Deadly Chlorine Gas - From Household Cleaning

Hey so this is more of a serious post about a danger lurking in everyones home. Last night i was cleaning my bathroom bin as it was a bit smelly from having nappies in it. i reached for the Harpic-toilet cleaner and squirted it into the plastic bin. I then thought to myself hmm im not sure if that will destroy all the germs so i found the Domestos- bleach and poured that in to. I'd mix them all the time in the toilet together so i didn't take the warning serious of not mixing them with anything else. i just thought it was like one of them warnings on shampoo if you get it in your eyes see a doctor straight away. so anyway i carried on to clean the bin and put it in the sink under the hot tap. I pulled it away from the tap and i got a whiff off the very potent gas i took a step back and thought wow that was strong the tap was still running so i stepped forward again to pull the bin away and turn the water off and as i did the strongest gas hit me in the back of the throat. i dropped the bin back in the sink and immediately opened the window.

Instantly i started coughing and sneezing, my eyes watered and i began to feel breathless at this point i had phoned my sister to see what i should do or if i could die. She assured me if i was going to die i would have by now, she told me not to google but she knew i would so i checked out, what happens when you mix bleach and toilet cleaner together and i read that it can cause fluid on your lungs and at this point i was already coughing and sneezing and i couldn't get my breathe properly so i rang the out of hours gp and the woman told me to go to a&e straight away if i was having respiratory problems. So my wonderful mother-in-law came to take me up to the hospital by this point my coughing was so raspy and sore. We arrived at a&e and were moved to the see & treat area almost straight away. As i was sitting there unable to get my breathe and frustrated that i kept coughing and it hurt so much i began panicking and and crying. So Sue(mother-in-law) got a nurse and she began to take my obs to take my mind off it and calm me down. Another nurse came to take over the obs and told me my oxygen levels were fine so that was reassuring they then moved me to the a&e's trolley department where i waited about 2 hours to be seen to it felt like 10 while i was hurting so much.

 While i was waiting for a doctor they sent me for an x-ray to see if their was any fluid on my lungs. (it looks like a well cool job with all their clever machines). As far as i know that came back fine. The junior Doctor saw me first and said the best treatment was probably a nebuliser to help open up my airways again. So he went away to order that and pain killers and a senior doctor appeared (i say senior none of the doctors i saw in the hospital last night where any older than 30) he decided that the nebuliser would be the best treatment too. While he was examining me he was quite funny he was just saying really casual 'they say you shouldn't mix bleach and toilet cleaner, they make chlorine gas' I'm glad he found the situation funny because any time i laughed it sent me into a coughing fit. After being seen by the doctor the nurse came and put the nebuliser on me which was salbutamol with oxygen.

And gave me my painkillers. The nebuliser worked great i could feel it opening up my lungs i was able to breathe deeper and deeper as the medication hit my lungs. Then all of a sudden i got pins and needles in my hands and my head felt foggy i began panicking and crying again and another junior doctor appeared and explained that the medication can raise your heart rate causing you to panic so once again i was reassured and calmed down to take the rest of the medication. After the salbutamol i felt dizzy and sick like i was going to faint. i didn't feel myself at all and the doctor was talking about keeping me in i really didn't want to stay there over night so i did what she said an lay back let the medication wear off abit and i felt alot better for it. I still didn't feel 100% and probably should of stayed as i nearly fainted when i got home but luckily my amazing mother-in-law stayed the night to make sure i was ok. Im sure that woman was born in heaven!
Anyway this all happened at around 10.30pm i was at the hospital for 11pm and was home by 3.20am. I have 100% learnt my lesson and will never mix bleach and toilet cleaner togeather again. I'm in bed now my chest still hurts like hell. i have a headache and im still a bit wheezy and coughing but i definatly feel alot better than 11pm last night. So thankful it wasn't any worse and that Sue and the doctors were so caring and helpful. NHS (YES)

PLEASE ALWAYS FOLLOW WARNINGS AND NEVER MIX BLEACH AND TOILET CLEANER.

Thanks for reading Hana xX