WE're calling it Farm Fever. Serious 12 hour fever after demo.
 

I've been doing some searching and can't find anything that is even remotely similar to what has been happening to me every time we go to the farm and do demo on the house..

The house belonged to a horder, and was cleaned out, but it is ultra dirty, and had a WHOLE lot of bugs, mice and dirt and dust in it.... We've been sucking up several large nests of Asian Beatles. The little orange ones that look like lady bugs...

We've both been wearing good thick particle masks... I've been tearing our rugs, walls and floors and joists...

After a day of work, I'll start feeling bad and start getting chills and then start a bad fever. We've not had a thermometer, so I can't tell you how high, but my wife was really worried about me this weekend because I don't remember a lot, other than I wished I was dead it was so bad...

Three times I've been out there ripping out stuff, and three times now I've run this fever and felt really bad. This last time I was over the top though.

It lasts for about 12 hours, and I'll start getting really thirsty about 10 hours into it, and will start urinating a lot then too... I'll start drinking a lot of water, as in an easy three bottles... After about 12 hours I start to feel somewhat normal, but kind of drained.... By the time the next morning rolls around I am feeling mostly back to normal and can function fine..

I've not found any mold, and we constantly wear the dust masks, and my wife hasn't had a problem at all with being sick.... I do plan to break down though and buy me a real respirator with screw on filters in hopes that will help.. I can't keep doing this..

Has anyone heard of such a thing or had anything like this happen?

I would talk to a doctor. There are some nasty (deadly) illnesses that can be transmitted from rodent urine and feces in dust. Hanta virus is one that comes to mind. Also, many molds can't be seen. Specialized biohazard people may be needed to clean up a place like you're talking about. It's not worth your health.

Yep could be a lot of things. I get like that just from plaster dust, but mold, feces, lots of things could do it

Well... WE're about done with the demo now... I got half of the downstairs floor to tear out... We got the other half out this past weekend...

Sadly, we can't afford bio-hazard people, but I do have good health insurance :D

I've wondered about the mouse issues...... But as I said, 12 hours, the fever breaks, and within about 4 hours past that, I'm feeling pretty much normal... I figured if i had to do with mice, I'd be sick for a whole lot longer.

Wow-never heard of such-but be careful-your health is very important & ya don't wanna get something that ya might never be able to get rid of~Good luck~

The first thing that comes to mind is....See a Dr. But having said that, Dr's are only human and would not have a clue as to what is affecting you, but would set you on a road of all sorts of tests and exams.
Having good insurance wont help if you contact one of those more serious type bugs.
My advice would be......Use all the precautions you can, go hard and finish as quick as you can.

Hope all goes well

Cheers.......Scul

I'd be investing in a respirator mask for sure!

If I could see a Dr when the fever is happening I could imagine how he might be able to figure something out, but I think if I went when I was feeling good and told him what was up he'd almost laugh at me.. and then want to spend a fortune of my time in tests like you said...

I feel fine other that that 12 hours or so... It's just SO FREAKIN strange...

Sounds to me like an allergy, since your wife isn't affected. Particle masks are pretty ineffective for anything smaller than sheetrock dust. I'm betting something in the carpet, possibly something used to clean it years ago left a residue. You might want to consult an allergist just from curiosity, so you'll know what to avoid in the future.

Any evidence people were making meth there? I would think Hanta virus and other illnesses wouldn't clear up that fast and mold usually causes respiratory issues not high fevers. By-products of meth making might make you ill until you get away from the exposure. Not that I am any expert, but did a lot of research on meth labs in houses before renting or buying in my part of the world.
If you have good health insurance worth while seeing someone, they might not have a quick answer, but could make sure there isn't long term damage happening that you can't feel or that there isn't any underlying illness that is making you susceptible but not your wife.

Nah.. no meth.. the people that we bought it from were right around 80 and have owned it the last 23 years.... No meth.. just tons of dirt and clutter..

That's the part that keeps me from a Dr.. ;)

I would seriously ventilate the house for days and spray down any dust or dirt with vinegar water/ soap water.
you might try going there without going in the house staying all day ,see if it might be plants/pollen based.

Wow, that sounds actually really scary. Your body is obviously reacting to some kind of environmental hazard that affects only you. The concern that *I* would have is how are you going to react when you actually start living there? Since you don't have a good idea about what it is, you can't say if it's dust-related, mold-related, air-related, whatever. Is it a skin contact thing?

I second the opinion about that silly white masks. They are pretty much worthless. Invest in those kind that cover your entire mouth and nose with a seal--they have soft plastic, and you breath in through two little respirator pucks. I wear these whenever I work with insulation or drywall, or even when shoveling dusty moldy woodchips.

I'm very allergic to a few things--dust, certain nuts, neomycin, dogs--and the closest experience I've had to yours was one time both my husband and I were moving a big pile of woodchips. It had sat awhile and was growing some mold and also starting to heat up and compost a bit. We weren't wearing masks, and that night the both of us started feeling sick--like we were getting the flu. Muscle aches, and I believe one of us ran a fever. And my husband isn't allergic to much. It went away, until the next time we did the mulch. After that we bought the good masks for both of us, and religiously wear them in all dusty situations--we keep them in the safety box along with eye guards and ear plugs. The masks seemed to really make the difference.

It's worth it to get the masks, and try the experiment. If you do a full day of demo with the masks and you're fine, you have more info. Then you can decide if the place is going to do that to you on a regular basis.....

This happened to a friend of mine when he helped me clean my mom's house. Mom was a hoarder, too.

We spend 4 days at a time out there.. the days we're not tearing stuff out, I'm fine... nothing is bothering me and I feel good.... It's just the day's we do the tear out that is eating me up..

The masks we've been using aren't the thin one layer masks.. these are heavy 3 or 4 layer masks with each layer a different kind of material. After I gut up the next day after the fever I cut the mask up and checked each layer. The outer layer was really dirty, then middle layer hardly noticeable there was anything in it, and the inner layer was spotless... BUT... I think I should probably shave too before using them.... I don't have a beard, but about a 3 day growth.

I do still plan to buy a real respirator before we go out there again, and a good friend also suggested I try a pair of swim goggles to seal my eyes... I just don't know if I could deal with that though.

It is so strange though.. we're both in it together, but it seems to only be effecting me... BUT.. I do also smoke and my wife doesn't... we've discussed that some too...

The exact thing has happened to me several times,I thought maybe I uncovered cold and flu bugs that my immune system had never been exposed too or had an extremely allergic reaction to the dust in fact I have been cutting open walls and and pulling out mouse nest and crap all day today so tomorrow we will see how I feel,I thought only I was affected by this stuff,nice (but not really)) to know there are others

Huh.. that's interesting it's not just me then... What ever it is, my wife must be immune to it...

I always did think that which doesn't kill me will only make me stronger, but MAN, this is becoming a real annoying un-fun price to pay...

on a good note so far I've close to 20 cool old marbles that belonged to my wifes dad and his brothers from when they were kids,probably from the 50's so I guess thats cool :),,oh and I forgot to ask,do you get a real bad runny nose as well cuz I do.

Cripes I can only imagine what is in those dwellings. It might not be something you inhale so make sure you also wear safety goggles that seal around your eyes or eye glasses, body covering clothing that you can take off when you wash up when done with the job and a hat or hair covering. So many things can get in through your skin (think insecticides etc that can make you sick) When I get malathion on my skin I am sick for a couple of days.

Nope, nadda, nothing.. no runny nose, no coughing, no sneezing, not sick to my stomach just the fever and chills, sweats... I do seem to get sore stiff joints though... almost like the flu....

Sure wasn't no chemicals ever used in this place... we've pulled mud dabber nests, wasps nests, asian beetles, mice nests... nothing got killed or sprayed in this house.. .no ammonia bleach or anything got used in it for years..

How does the activity level on the days you are working at the farm compare to the other days?
If you are a couch potato and have been for a while before you got the new farm and now you go a work like a crazed man for a whole day, then you can get weird reactions.
If you are exhausted, then your body's immune system can seriously kick in.
Fever is a main component to that.

You are literally kicking your own butt by working that hard.

try the respriator also might try a large fan and blow to outside

Ya know.. It's so funny you say that, because I told my wife maybe I'm allergic to hard work, and my body is reacting to it after I get it on me..

Sadly I have a desk job.... I used to do nothing but heavy manual labor most my life, and the last 12 years has been a desk job... I often say it's killing me quicker than all my previous jobs did.... and many involved highly toxic chemicals and fumes..

I'm hardly ever sick though... Others around me get sick, I seldom do, so that's part of what really has us baffled about this...

We keep the windows open, but this trip we just thought about a fan... Thank god the gas is free to heat with... It's WAY cold with the windows open, but we deal with it..

BTW, these are the masks we've been using..

http://www.uline.com/Product/Detail/...FYd9OgodZn4AyQ

http://www.uline.com/images/product/Large/S_5688_l.jpg

And of, course you know to shower and change clothes when you get done. Nothing worse than going to bed with dust in your hair and respritory system when there's a chance of allergic reaction.

Believe me.. I can't get in the shower fast enough trying to warm up from the chills..

DH and I have cleaned out a few places that have been pretty bad. I can always tell if there is mold in the house because I get like that too. The only difference is on top of that I start coughing up a lung. I had a breathing issue a while back due to black mold in a place we lived at and it took almost 5 years to get better. Now, even tough I haven't had a breathing episode in over 4 years, if I walk into a place with too much mold or way too much dust, I'm sicker then a dog for a day or two. I wear a respirator when I need clean anything really yucky now. If you go to Lowes, they should have a mold test kit you can get for a few bucks. You put it in the room for a few hours, then mail it off to the lab listed on the box. They test it and mail back the results. It's not a lot of money at all, then you'll know and you can take the results to your doctor, if there is mold, and see if there is anything you can do.
Mold isn't always visible, it CAN NOT be killed by bleach, ammonia, or paint. You must use a fungicide.
You can have issues with it and your wife could be fine. DH doesn't have a problem just me. But diffidently be careful and see you doc. Mold issues can last for years.

Now that I stop and think about it, all three times this has happened, I did wake up hacking up a lung a few hours before the fever broke and this past time it was that green nasty phlem like when you have a cold... I just didn't think to tie it in since I smoke too.. but I'm really not much of a cougher from smoking either..

I do take the mask off when I go to take a break. We are out in the kitchen, but I'm sure dust gets in there too and I have a feeling I'm breathing in more dust than I really think..

Am I correct that you are planning to live there?

Yes, we plan to move there a year from this July... By the time we get everything tore out and replace it's gonna be clean..

Chickenista is thinking the way I am, are you drinking enough water when you are tearing up things? Sudden hard work and dehydration could do that to you.

Yeah, I go through a lot of water... no real signs of dehydration until right before the fever breaks and I get really thirsty then... I'll drink 3 or 4 bottles of water through the day on top of juice and a gator aid and maybe a soda at lunch. I really don't get sweaty since I have the windows open and it's pretty cold outside.

First thing is to spring the couple of bucks and buy a thermometer. Next is to use it if your body does it again. I've had allergic reactions that sound a lot like that, but when I actually did take my temp, there wasn't a fever after all. One of the better ways to tell if I am allergic to something or actually another type of sick.

I am still recovering from truck driving after 6 years. Dang work is hard.

My DH gets the EXACT same reaction you do when cleaning out old places.... fever, chills, some aches, generally a headache...next morning, he's hacking for a while.

However, we know what causes it: He's allergic to rodent feces.

It's not Hanta virus or anything, he is simply allergic to mice and rats...and their droppings.

If that mask you're using has any seal that is not AIRTIGHT, it's no good for the work you're doing. Paper, cloth--no good. You need the kind that will SEAL. To the point where your skin will be a little sweaty all around. It won't be so bad if it's cold--and much better for you than inhaling whatever you're inhaling.

The particulates are just too small. The force of your breathing in is pulling air around the mask. The sealing masks pull air in thru the pucks, and blow it out through a blowhole between the pucks. That's why you don't get much condensation inside the mask, although you will get some--your more humid air is exiting the mask, and filtered air comes in thru the pucks.

It's got to seal right to your skin, so yeah, you have to shave. I know what I'm talking about here, because I also wear a breather mask at night for sleep apnea. You gotta have it seal or your mask will be ineffective.

When you get the masks, you will find all kinds of uses for them. Just good things to have around. Get two--one for the wife also.

My Sis and her girlfriend helped me with alot of the demo in this house. Everything was fine until we tore out the living room carpet(the only carpet). We didn't think to wear masks, but we were sick with flu like issues for about 3 days afterward.

Metal Fume Fever

http://multimedia.3m.com/mws/mediawe...SevTSeSSSSSS--

caused by exposure to volatilized metals, marked by sudden thirst, metallic taste in the mouth, high fever with chills, sweating, and leukocytosis. Is there lead in the house?