FAQ: Can you have a complete recovery from carbon monoxide poisoning?

Short Answer: Yes. More than 50% of those who survive carbon monoxide poisoning do have full recoveries. But when a person has been poisoned on multiple occasions the chances are less.

Can you have a complete recovery from carbon monoxide poisoning? Yes. More than 50% of those who survive carbon monoxide poisoning do have full recoveries. But when a person has been poisoned on multiple occasions or are more vulnerable, there chances are less of recovery.

From our Video Blog: Gordon Johnson: Can you recover completely from carbon monoxide poisoning?

Griff Winthrop: You can. In fact, most people do. But those that suffer permanent brain damage can have accommodations. And we have clients that we get that sort of help for, but fully recovering the neurologic damage that’s been done to your brain or the tissue in your heart. There’s no fully recovering from that.

Gordon Johnson: Statistically in the people that have been poisoned enough to be identified in a hospital system, about 60% have what I would call apparent full recoveries. 40% are believed to have delayed neurological deficits, meaning they’re they’re continuing to struggle with neurological problems at least for a few weeks after the poisoning.

In our experience, that 40% is probably a little light and would depend on two factors. One, how high the poisoning was, even though statistically it’s often said not to make a difference. Second and more importantly, how many times the brain was exposed to those levels.

So unfortunately, the nature of our cases, at least half the people get poisoned on more than one a day. And often they may be poisoned for several weeks, with the levels getting progressively higher until either someone gets so sick, they go out buy a detector. The other way the cycle is stopped is the cumulative effect is figured out by some doctor, who then tells them to buy a detector.

So in the cases where you’ve been getting hit with 200-300 parts per million every cold day for months, in those cases there’s a  probability of well over 50% morbidity. And we’ve seen situations like that where every family member or four out of 5 are going to be affected. And we know that not just because they’re ill, but their MRIs show the damage.

So, yes, a single exposure to even quite significant carbon monoxide levels, most people get better.  I’ve seen as high of a COHb level of 50% level in someone who had a complete recovery.  But if you’ve had a significant poisoning, especially if you fit into some of the categories of people who are more vulnerable, then there is a significant probability that you will have permanent problems.