Unusual health problems

17-12-2007 1:55am #1

For starters, I'm not looking for medical advice per se, just sharing an observation of mine.

I moved away from Kerry last March, fled the nest to Dublin. But since then I've had two significant problems with my health which never happened before. The first was a respiratory tract infection which lasted for two months, at its peak I was coughing up blood. The second is otitis media, a middle ear infection, which I'm still dealing with now. I woke up with an extreme earache last Wednesday morning around 3am. I have a pretty bad head cold at the moment too, I can feel it that my eustachian tube is blocked because my ears don't pop when I swallow, could explain the ear infection.

Anyway, could it possibly be that something in the house could be bringing these things on? I just find it weird that I get hit with two things in the one year which I never had before.

AngryHippie · 17-12-2007 1:59am

Thats nasty.
Check round the gaff for mold, especially black mold. that could have been the RTI and the ear thingy could just be run down and susceptible as a result.
Do you work in an AC environment or drive an AC car ?:eek:

Karoma · 17-12-2007 1:59am

It could be the house. It could be the big amounts of smoke. It could be that you can't take care of yourself after relying on mammy for so long. Who knows? You have seen a doctor or three, right?

17-12-2007 2:04am

Karoma wrote: »

It could be the house. It could be the big amounts of smoke. It could be that you can't take care of yourself after relying on mammy for so long. Who knows? You have seen a doctor or three, right?

Yeah I saw a doctor after both incidents, am on antibiotics for the ear infection.

I share the house with 5 others, used to be six. Of all of those, only one doesn't smoke and the others smoke in the house. In my parents' house, my mam did smoke but never indoors.

Karoma · 17-12-2007 2:05am

You need Dr. House.

AngryHippie · 17-12-2007 2:10am

Unless you've got the lungs of a 60 year old miner, Its not passive smoke.
I'd be more suspicious of air conditioning that hasn't been serviced in ages, or a big patch of black mold somewhere that nobody really talks about. The ear thing can happen to anyone, and probably isn't related unless the lung thing was high up in the throat. If you want to be sure, go home for a month at christmas. If it clears up, stop being such a cesspit and clean the gaff, eat properly and get your AC filters changed at work/car

Pj! · 17-12-2007 2:11am

I have Raynaud’s Disease.

Not really unusual though.

L1011 · 17-12-2007 2:15am

I had constant respiratory tract and ear infections until I stopped commuting to work on public transport. Ex smoker, don't live with any so throat/lungs not *that* ****ed, I think it was just the whole 'being crushed against 200 other sick people' effect of the 18:37 ex Connolly and the red line Luas.

17-12-2007 2:17am

AngryHippie wrote: »

Unless you've got the lungs of a 60 year old miner, Its not passive smoke.
I'd be more suspicious of air conditioning that hasn't been serviced in ages, or a big patch of black mold somewhere that nobody really talks about. The ear thing can happen to anyone, and probably isn't related unless the lung thing was high up in the throat. If you want to be sure, go home for a month at christmas. If it clears up, stop being such a cesspit and clean the gaff, eat properly and get your AC filters changed at work/car

Well I don't think I'm exposed to any air conditioning. None that I know of. Certainly none in work.

Funny you mentioned mould, check pic. My room is grand, there's none in there but that's the upstairs bathroom.

AngryHippie · 17-12-2007 2:18am

Yeah, commuter trains are full of total festers, breathing each others air. You should bring a mask.....:D

leninbenjamin · 17-12-2007 2:20am

Karsini wrote: »

Funny you mentioned mould, check pic. My room is grand, there's none in there but that's the upstairs bathroom.

move out. yer ****ed.

AngryHippie · 17-12-2007 2:20am

That is one cesty jacks. Move out. Cleaning that will only spread spores an mouldy **** all over the place. Do you have to sleep within 20 feet of that mank ?

L1011 · 17-12-2007 2:22am

Is that a round pinned plug socket on the ceiling? How damn old is that place?

And open the window when showering, if you do clean the mould out, ffs...

17-12-2007 2:23am

AngryHippie wrote: »

That is one cesty jacks. Move out. Cleaning that will only spread spores an mouldy **** all over the place. Do you have to sleep within 20 feet of that mank ?

Luckily no. My room is downstairs and there's no visible mould down there. Seems to be all upstairs. But there's no denying that the house is grotty.

leninbenjamin · 17-12-2007 2:25am

MYOB wrote: »

if you do clean the mould out, ffs...

don't go ****ing near that sh*t. seriously. that **** will **** you up if inhaled. I remember watching a documentary about this guy who basically had mould growing inside his nose. 3 years later he had no face.

I also know a guy who's lung capacity increased by 60% when he moved out of a house with mould in it. don't live in mouldy old houses.

L1011 · 17-12-2007 2:27am

leninbenjamin wrote: »

don't go ****ing near that sh*t. seriously. that **** will **** you up if inhaled. I remember watching a documentary about this guy who basically had mould growing inside his nose. 3 years later he had no face.

Thats why I said "if". Had a much smaller but blacker and more vicious looking cluster growing here a few years back, I used P3 respirator masks when cleaning it off and repainting the site (these are the same masks I have for poking around old, potentially asbestos filled buildings). Used anti-fungal paint and put proper ventilation in to that bathroom, problem hasn't recurred.

17-12-2007 2:28am

MYOB wrote: »

Is that a round pinned plug socket on the ceiling? How damn old is that place?

And open the window when showering, if you do clean the mould out, ffs...

No, it's a double pole switch for the shower. I can't open the window, there's only a vent in there, explains where the mould comes from. But it doesn't explain the mould in the other rooms does it?

Looks like I'll be moving out so!

L1011 · 17-12-2007 2:29am

Oh, if theres mould in other rooms, get the **** out and let the council know. Bathroom is about the only place its "acceptable". Windows that don't open are also seriously dodgy legality wise.

I'm presuming the place is rented? Get on to the PRTB about that, as its well below any acceptable standard.

leninbenjamin · 17-12-2007 2:34am

MYOB wrote: »

Thats why I said "if".

sorry misread yer post. damn alcohol.

17-12-2007 2:35am

MYOB wrote: »

Oh, if theres mould in other rooms, get the **** out and let the council know. Bathroom is about the only place its "acceptable". Windows that don't open are also seriously dodgy legality wise.

I'm presuming the place is rented? Get on to the PRTB about that, as its well below any acceptable standard.

Yeah it's rented. The windows are the old ones which have a belt tied to the sides and you pull it up. The belts are either snapped or the windows are jammed in most cases. The house is stuck in a timewarp.

I guess it was a case of naive first timer, I never would have thought about checking these things before but I certainly will next time round.

L1011 · 17-12-2007 2:37am

Age or no age, still get on to the PRTB about it, theres a good chance the premises isn't registered *at all*. Warning, ugly website alert: www.prtb.ie

echosound · 17-12-2007 3:02am

That's pretty ugly alright. Get outta there ASAP.

When I was a student I rented a grotty basement flat which was a bugger for mould, no matter how much I cleaned it with various anti-fungal cleaners etc it kept growing back. Ended up with dermatitis which I suspect was down to the mould in the room, and now, ten years later, it still flares up at times. Get thee to a clean rental.

BrandonBlock · 17-12-2007 3:31am

How do you get rid of mold? I'm also renting and there's very small amounts of it growing on the curtains and walls around 1 of the windows in my bedroom. You can clean it off but it just comes back. The window is double glazed and only been there about 4 years. Any ideas?

echosound · 17-12-2007 4:46am

Short term solution is this dettol spray (think it's dettol anyway) it's in a green bottle, called mould and mildew remover, spray it on, leave for 5 minutes (make sure room is well ventilated as it's powerful stuff and will make you sick if you inhale it) and simply wipe clean. Stops it from growing back for a while too, had this issue in a teeny bit of our bathroom near the window and one spray and wipe clean with this dettol stuff has kept it free of mould/mildew for the past 2 years.

If' it's a persistent problem, ask your landlord to sort it out, seeing as it's by the window and won't stop coming back up, it's probably that there is damp in wall of the surround of the window which he'll need to sort out. Make sure to get it sorted if it's in your bedroom especially, you're breathing the spores in at night (tell landlord that too if he's slow to sort it out).

Another short term option if your room is a bit damp is to either get a dehumidifier and run it for a few hours every day/once a week to dry the air out a bit, or if you can't afford one, blast a fan heater into the room for a few hours to heat/dry up the air.

SubjectSean · 17-12-2007 6:23am

There were a family of Lithuanians on our street and their little girl and two boys sharing a room killed stone dead by the mold

Dettol didn't work for them. Just leave, save yourself

BrandonBlock · 17-12-2007 12:23pm

echosound wrote: »

Short term solution is this dettol spray (think it's dettol anyway) it's in a green bottle, called mould and mildew remover, spray it on, leave for 5 minutes (make sure room is well ventilated as it's powerful stuff and will make you sick if you inhale it) and simply wipe clean. Stops it from growing back for a while too, had this issue in a teeny bit of our bathroom near the window and one spray and wipe clean with this dettol stuff has kept it free of mould/mildew for the past 2 years.

If' it's a persistent problem, ask your landlord to sort it out, seeing as it's by the window and won't stop coming back up, it's probably that there is damp in wall of the surround of the window which he'll need to sort out. Make sure to get it sorted if it's in your bedroom especially, you're breathing the spores in at night (tell landlord that too if he's slow to sort it out).

Another short term option if your room is a bit damp is to either get a dehumidifier and run it for a few hours every day/once a week to dry the air out a bit, or if you can't afford one, blast a fan heater into the room for a few hours to heat/dry up the air.

Thanks ill give those suggestions a try. Landlord is fairly easy-going, could get any kinda work done and send him the bill but I'll try the dettol spray first. Cheers.

Unusual health problems

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