Any human doctors - propane gas leak - feeling poorly

Birker2020

Birker2020

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My partner has a 3 bedroom mobile home which is supplied with his job as groundsman. It runs on electric and calor propane gas. We had a gas leak previously and the service engineer came out and found the valves had become loose under the mobile and the gas was rising through the floor under the bed in the bedroom. On Saturday my partner was working but I was in and out of the mobile all morning. I started to feel light headed and headachey and thought it was because I'd had no breakfast, so ate some cereal. However I still felt poorly and started to feel sick. When I went back into the mobile after cleaning out the hens I could smell a strong smell of gas so got the dog outside and rang my partner and told him. He came and switched the gas off and said it was caused (according to the service engineer by the gas running low in the cannister).

All day saturday and sunday I felt poorly, weak, sick and headachey despite taking numerious paracetamol tablets. I felt really funny again this morning, and now I have just gone to Morrisons in my lunch break and almost passed out from feeling weak and giddy.

Our carbon monoxide alarm that we bought after the first incident never went off, I have googled and found out this was because our gas is natural gas which is LPG and therefore different.

Partner says LPG/butane/propane does not rise and has nothing smell wise to indicate it is leaking, but I have read that it has an odour added to make it smell to alert people. Does anyone know how long the effects of gas last in the body for? I know the gas enters your bloodstream and causes hypoxia but I am not sure how long it lasts. Should I take myself off to A&E? I am sure it is the gas and not a virus/flu but the symptoms are very simliar. I am a bit worried as feeling very weak and lousy still but don't want to make an idiot of myself in A&E either!!
 
If you are feeling ill you should get yourself and your animal(s0 out of there and not go back until you are satisfied that any gas leak is dealt with. Ring your Docs for advice, but GET OUT NOW!
 
Get off the internet
Take your dog out
Leave the home
Either call nhs direct/gp or head off to a+e

Get yourself seen to and you will feel much better
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Carbon monoxidei is a product of the combustion of propane gas so when you are using your heater or cooker, if it isn't properly set or adjusted, it could lead to too much carbon monoxide in your home.

Go to A and E and ask specifically whether your symptoms are due to carbon monoxide. A simple blood test will give the answer.
 
Thanks for your replies. I am at work not in the mobile. The cylinder has been changed and there is no more leakage, it was because the cylinder was getting low and then it leaks for some reason. I didn't use my mobile phone inside the mobile, nor did I switch any switchs, I know the dangers. In fact even creating static electric by walking around can cause a leak to explode so I am aware of the dangers.

I don't know how long Carbone Monoxide stays in teh bloodstream.
 
I use LPG bottled gas for my central heating and it definitely doesnt leak when its getting low. You really really must find out why this is happening and get it fixed - its lethal stuff. I was told that its very heavy gas and, therefore, if it is trapped in your house/under your house it may well not dissipate. This could well mean you still feel ill even though its not currently leaking. To give you an example I was told by the engineer who services my boiler that if you had a leak in eg a cellar the only way to remove it is to use buckets to 'carry it out' (No, not making this up, I know a bit about it as I had a leak under my bathroom floor and did quite a bit of research!)
 
[ QUOTE ]

I don't know how long Carbone Monoxide stays in teh bloodstream.

[/ QUOTE ]

best way of getting hold of a human doctor is to phone NHS direct or your GP surgery.

Do I need to repeat the word Now? What are you waiting for? Unconsciousness?
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better to be safe than sorry.
 
Firstly, LPG is liquid propane gas and is heavier than air. so it tends to sink and flow away downhill. Not rise into your mobile home. Natural gas is methane and is lighter than air. it is very different. Blue gas bottles are Butane which is even heavier than propane. Carbon monoxide is a product of combustion of all three gasses and is very toxic. Your Carbon monoxide detector will detect it regardless of the type of fuel being burnt. The worst kind of heaters are the free standing heaters with the ceramic bars,these dont have a chimney and are supposed not to produce carbon monoxide ,they do however use up a lot of oxygen,and in a poorley ventilated room can make you feel very ill.......Your gas heating engineer sounds very dubious. perhaps its just the way you have understood what he said, but is he actually qualified and registered.
 
I went to the walk in centre at the hospital yesterday afternoon and got seen within half an hour. I explained what had happened regarding the gas leak to the doctor who saw me. He put a pulse monitor on my finger and then checked my blood pressure. He looked on his computer and went on the internet and then told me I was fine as propane cannot emit carbon monoxide (wrong, wrong, wrong). Headache gone although I don’t think it will take much to bring it back. Still feeling bit queasy and dizzy. I have been feeling like this for many months, but obviously a lot worse when the two leaks happened. I went to the doctor weeks ago and had blood tests but obviously they didn’t test for carbon monoxide at the time as I hadn't been suspicious it was that, but now wondering if we have had low level of leakage from the boiler for a long time. We have been in the mobile for 16 months now and although I don't live there full time I stop there at weekends. They thought my symptoms at the time were to do with anxiety as I was shaky, heart racing, dizzy, headachey.

Our dog is having breathing problems at the moment and is under investigation by the vet at the moment (thought it was reverse sneezing she was suffering from) and my partner is feeling constantly tired all the time. We had the calor gas service engineer out last time and he fixed the fault and says it would be okay but we are obviously going to have another service engineer out now although we are now hooked up to a full canister of gas now which should prevent the problem.


The doctor at the walk in centre at A&E was totally incorrect in what he was saying that propane does not cause carbon monoxide poisoning, I found numerous internet sites including a fact sheet from Calor Gas stating that propane does cause Carbon Monoxide and you can smell it (as it had odorant added for safety) once the volume of leakage exceeds 5%. It is a very low lying gas but certain conditions (like leakage from boilers) and as in the case of the previous leak we had where the wind was pushing the gas upwards underneath the mobile through the bedroom floorboards. You are not allowed to completely block the sides of the mobile on floor level as if there is a leak it can accumulate and then explode which is why in certain weather conditions leaking gas can be pushed upwards. If propane mixes with water it creates harmless carbon dioxide. Mixed with oxygen it can cause carbon monoxide.

The carbon monoxide detector that my Mum bought us following the first leak did not go off on Saturday although I tested it afterwards by pressing the button and it worked okay. This is due to the fact that propane is a natural gas, and you need a different type of monitor for butane/propane although we didn’t know at the time. Now we know.

Thank you for your help. The doctor thinks I have a flu bug or something similiar as my Oxygen sats were 94 and if they are under 92 there is a problem and he said if they had been lower he would have sent me for a blood test. He also said that he wouldn't expect me to still be suffering from symptoms of posioning (even though it stays in your blood for a while). I think the doctor yesterday was hinting that my symptoms were psychosomatic.
 
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