hi guys last night i tryed doing another extraction with stb, and didnt have nething to mix the lye and water with but a big metal spoon which i found out was a BIG mistake. The glass cracked and the whole room floor was covered with naoh water and i spent about 20-30 minutes in the room cleaning it, i had safety goggles on and gloves but i was inhaling the fumes the whole time. I just woke up today with the flu, a horrible headache and pain all over body. should i be worried cause i am? and anything i should do , really prefer not to see a doctor... thnks

Doctor. Now. You were fixing a clogged drain.

I agree, you don't want the damage - if any - to get any worse, so go to a doc.

wishing you the best!

Those sound like the symptoms I got when I stupidly tried smoking some contaminated spice. My symptoms eventually went away, but I had several days of feeling lightheaded. I'd go to the doctor, you can never be too careful. Lye is no joke. This is the only body you have in this lifetime, so take care of it. Hope you get it taken care of.

I agree, see the doc, as posted above, you were using "something called lye to clean my drain"

To prevent such things I keep most of the extraction action happening inside a large rubbermaid container, if anything breaks or spills, it is way less dangerous, and time consuming to clean, health and safety is #1

thnks for the support everyone,ill try to make appointment tomorrow

Everyone has said go to the doc already - so I'll give you a different tip.
Stir your lye in the bathtub (or use HDPE plastic)

I beleive this is covered by the doctor-patient confidentiality agreement. But I would probably lie anyways. I'm always afraid of "anonymous" phone calls. Here's some lies that might work:
-Gardening and confused snack bag for lye bag.
-Ate it on a bet.
-Small fire and it caught up (does lye burn?)
-Gardening in improperly vented greenhouse for long time.

I think a better use of intellect could be sought then ways to lie to the doctor about how injury's were received.
Besides patient doctor confidentiality, its better that the doctor knows the true extent of the exposure.

We are not children hiding things, this is a serious matter.


Lye should be added to water slowly, never add water to lye. The addition of lye to water is extremal exothermic, and can cause thermal shock to glass.

I wish the OP all the best.