Just found our gas cooker has been emitting CO for many years. My wife is in her mid-sixties and we both have health problems. I suffer from severe exhaustion, sleep apnea, heart problems and lung damage.

I work as a security guard in a residential site at night. Throughout a 12 hourr night, I do patrols of the site, the rest of the time I'm parked in a location where I can see access and egress. I've been the main guard here for over 2 yrs. I started to get really bad headaches, nausea, heartburn and dizzy spells while at work. I was excessively tired, even though I'd get enough sleep. Symptoms progressed over the course of 9 months. One night, I was sitting in the vehicle at work, chatting with my husband on the phone when I lost conscious. My husband was yelling at me on the phone, and when I didn't respond he called 911 thinking I'd been attacked or worse. Police were able to rouse me, and within 20 minutes my husband was at my work. I was taken to the hospital where it was determined I had C02 poisoning! It turned out the cars manifold was completely clogged - leaking exhaust into the cabin of the car! I spent a night at the hospital, and a week recovering my senses. My employer repaired the car, and I've since returned to work. Thankfully I was on the phone when this happened or it could have been an altogether different outcome.

Today could have easily been the last day of my life. I was in my garage working on my car. I had to start the car briefly and shut it off as part of the repair step. I had the side garage door open for fresh air. I finished the repair and slid under the car to grab tools and extra parts. I started to feel confused and began going in and out of consciousness. I was able to get up and crawl to safety. After several falls and blackouts I finally made it in the house. I could not breath my head was pounding and I was very confused. My roommate found me and drove me to the ER. The doctors were very nervous as my vitals were low. I spent the next 12 hours on oxygen getting all kinds of tests and I was lucky to have made it through with no permanent damage. Thirty seconds more in the garage and I would be gone.

After New Year's I started having headaches which I never have. I would wake up in the morning with a headache and they would get better or worse during the day depending how often I was outside. My business is in my home so I am there most of the day. One day I went to check my oil tank in the furnace room and noticed some black flecks of soot on the floor. When I went behind the furnace I found that the barometric damper on the smoke pipe to the chimney had stuck in an open position and would not operate. Thus I was getting co2 into the basement. I called the plumber and it was repaired. Within two days my headaches went away. Please have someone check your furnace completely every so often especially when the weather is very cold and your furnace is working overtime.

Both my son and I have been experiencing excessive fatigue for the past few weeks. I have a sleep disorder and I thought I was just going through one of my "bad" times when I get really tired. I also had the thought that my thyroid was out of balance again, hormone wise. My son takes medicine for bi-polar which causes him to sleep long hours at night. Because of these things I didn't realize that something was very wrong. My son told me after the fact that he had been having mild headaches. I called the heating and airconditioning company to come help me with my furnace because I didn't know how to change the air filter. I've only lived in my house for 2 1/2 months. The furnace was also making a "popping" noise as it operated. The service men came out today and diagnosed the problem. That's when they told me we had the problem with carbon monoxide poisoning. It sure explains why my son and I had been so fatigued.

Our family of five has been ill for five or six weeks. Thought it was a virus. We have had dizziness, nausea, coughing and weakness. Went to the doctor 3 times was treated for bronchial infection. X-rays showed swollen lungs so took antibiotics and tried to get extra rest and such. Finally, after many weeks, we called the gas company after remembering how ill we had become in a previous home from a faulty water heater leaking gas into the basement. (We immediately replaced it!) The gas company came yesterday and found a carbon monoxide (CO) leak in the family room gas fireplace. I was reminded to get a CO monitor in the home. I hope my husband and I and our 3 children will not have long-term effects, but can't see how there won't be some problems as we have been sick so long. Get those monitors!!