Lionfish Venom

[littlefoxx]

Well today was a horrible day. I was adding some rock to the tank and just waived my hand in the direction of my volitan to get him to move.

Usually Parthanaxx (the lion) is a super shy lion. Not sure why but he is very shy of people. But today he decided to ram my hand while doing this. Out of character for him for sure, I was surprised. One spike got me on my finger. One tiny spike. Most people describe lionfish venom stings as bee stings.

Well THAT WAS NOT THE CASE FOR ME.

I felt like lava was in my blood. In the first 30 seconds I started noticing my breathing being hard. My throat was swelling and I felt like I was breathing through a pin hole. A few seconds later my whole body went numb and tingly. Vision blurred. I honestly was scared I wasnt going to make it. Now Im a first responder. I run, and have ran towards shooters and dangerous situations. But this was different. I couldnt do anything. My boyfriend had to call 911.

I was taken code 10 (lights and sirens) to the nearest hospital. Put on oxygen in the ambulance, hit with a full dose of liquid Benadryl and two epi pens. By the time I got to the hospital I was so panicked and unable to breathe and was given medicine to make me drowsey while they worked to get my swelling down. Eventually the breathing evened out and I got feeling back. They numbed my finger and arm where the venom was. They took an xray of my hand to see if the spike was still there. I have swelling in my throat and chest pain still, so I was given an EKG and a chest xray. Thankfully all came back clear and they think I will be okay with some medicine to keep the swelling in my chest and lungs in check. Also prescribed an epi pen.

I just got home after an 8 hour stay in the ER.

This was all from the tip of my volitan lionfish’s spine. Just one and not even that deep of a sting. But Im deathly allergic to the venom according to the doctor.

When I bought my lions I knew I would be stung at some point, and was willing to take the risk. Ive got no allergies that I know (knew) of.

The reason Im posting this is to warn lion owners or new/potential lion owners to be aware that an allergic reaction is very serious and it acts FAST.

Sorry for the long post but I just wanted to put this out there as something for a new/potential lionfish owner to be aware of as I think stories like this are important to share with others as warnings and something to be aware of.

Thanks for reading yall

 

[Kathy Floyd]

OMG. I am so glad to read that you are still here and will be ok.

 

[DrkNMighty]

That is crazy! Thank you for posting and I hope you get to feeling better soon!

 

[19Mateo83]

Wow! I’m glad you won that battle and are recovering.

 

[Cthulukelele]

Glad you have recovered! Consider keeping an epi pen near the volitan tank!

 

[littlefoxx]

Glad you have recovered! Consider keeping an epi pen near the volitan tank!

100%, getting it tomorrow as soon as the pharmacy opens.

Wow! I’m glad you won that battle and are recovering.

Thank you

That is crazy! Thank you for posting and I hope you get to feeling better soon!

Thank you!

OMG. I am so glad to read that you are still here and will be ok.

Thank you, me too. I wasnt sure for a minute to be honest, neither was my boyfriend but they got me taken care of!

 

[Stang67]

Fwiw in my state you need an rx for an epi pen. Needs to be renewed every year. Every person's reaction will vary but it's always better to have something and not need it then need it and not have it.

 

[littlefoxx]

Fwiw in my state you need an rx for an epi pen. Needs to be renewed every year. Every person's reaction will vary but it's always better to have something and not need it then need it and not have it.

Yes! The doctor wrote me a prescription for one. Getting it first thing tomorrow when the pharmacy opens.

 

[TangerineSpeedo]

Was it you that got stung by your rabbit fish about a month ago also?

 

[littlefoxx]

Was it you that got stung by your rabbit fish about a month ago also?

Yep unfortunately! Im very aware of where he is in the tank because of that and dont fix anything in it if he is in the sky is falling mode. My boyfriend thinks I was cursed by a gypsy when my mom was pregnant with me lol. My luck is crap apparently. Rather be stung by the rabbit… ugh

The rabbit sucked butt but at least it just hurt like helhiem. But the lion.. F that!! Awful. Considering re homing my venomous fish, except for Nala. Shes my favorite and I cant get rid of her

 

[TangerineSpeedo]

Probably have a bunch of Grandis Paly's just for extra spicey flavor to your tank...
It's all fun and games until the clownfish draws its first blood.

 

[littlefoxx]

Probably have a bunch of Grandis Paly's just for extra spicey flavor to your tank...
It's all fun and games until the clownfish draws its first blood.

Yep had one bite me in the forehead and leave little teeth marks! Also got water spit in my eye at the LFS by a clownfish when looking at a crab. That gypsy is laughing her butt off today I think LOL

 

[TangerineSpeedo]

Yep had one bite me in the forehead and leave little teeth marks! Also got water spit in my eye at the LFS by a clownfish when looking at a crab. That gypsy is laughing her butt off today I think LOL

OK, you have to tell the story on how in the hoospa, YOU GOT BIT IN THE FOREHEAD by a CLOWNFISH! Quit your dangerous first responder day job ( I see a theme here) and do stand up comedy at Reefapalooza!

 

[littlefoxx]

OK, you have to tell the story on how in the hoospa, YOU GOT BIT IN THE FOREHEAD by a CLOWNFISH! Quit your dangerous first responder day job ( I see a theme here) and do stand up comedy at Reefapalooza!

Oh she was horrible!! Got her and the male from another reefer. Dont have them anymore. She was just rude! Always bit my hand when I was working in the tank. She darts across a six foot tank to bite me. I see her coming and move my hand. She comes sailing out of the freaking tank and lands on the floor cause she wanted to bite me! I was like wow seriously. Picked her up and put her back in the tank. She swims back to where she was like nothing happened. About 2 days later Im changing the nori on a clip for the tangs and Im leaning over the open lid so I can see around the wavemaker. I feel this splash of wet water all over my face then feel her teeth in my forehead! She then plops back in the water like nothing happened and goes about her day. Funny part, she was a picasso. My large maroon female in my other tank never even looks twice at me or cares if Im in the tank but this clown did! I called her Lady because she had such lady like behaviors….

 

[twentyleagues]

My uncle always had a salt water pred tank. He was a big guy like 6'4 or 6'5 easy 250lbs worked out all the time. He was an army ranger, not a normal dude. He used to tell stories about the creepy crawlies hed been bitten by on "assignment" with little to no real issue, "It was like a bee sting" "I dont see why everyone is always fussing" he'd say. He got stung had a reaction like yours, almost died from it. Some people are just sensitive to it. Be carful if you keep them and def keep that epi pen handy.

 

[littlefoxx]

My uncle always had a salt water pred tank. He was a big guy like 6'4 or 6'5 easy 250lbs worked out all the time. He was an army ranger, not a normal dude. He used to tell stories about the creepy crawlies hed been bitten by on "assignment" with little to no real issue, "It was like a bee sting" "I dont see why everyone is always fussing" he'd say. He got stung had a reaction like yours, almost died from it. Some people are just sensitive to it. Be carful if you keep them and def keep that epi pen handy.

Ah that makes me feel better about the reaction and not feel like a wuss. The doctor was just plain confused about how I got stung and they didnt really know anything about them. He said it “could be an allergic reaction but I dont know enough about the fish venom to say for sure”. Guess that makes sense being in a land locked state and all

 

[lion king]

Whoa, did you come home with an epipen. This is definitely a severe case, and if you are to keep the lion, you do need an epipen, if applicable, or get rid of the lion. In 30 years of keeping lions, I have been stung once, my lions literally swim up to me and brush my arm while I'm cleaning, but accidents happen.

For those reading that have lions, this is what you do. IMMEDIATELY, run the hottest water you can stand over the sting point. This breaks the bond on the venom.

 

[littlefoxx]

Whoa, did you come home with an epipen. This is definitely a severe case, and if you are to keep the lion, you do need an epipen, if applicable, or get rid of the lion. In 30 years of keeping lions, I have been stung once, my lions literally swim up to me and brush my arm while I'm cleaning, but accidents happen.

For those reading that have lions, this is what you do. IMMEDIATELY, run the hottest water you can stand over the sting point. This breaks the bond on the venom.

Not yet, Im about to go to the pharmacy to get the epipen as they just let me know its in progress.

Nala (the fuzzy) does the brushing against my arm a lot but she never stings. Parthanaxx (the volitan) doesnt do that at all, he hides when Im feeding and then comes out and eats when he thinks Im not in the room. He seems to just be a very skitty lion in general. Still working with him on tong feeding, he freaks when he sees the tongs and hides. Now Im very nervous to continue trying to feed him with tongs cause I cant get stung again! Im just so lucky my boyfriend was there, not sure what I would have done if he hadnt been there.

And yes the hot water thing is very important. My boyfriend couldnt get me up off the floor so he put a papertowel under the hottest water and put it on my finger. This helped it too, so thats good info for anyone with lions to tell their partners to do in the event you cant get to a sink.

 

[Reefkeepers Archive]

Well today was a horrible day. I was adding some rock to the tank and just waived my hand in the direction of my volitan to get him to move.

Usually Parthanaxx (the lion) is a super shy lion. Not sure why but he is very shy of people. But today he decided to ram my hand while doing this. Out of character for him for sure, I was surprised. One spike got me on my finger. One tiny spike. Most people describe lionfish venom stings as bee stings.

Well THAT WAS NOT THE CASE FOR ME.

I felt like lava was in my blood. In the first 30 seconds I started noticing my breathing being hard. My throat was swelling and I felt like I was breathing through a pin hole. A few seconds later my whole body went numb and tingly. Vision blurred. I honestly was scared I wasnt going to make it. Now Im a first responder. I run, and have ran towards shooters and dangerous situations. But this was different. I couldnt do anything. My boyfriend had to call 911.

I was taken code 10 (lights and sirens) to the nearest hospital. Put on oxygen in the ambulance, hit with a full dose of liquid Benadryl and two epi pens. By the time I got to the hospital I was so panicked and unable to breathe and was given medicine to make me drowsey while they worked to get my swelling down. Eventually the breathing evened out and I got feeling back. They numbed my finger and arm where the venom was. They took an xray of my hand to see if the spike was still there. I have swelling in my throat and chest pain still, so I was given an EKG and a chest xray. Thankfully all came back clear and they think I will be okay with some medicine to keep the swelling in my chest and lungs in check. Also prescribed an epi pen.

I just got home after an 8 hour stay in the ER.

This was all from the tip of my volitan lionfish’s spine. Just one and not even that deep of a sting. But Im deathly allergic to the venom according to the doctor.

When I bought my lions I knew I would be stung at some point, and was willing to take the risk. Ive got no allergies that I know (knew) of.

The reason Im posting this is to warn lion owners or new/potential lion owners to be aware that an allergic reaction is very serious and it acts FAST.

Sorry for the long post but I just wanted to put this out there as something for a new/potential lionfish owner to be aware of as I think stories like this are important to share with others as warnings and something to be aware of.

Thanks for reading yall

Well that is an awful way to find out you're allergic to lionfish venom.


Sorry you had to go through that.

 

[Oiseaufeu]

Omg! I hope you’ll get better soon! I would put quite thick gloves on when working in the tank. This was just a self defense move as it felt threatened by your hand.