Possible Palytoxin Poisoning

Tbell805 · Jan 8, 2018

Sorry to hear about the health scare. I've had rhabdo from over-exercising and it honestly sucks. Hospitalized for a week with IV constantly dripping. Your ck levels you said were at 400? You should be okay just staying hydrated. Mine was at 25,000 for four days before they started to drop. I hope you recover alright and that the birdsnest does well.

sghera64 · Jan 8, 2018

Lbrod126 said:
I had told them that this is going to sound strange and that they probably wont know what this is and that I may have gotten palytoxin poisoning while cleaning my corals. They did some research and contacted poison control who was also stumped at what this was and had to have some time to research it. They checked my temp and it was normal, my heart rate was normal about 60 bpm and blood pressure was good. They kept me monitored for about 4 hours and also did some blood tests that came back with an elevated reading of rhabdomyolysis at 400, and did an EKG that came back normal. I slept for the most part in the ER and started to feel better but was not given or prescribed anything and told to hydrate due to the rhabdo. Still feeling a little light headed with intermittent chills and the metallic taste comes and goes. Has anyone had similar symptoms, or any information that could help I do know a bit on the topic but very few resources of treatment and severity of each case as I don't feel as bad as some of the other articles I have read.

Thanks everyone!

I've had the Paly-flu 3-4 times before my wife correlated it with my reefkeeping and found the articles posted above. My symptoms were always the same: very high temperature that begins about 3-6 hours after exposure, coughing and difficulty breathing (urge to cough), very tired and achy everywhere. Fever generally runs about 103-105oF for me. First/Second time I don't remember what I did - - probably suffered through it thinking it was flu. Third time, I went to ER as it came on very suddenly and I attributed it to breaking into some goopey soil beneath my air-conditioner. The symptoms stumped the ER, but they were concerned enough to follow-up with me 1 and 2 days after my visit. By then I was back to normal. Fourth & Fifth time, I took 600 mg Advil as soon as I realized I was getting a fever: this kept the fever below 102oF and shortened the duration of the episode. It was after the 4th time that my wife figured out what was going on.

I am exposed to my reef tanks on a near daily basis. These events seemed random to me except: they correlated to my cutting zoas to thin them back from encroaching on other corals and cleaning my cutting tools or some of the rock in hot water. How water is the 1st big mistake: it volatilizes the toxin and makes it real easy to get into the lungs - - the fastest way into the blood system. The second big mistake is not working over the water with a respirator.

Now, I cut, scrub, scrape paly's and zoa wearing a 3M respirator with carbon absorbers and safety glasses. I don't wear long gloves, but do wear surgical gloves. I don't do this if I have open cuts. My skin (most of my arms) are in contact with the tank water in which I'm scraping or cutting these paly's or zoa. Following this protocol, I've not contracted the "paly-flu".

Sometimes, I have to really "nuke" a rock with paly's on it. I might use hot water to kill them, but I do this outside, stand up-wind, wear long arm gauntlets, a respirator and safety goggles. I have not contracted the "paly-flu" doing this either. One time, I did use hot water on a paly rock in the house and some of my family said they felt sick later than night. Lesson: a little of this stuff goes a long, long way.

NOTE: I've also seen my fish looking lethargic after a couple of my very heavy paly removal activities in the tank. But, those fish are running that stuff over their gills and it has to be getting into their blood. For me, I guess it does not go through the skin as much as it is absorbed through the lungs/eyes when volatilized.