Hello Iloveamma,

Chlorine fumes, as well as chlorine dioxide fumes will irritate your airway. It is not unusual to trigger heart palpitations and the usual nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headaches, and a general feeling of being run down.

The solution is to go outside and clear your airways, eliminate the fumes from inside your house, and drink lots of water. These gasses are flushed out of your body by drinking lots of water. You have already done the Vitamin C, and that should quickly take effect. It works well with both chlorine and chlorine dioxide gas.

When people report adverse conditions, I always recommend taking Vitamin C and stopping all other treatments until the person has recovered. I think this is a good recommendation for you too.

"Will I Live?" Of course... at least until you die... [smile icon]

The worst case is that you got a significant dose of these fumes and the irritation in your airway will develop into bronchitis or pneumonia. This may not show up immediately, but is a concern of developing over 24 - 48 hours. Once you get past that, you should be good to go.

In general, you would need a pretty healthy dose to suffer these conditions, but if your immune system is compromised, a smaller amount may be enough. I have had air monitoring alarms go off when using the bathroom in a plant while the janitors were disinfecting the bathroom. That means that the concentrations of air born gases were higher than what is allowed for safety, and also means that you can experience these higher concentrations while cleaning at home.

Monitor yourself and take notes. If breathing becomes difficult, call the doctor and tell them you have inhaled some chlorine fumes and then tell them what your symptoms are. They should be able to take it from there.

Tom