Bug spray inhalation

Yes, what they say on the labels of the insect sprays is true. “Don’t use in closed space” or “May be hazardous if inhaled.”

I saw Eleanor*, a 50-year-old otherwise intelligent lady, who was brought in by her husband today because he found her passed out. She was awake and walking okay but she kept babbling “I’m sorry”, “I’m sorry”, and “what time is it?”. As the story unfolded, piecing together the husband’s sketchy information and the patient’s limited history, I determined that she had been using at least three different types of chemicals and sprays in the crawl space of their house in order to get rid of spiders. 

I checked Eleanor over thoroughly and found nothing abnormal physically except a large bruise on her leg from where, I learned later, she had fallen down the stairs in her confusion. Initially I was worried that she was having a psychotic break or that she was manifesting the start of a diabetic coma. Her glucose level was normal however. 

Fifteen minutes had passed now and she did not appear to be in serious danger. Her mental status was improving and she was able to give me more details about what happened. I allowed her to go home under the supervision of her husband as long as he called me in one hour to report her condition. She was a fortunate lady. Her husband reported complete resolution of her symptoms.   We all know the danger of chemicals, but we all don’t follow the precautions very well because we don’t believe anything serious will happen to us.