Should I seek treatment 36 hours after mild carbon monoxide poisoning?
December 10, 2011 3:35 PM Subscribe
Should I seek treatment 36 hours after mild carbon monoxide poisoning?
I'm pretty sure I got a mild exposure to carbon monoxide a few nights ago: in a room with an ancient natural gas heater, after about 3 hours of sleep, I woke up gasping for air, with a headache and dry mouth. I left the area and felt better after a few hours. A full day later, I have a flushed face, like sunburn, which appears to be another symptom of CO poisoning. Otherwise, I feel fine. Slightly fatigued and fuzzy-headed, but frankly I always feel that way. Is there any reason to seek treatment at this point?
I'm in a strange city far from home; my regular doctor isn't answering calls (naturally, since it's the weekend); I have health insurance but they don't appear to have an advice line.
I'm pretty sure I got a mild exposure to carbon monoxide a few nights ago: in a room with an ancient natural gas heater, after about 3 hours of sleep, I woke up gasping for air, with a headache and dry mouth. I left the area and felt better after a few hours. A full day later, I have a flushed face, like sunburn, which appears to be another symptom of CO poisoning. Otherwise, I feel fine. Slightly fatigued and fuzzy-headed, but frankly I always feel that way. Is there any reason to seek treatment at this point?
I'm in a strange city far from home; my regular doctor isn't answering calls (naturally, since it's the weekend); I have health insurance but they don't appear to have an advice line.
If you're in the U.S., call the poison control hotline: 1-800-222-1222.
posted by Wordwoman at 3:44 PM on December 10, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by Wordwoman at 3:44 PM on December 10, 2011 [2 favorites]
The half life of CO in the blood is about 5 hours so now you have about .4% of your initial exposure. It's probably not worth administering oxygen at this point which would have shortened the half life. Apparently there are residual temporary residual mild to moderate neurological effects that clear up over time. There is no treatment at this point that can improve things. I would avoid doing anything that involves heavy machinery for 2 or 3 days.
posted by Poet_Lariat at 3:52 PM on December 10, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Poet_Lariat at 3:52 PM on December 10, 2011 [1 favorite]
I have health insurance but they don't appear to have an advice line.
They don't need an advice line, just a regular customer service line. Tell them you're worried about carbon monoxide poisoning, you're feeling foggy and weird, far from home, and you want to make sure you have their approval to cover it if you go to an emergency room. If they say yes, note on a card the person's name, exact time you called, and date. If they say no, you have to do X instead, do X instead (call this local physician, whatever), and note the person's name, time you called, and date.
I would not tell them you 'always feel fuzzy-headed'. If an anvil fell on your head, that would be true also, but wouldn't be super-helpful in determining your care. You might tell a doctor that, but I would not assume the customer service line at the insurance company is looking for ways to help you.
You really want advice and to see a professional for reassurance.
posted by A Terrible Llama at 4:14 PM on December 10, 2011 [1 favorite]
They don't need an advice line, just a regular customer service line. Tell them you're worried about carbon monoxide poisoning, you're feeling foggy and weird, far from home, and you want to make sure you have their approval to cover it if you go to an emergency room. If they say yes, note on a card the person's name, exact time you called, and date. If they say no, you have to do X instead, do X instead (call this local physician, whatever), and note the person's name, time you called, and date.
I would not tell them you 'always feel fuzzy-headed'. If an anvil fell on your head, that would be true also, but wouldn't be super-helpful in determining your care. You might tell a doctor that, but I would not assume the customer service line at the insurance company is looking for ways to help you.
You really want advice and to see a professional for reassurance.
posted by A Terrible Llama at 4:14 PM on December 10, 2011 [1 favorite]
I had something like this happen. In my case, it turned out that it wasn't carbon monoxide but the fact that the heater had been painted and was giving off fumes. I didn't know this until several days later when the heater was tested. I had a headache, was very fuzzy in the brain, had very red eyes and lips (all carbon monoxide symptoms if you consult the internet).
When I rang Nurse-On-Call, they told me to go and seek medical attention within six hours. I didn't because it was a Sunday and finding somewhere that was open while feeling fuzzy headed was very difficult. I still felt weird the day after that, went to my GP, she did do some liver function tests, but I think unless it is very severe, they are unlikely to provide you with any treatment.
At this point, they won't be able to detect much of the carbon monoxide in your system (if that's what it was) to definitively say that is what you had, and as I said above, are unlikely to provide any kind of treatment given that you are not significantly affected. So take it easy, don't overload your system e.g. with alcohol, and don't read any more about carbon monoxide on the internet. It is quite disconcerting to feel that you may have been poisoned, but reading about it doesn't seem to help!
posted by AnnaRat at 4:22 PM on December 10, 2011 [1 favorite]
When I rang Nurse-On-Call, they told me to go and seek medical attention within six hours. I didn't because it was a Sunday and finding somewhere that was open while feeling fuzzy headed was very difficult. I still felt weird the day after that, went to my GP, she did do some liver function tests, but I think unless it is very severe, they are unlikely to provide you with any treatment.
At this point, they won't be able to detect much of the carbon monoxide in your system (if that's what it was) to definitively say that is what you had, and as I said above, are unlikely to provide any kind of treatment given that you are not significantly affected. So take it easy, don't overload your system e.g. with alcohol, and don't read any more about carbon monoxide on the internet. It is quite disconcerting to feel that you may have been poisoned, but reading about it doesn't seem to help!
posted by AnnaRat at 4:22 PM on December 10, 2011 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by DoubleLune at 3:42 PM on December 10, 2011