How long will breathing difficulties due to chemical exposure take to heal?

Hi doctor,

I have been experiencing one new problem, which has unfortunately caused me a bit of an issue. Three months back, I went to the bathroom to use a mold spray as it had quite a bit of mold on the wall that needed removing. Unfortunately, I made a mistake that led to the problem I am currently experiencing now. When I sprayed the toilet, I did not fully cover my nose, which meant that I inhaled the spray and the mold spontaneously for roughly three minutes straight before leaving the bathroom to let the mold dry and remove itself after spraying it. Upon leaving the toilet, in a few minutes, I felt my nose burning and irritated. After thirty minutes of irritation, I started experiencing congestion in my nose, which caused me to find it hard to breathe fully as my nose felt stuffy. Until today, my nose is still sore irritated, and I feel discomfort. But what I found even more challenging was that it became difficult to inhale and exhale appropriately without my nose feeling stuffy, congested, and blocked. Whenever I try to inhale the fresh air, I feel like there is no air entering my nose, so I do not get that relief factor that we all do where the air runs up your nose, and in that feels so good and relieving. Instead, when I inhale, it feels like artificial air that has partially entered my nose, and even to inhale, it feels like nothing has entered my nose. And when it comes to exhaling, it is the same issue. However, there is some time when breathing feels refreshing and normal, but within twenty minutes, the same problem comes back. Then I visited a general practitioner, and they inspected my nose. They did confirm that my nose had redness inside, which could mean that it was irritated. However, they mentioned they could not see any blockage, congestion, or abnormalities in my nose. They then said this mold spray is acceptable and safe to use at home; therefore, it should not cause any long-lasting issues. So I continued with my life, hoping and expecting this to go away by itself eventually. Since that time, I can say that the irritation has gone away entirely, so there is no longer burning, irritation, or soreness, for that matter. However, the inhaling exhaling issue persists, which has been a significant problem. Though I am breathing normally. I do feel like I am inhaling and exhaling nothing. It sometimes makes me feel sick, as if I want to vomit because I feel like I am being cheated from having that fresh, refreshing air that we all depend on. So, since this problem has happened, it has been roughly three months, and it has caused me issues in my day-to-day life. I have tried some natural remedies, such as a hot pan of water with vapor rub and inhaling-exhaling, but it has only helped slightly. Kindly resolve my following questions: 1. Is this a temporary reaction? If so, how long does recovery take? 2. What is your opinion on this issue? 3. What is the best course of action? 4. Why is my nose acting this way? Occasionally unblocking itself and most times blocking itself? 5. Why do I feel it is artificial? I am slightly starting to get worried now as it has been some time, and something as simple as using a mold spray has caused this issue. Please tell me what you think and what I should do next as I want my nose to go back to how it once used to be before all these issues came up. Also, I have never had asthma or any problems before this in terms of medical history.

Hi doctor,

Thank you for your response. I wanted to know if my problem would recover in some time as I have inhaled chemicals. Additionally, I would like to know; 1. How long does recovery take? 2. Is my nasal mucosa irritated or blocked? 3. Will my inhaling and exhaling return back to normal? 4. How much damage had the mold spray caused me? Also, I have been reluctant to take medications due to side effects, so I want to know if they have any significant side effects? Please help me with this.