Looking for advice

[katrom]

I was diagnosed with episodic cluster headaches a little over a year ago (after being told for years they were migraines), but I've been having them for about 6 years. Most of mine originate from seasonal changes.

I work for a city, and the building I'm in is awful. On Monday, there was a very strong sewage smell that gave me a migraine all day accompanied by severe nausea, and this was also experienced by at least 2 others in my office. Tuesday, I could still smell the gas, and I was told that there's an open pit in the boiler room across the hall from my office that is leaking sewage gas. I was also told that the air ducts in this building haven't been cleaned in over 20 years. On Tuesday I had three very severe headaches, all at the 9-10 range, and they felt like a CH. What was strange was when I went outside for 15-20 minutes they went away. When I get cluster headaches, they typically last for 1-3 hours if I don't use O2, so it was strange for them to go away so fast. I left work early, and didn't have any headaches at home. I'm at the point that if this happens again that I'm going to quit my job, or tell them I'm not coming back in until the problems are solved, but it's easier said than done since I am at the beginning of my career. 

I'm wondering if anyone has any advice, and/or if anyone else has experienced any smells or pollutant that trigger a short CH cycle. I typically get them for 3 weeks at a time, and the attacks are almost always at the same time. I haven't had any attacks today, so I'm wondering if this was a CH, or if this was just my body reacting to the sewage gas. 

 

Any thoughts? Thanks in advance. 

[jon019]

Yup...smells can at least trigger a hit...not sure about  cycle. Some folks where I worked thought I was NUTS because if I caught a whiff of welding on galvanized metal (zinc) I would bolt from the room like a crazed rabbit (with no explanation)...it was a sure hit odor for me.

Re your work situation...wow...it sounds like the causal attitude is...yeah, there's this pit....and,oh, some sewage gas.....If they won't respond to your plight the only thing I can think of is you gotta organize your fellow workers (are you in a union?) and descend on HR for relief. That's the kind of thing that can be fixed....no one except Ed Norton should have to deal with that. Never mind the headaches...it's a quality of life deal and the definition of a "toxic" or "hostile" work environment...............

Best

Jon

[xxx]

Good points Jon... except I would take it a step further and make an anonymous call to the city health department and report the problem... Raw sewage fumes are a very real health hazard!

V/R, Batch

[spiny]

The leak should be reported to the authorities. I don't think that you need to be exposed as the whistle blower either. That is an extremely unhealthy environment for anyone!

I bet that OSHA would have a fit over it, as well as the health dept!! Sewage often = methane. Which you can't smell but it is deadly. Your head is aching from the contamination I think. Going outside is clearing the gas from your system so the headache dissipates.

[Glenson]

I think it's also virtigo , what are meds you taking now. I have also the same issue and it's really disturbed my work.