Please help Palytoxin Poisoning, Me, Wife and Dog.

[HolySmoke]

Yesterday I moved my tank 10 ft across the room and towards the end of the night my wife helped me put the last couple corals from the bottom of the brute into the tank.

Mind you first time in 10 years of being together her hands have touched saltwater.(I think) Fast forward 8 hours later and I'm waking both of us up with a nasty cough,stuffy nose, and post nasal drip. I woke up with the chills and felt sick. Couple hours later my dog throws up and I noticed he is taking short shallow breaths.

I hadn't connected the dots until I texted my wife that the dog threw up and she said her chest hurt. After hearing that 5he light bulb went off and I turned off the skimmer, opened all the windows and removed a couple Buckets with a couple inches of water in the bottom from the move.

Question is how long should I expect this to last? should we leave the house? my wife is the paranoid type so I told her what it could be but told her unlikely. From the symptoms we are having I am 100% confident it is palytoxin poisoning. My wife and I have both have Covid twice and the second time was only 45 days ago so that's out as a possibility.

Is it a safe assumption that the exposure has already happened and we have to just ride it out? I'm assuming this is the case but would love to hear from people with first hand experience. I want to note that my breathing is better and the dog is looking a little better but still breathing fast slight weezing. My wife is in bed with the dog and she is burning up(fever) and whining like a toddler. My oxygen tested at 100 wife 98.

Please help!!!!!

Thank you.

 

[fishguy242]

echo all above..following..
best wishes...

 

[HolySmoke]

@CMMorgan Thank you that was really good advice and advice the Dr. Didnt give me over the phone. CO was my first thouht and I moved the detector from outside the room to right next to my Oil fired boiler.

The guy I spoke to gave me a little piece of mind but My wife and I are bringing the dog to my inlaws and going to the ER just to be safe.

Thank you to all.

 

[ZipAdeeZoa]

Are you getting a mettalic taste in your mouth? I beleive that one of the most common symptoms.

 

[King_Acidic]

Hopefully you guys are all good! Following to see what the outcome is.

 

[MarkyMark_]

@HolySmoke

I've personally have had palytoxin in my system TWICE.

Both times were dealing with
pale green wild palyanthids (Not zoas!)

Both times I got symptoms within 6hrs.

Symptoms:

Deep painful headache
Pounding heart when lying down
Lack of appetite
Shortness of breath

Symptoms lasted about 3-4 days peaking at day 2

Never felt the need to seek the ER. Symptoms were manageable. But NEVER felt my life was in danger. It felt like a bad flu.

If you haven't felt symptoms within 12 hrs, then quit worrying.

HTH


.

I'm sorry but this is terrible advice. The man and his wife are experiencing symptoms in relation to a deadly poison and you are basically telling him to just deal with it.

OP, you did the right thing going to the ER for the safety of you and your family

 

[Rjramos]

First thing first. You mentioned getting last few corals off the bottom. Were they paly’s? Secondly, fever as your wife has is not a symptom of palytoxin poisoning. I would observe all symptoms including the dog, and proceed for help if anyone gets seriously ill. And then, it’s as if you called your doctor right now and that answering machine came out telling you “ if you have an emergency, hang up and call 9-1-1. No one, not even a bunch of Non-doctors on R2R, are gonna tell you to blow it off, and then something more serious is going on. Use your discretion, and if unsure go to the ER or urgent care for peace of mind.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Symptoms Of Palytoxin Poisoning​

Although poisonings are relatively rare it is important to be aware that Palytoxin poses a significant risk to human safety due to its extreme toxicity. Symptoms can occur and progress rapidly within minutes to hours after handling coral.
Severity depends on how long people have been exposed, the distance they were from the location where coral was being handled, the route of exposure and the presence of cuts or abrasions on hands (Palytoxin can easily pass through a skin wound and reach the bloodstream).
Symptoms include:

• Flu-like symptoms such as coughing, fever, chills, sore throat, headache, muscle aches, chest pain, respiratory distress.
• Skin symptoms: rash (hives), itching, numbness, dermatitis.
• Respiratory symptoms: wheezing, tight chest, shortness of breath, runny nose, fluid in the lungs.
• Gastrointestinal symptoms: abdominal cramps, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea.
• Ocular symptoms, conjunctivitis, photophobia, blurred vision, corneal ulceration.(eyes in general)
• Neurological symptoms: fatigue, dizziness, speech disturbance, bitter metallic taste, tremors, tingling or numbness of extremities.
• Muscle symptoms: pain, weakness, cramps, spasms.
• Cardiac effects: irregular, slow, fast heart rate, cardiac muscle damage, low or high blood pressure

Severe cases report muscle breakdown, kidney failure, coma and death from cardiac or respiratory failure. There is no specific treatment or antidote for Palytoxin poisoning with medical treatment limited generally to supportive care.
and contacting Poison control was the first good initiative you made.

• Most aquarium-related cases occur as a result of skin exposure after prolonged handling through cuts on hands or inhalation of coral dust, steam vapors or water droplets and aerosols while cleaning, separating, growing/propagating, collecting, transporting mechanically removing or eradicating over-growing corals by pouring boiling water on live rock as well as cleaning home marine aquariums.

 

[Courtney Aldrich]

I would go to the hospital. Here's a case report (https://downloads.hindawi.com/journals/criem/2015/621815.pdf)

The couple were in the hospital for nearly a week and had to go on a respirator.

Make sure your go to a hospital within your health coverage network

 

[HolySmoke]

@HolySmoke

I've personally have had palytoxin in my system TWICE.

Both times were dealing with
pale green wild palyanthids (Not zoas!)

Both times I got symptoms within 6hrs.

Symptoms:

Deep painful headache
Pounding heart when lying down
Lack of appetite
Shortness of breath

Symptoms lasted about 3-4 days peaking at day 2

Never felt the need to seek the ER. Symptoms were manageable. But NEVER felt my life was in danger. It felt like a bad flu.

If you haven't felt symptoms within 12 hrs, then quit worrying.

HTH


.

Thank you because you described all my symptoms exactly and helped put my mind at ease a little. We both are above 130 BPM and have 101 fever. I feel like I have a terrible flu and it hurts when I take deep breaths. I just wanna be safer than sorry I should have went to the ER hours ago.

She WAS worse than me but when I went down near the tank I felt worse again. I think @CMMorhung hit the nail on the head. I hung one light yesterday and tonight I touched everything I touched yesterday, screw driver, square, 6 ft level, impact gun. DOH. I should have figured out what it was earlier but I did nothing to tick them off except I accidentally ripped a monster Sunkist bounce that was right next to them on the bottom glass. I think that set off the chemical warfare. I will keep you all posted thanks for the swift kick in the bu tt bc I wasn't being smart.

 

[Coralcitos]

Hello Everyone. This thread really concerns me as I have my nano reef tank in my 3 years old room themed with Nemo. He ocasiónally gets his hand in the water for the clown fish to nib at him. He fish knows him which is kind of cute. I have invested a lot in the thank as I fell in love with reefing .

it seems that paleotoxin is from handling the Zoas out of the water. Is the fish tank poisonous for having zoas ?

 

[ZoWhat]

I'm sorry but this is terrible advice. The man and his wife are experiencing symptoms in relation to a deadly poison and you are basically telling him to just deal with it.

OP, you did the right thing going to the ER for the safety of you and your family

Please point out where I authored advice. Quit drawing out an inference

I only shared from my personal experiences


.

 

[Coralcitos]

Praying for you, your wife and doggie to be safe. Please let us know how are you doing and if you need anything. We are here to help

 

[vetteguy53081]

Please point out where I authored advice.

I only spoke from my experiences

.

iTS ALL GOOD !!
EVERYONE TRYING TO HELP

 

[arking_mark]

Hello Everyone. This thread really concerns me as I have my nano reef tank in my 3 years old room themed with Nemo. He ocasiónally gets his hand in the water for the clown fish to nib at him. He fish knows him which is kind of cute. I have invested a lot in the thank as I fell in love with reefing .

it seems that paleotoxin is from handling the Zoas out of the water. Is the fish tank poisonous for having zoas ?

Dangerous Palys and Zoas are rare. However, the reefing community doesn't have a list of which ones are so its best to handle all of them with care.

 

[HolySmoke]

Thank you all for the well wishes. If you are reading this please reread @vetteguy53081 posts in this thread over and over.

I just wanna be clear that this can happen to anyone. I am not a new reefer been keeping SPS/zoas palys for about 11 years but this was a learning experience and a reminder to not get complacent over handling these potentially deadly animal. #2 most powerful poison in the world BTW.

 

[arking_mark]

Dangerous Palys and Zoas are rare. However, the reefing community doesn't have a list of which ones are so its best to handle all of them with care.

From personal experience I've handled most of my Palys and Zoas unsafely (prior to being aware of these issues) and never had an issue. So I consider the ones I have relatively safe.

 

[JumboShrimp]

When the time is right and your health is restored, give us all a photo or two of the likely suspects (offending corals)! And best wishes to you and your wife.

 

[Dcal]

Im surprised no ones asked this yet

Any chance you know all of the types of zoas/palys you have so that those with them can exercise more caution?

 

[Coralcitos]

Thank you all for the well wishes. If you are reading this please reread @vetteguy53081 posts in this thread over and over.

I just wanna be clear that this can happen to anyone. I am not a new reefer been keeping SPS/zoas palys for about 11 years but this was a learning experience and a reminder to not get complacent over handling these potentially deadly animal. #2 most powerful poison in the world BTW.

When you and your family are all well, please kindly post a picture of your zoas. We might start a thread of the ones that have caused poisoning.

speedy recovery

 

[Mellotang]

All this paly toxin hype is going to get palys ban in the hobby

better be careful