comfort, slowly killing you. Effect varies – certain people in your household may be affected by carbon monoxide poisoning quicker than others. Those at particular risk include babies, young children, pregnant women, seniors, and people with heart or breathing problems.
The effects of severe exposure to carbon monoxide are well understood (recall the last time someone died due to “overnight” CO poisoning); slow carbon monoxide poising is not well understood, is real and typically missed by medical experts masquerades as a typical flu.
Symptoms of low-level carbon monoxide poisoning include:
- headaches
- tiredness and confusion
- nausea (feeling sick) and vomiting
- dizziness
- stomach pain
- shortness of breath / difficulty breathing
The longer you inhale carbon monoxide, the worse your symptoms will be. You may lose balance, vision and memory or even experience impaired mental state and personality changes.
Long-term exposure to low levels of carbon monoxide can also lead to neurological symptoms, including difficulty thinking or concentrating as well as frequent emotional changes like becoming easily irritated, depressed, or making impulsive decisions.
After 10 years, the mother has a new lease on life, healing and improving daily – thanks to her contractor who found the carbon monoxide leaking from her home’s gas burning equipment. Irrespective of the reason, aging equipment or poor construction practices in a roaring economy, do your family a favour and check your system today!
by Carla Berezowski,
Home Comfort Expert and Aging in Place Specialist
