A rough weekend...need a little air

[Menard]

I don't just invent ways to challenge myself, I accidentally stumble across them as well.

Spent from Thursday evening till today (Monday) in Cave City, and felt rough the whole time. My chest has been bothering me, particularly feeling like I have been punched in the ribs, been having dizziness, and some stomach upset too (nothing major), and just general fatigue.

There are a number of possibilities:

1) Cleaning out the room in Winchester, I finally got to the bed, which was two crash pads stacked upon each other, essentially on the floor. Removed the top crash pad (about a 3-4 inch thick cushioned pad that rolls out like a sleeping bag) and whalla...the bottom crash pad was covered with mold. Sprayed the life out of the pad and the room and probably got a whiff of both the mold and disinfectant.

2) With the mild Summer we have had, the growing season has been spectacular, which also means for those plants responsible for seasonal allergies. I don't have the traditional allergy symptoms, but an allergy can still drag you down without being obvious in its symptoms.

3) Of course, there is always the possibility of having caught a bit of a bug or even walking pneumonia. I've had walking pneumonia before and some of the symptoms are consistent with it; it can carry on for months.

4) Muscle pulls are a possibility for the chest pains, though to me it feels a little deeper than the muscles, but I could be wrong.

5) And of course it could just be a combination of things with the moving, being surrounded by more farmland where I presently live in the new place than what I was in Winchester, and even chemical fumes from recently installed carpet in the new place.


One thing which was a concern to me, being that most of the potential causes involve air intake, was to improve the air at the apartment.

I went out and bought a good size air purifier, plus I had some smaller ones for the bedrooms. This seemed to help a little bit; plus I also have been taking an herbal combination since last night, and doing some deep breathing exercises since last night as well.

Looking at air purifiers in the stores, I got the idea to check some out online; bad idea. As with anything else online, and Google's easily manipulated keyword results, the searches for good ratings and reviews of air purifiers comes as lacking as with about anything else on the internet; there's plenty of sites, but mostly rehashing a lot of the same territory and of course offering to sell the very models they are rating, and that seems to be all they rate.

If money was no object and all I wanted was $300 plus air purifiers, I guess that would do, but I was just looking for information on more commonly available models at the retail stores which are largely under $100.

Now I can hunt and peck to eventually find the information I want. That is a darn shame though as it would be nice to have the information available in a single location.

I guess I'll be doing my own article on air purifiers under $100, and which can be found in local retail stores, for my Joe Camper blog. Perhaps it may not specifically fit with the recreation theme, but people who travel and have allergies or other issues which an air purifier could benefit, especially as the lower cost models are usually smaller and hence more portable, could possibly benefit from it and I think that would be a good fit for the blog.

This week is going to be busy; that's the plan anyway. I do have internet set up in Cave City finally, but I'll be sporadic in getting on the internet with what all I have to do. I'll be more likely to be on next week; at least more regularly.

[Andy]

I used to market a home air filter. It used an activated carbon filter which the air was pumped through. A bit like a gas mask. I think this is the most effective type.

The others use high voltage to spray electrons into the room from needle-sharp emitters to charge particles such as pollen and dust to get them sticking to walls rather than having the particles float around in your room. But these produce ozone which is not good! "Ozone is a gas that can cause health problems, including respiratory tract irritation and breathing difficulty". http://www.arb.ca.gov/research/indoor/ozone.htm

Also, they may cause areas of your room to become (more) dirty.

So, I don't think you will find a good solution in the sub $100 category.

Maybe your problem is more to do with lack of ventilation for the room? In warm humid conditions, you want to have all the windows and cupboard doors slightly open to keep the air fresh so the spores that form mold don't build up..

[Menard]

Activated carbon filters do well for removing odors and trapping some airborne particles; and I believe, correct me if I'm wrong, that they can trap some chemical fumes as well, where many particles filters cannot, or not very well. I use a carbon filter purifier as a supplemental filter each in the living room and bedroom; it's just a simple filter that plugs into a wall outlet, and hangs there not taking up any room, which uses less expensive replacement filters.

The one I bought for the primary air purifier in the living room uses a HEPA filter and UV filter combination; it is a tower design just at the top of the $100 range. http://www.therapureair.com/therapure201m.html

The HEPA filter, from what I have been reading, uses a molecular design which allows air to pass through the membrane but will trap any particles larger than that. These filters are often used in vacuum cleaners and have a baffled design to increase the surface area.

The UV filter basically is a germicidal filter.

It also uses a photocatalyst filter which apparently traps airborne chemicals.

It has a bonus that it uses a permanent HEPA filter which can be cleaned rather than having to buy one every 3 months. I've noticed one of the caveats of the lower cost purifiers is that they can end up being more expensive as they will require replaceable filters whereas the higher end purifiers often have permanent or longer lasting filters which can just be cleaned.


A bad idea was the ionizer filter which was just the ionizer alone. The concept of negatively charging particles is a valid concept, but, as you pointed out, it makes the particles effectively sticky, and unless there is a way to trap them, they'll stick to anything they come into contact with, especially walls. Of course, just having electrical appliances running will do the same thing; smokers will notice a tendency of tobacco stains to collect in greater concentrations around TV sets, light bulbs, and other electrical devices.

I'll avoid the less expensive purifiers with an ionizer unless there is an option to turn off the ionizer. An ionizer is a good idea, and there are manufacturers who do make ozone free ionizers, but I am likely not to be interested in one unless it declares such.


I just found a way to recycle some old air purifiers for which the replacement filters have been discontinued. It originally used a 3 stage filter in a plastic filter cage. Interestingly the cage can be opened easily and I found a 4 stage home furnace filter which can be cut into several filters of appropriate size and simply inserted into the cage.

[Andy]

Maybe this is a solution if you are having problems with air quality? :-

Drive out into the countryside, well away from the city and take in some lung fulls of clean air. Maybe take a book to read or laptop to work on to make it more useful?

Or even cycle out there.

Personally, I have no allergy problems and rarely catch anything more than a common cold. Except maybe, a bad reaction to mosquito bites. When I was working as an employee I hardly ever took a day off sick. The only times were when I crashed a motorcycle, needed surgery for a hernia, had to morn a lost one and when I got food poisoning from cream cakes that someone brought into work for a celebration. Not being too fussy over what you eat as long as it's fresh food helps a lot I think. For example I eat veg, meat, raw fish (sashimi), pork, beef, bacon, peanuts and drink alcohol.

[Menard]

Drive out into the countryside, well away from the city and take in some lung fulls of clean air.

I am well away from the city. Cave City, the new town to which I have moved, barely has a population of 2000 (I'll have to look that up as I don't know for sure). It is odd living in an area, having lived in a region before where there was a Walmart store in every town, where there is a stretch of interstate 70 miles long and only one town along that stretch has a Walmart. Keep in mind, though, that most of the towns along this stretch barely have enough of a population to justify being on a map.

This Summer season has been unusually mild and drought free; the perfect growing season and conversely it has been the perfect growing season for the plants to which most people are allergic. Ragweed is in season and very prolific right now. I have not had as many symptoms as my neighbors, but being that they are going through some of the same stuff as I am, I'll put it off on allergies; though I don't think that getting a lung full of mold and disinfectant helped much either.

Indoors is a collective of particles like dust, mold spores, pollen, chemical fumes, etc., in greater concentration that being outside, just simply out of the fact that ventilation does not work as well inside and things collect, grow, and in the process of moving I have brought some stuff in with me from the old residence. Being a smoker, the purifiers should help in that degree to cut down on the ambient smoke, residue, and hopefully make it more comfortable for guests who do not smoke.

I am thinking of getting a humidifier for the Winter to use in my bedroom. I have very dry skin and hopefully that will help this time around.

[Andy]

Your problem is caused by smoking. The tar that lines your breathing equipment prevents you from exhaling pollen and dust so you will need to forcibly cough more to get it out. I would look for another addiction if I were you to take your mind off smoking.

[Menard]

...you will need to forcibly cough more to get it out.

Deep breathing exercises are less damaging to the lungs. The premise is that we do not fully inhale or exhale when we breathe; so to do this we can blow the air, as though blowing up a balloon, out the mouth until we can't blow anymore, then inhale all the way, through the nose. Only do this about 5 times at any one setting, or you might get dizzy.

[Andy]

I don't see how coughing can be in any way damaging to lungs since it is a natural response to respiratory irritation. Like sneezing for the nose.

Deep breathing is not natural IMO unless you want to hold your breath for a long time, like when you are doing some under-water swimming.