Swollen Arms !!!

[jcmccue]

I just wanted to share my experiences from this past week. Has anyone else experienced this? Was this from touching a Zoa frag?

Any feedback is very much appreciated - Thanks - Craig

I have had my aquarium set up for about a year now. Last Wednesday evening I had to move a small rock that was covered with Zoas. No big deal??? I was not wearing any gloves, no small cuts on my hands, nothing out of the normal

Thursday morning....my left forearm feels a little funny...no big deal
mid day Thursday...my arm is definitely starting to swell, by that eening both arms are swollen, my skin feels very tight

Friday morning...I am at the doctor. She has no explanation. We do some x-rays to check lymph nodes

Saturday mid day I can no longer see the nuckles on my left hand, right arm is swollen

Sunday seems to be getting better

Monday back to normal

[Reef Bass]

I'm glad that cleared up for you!

Your incident sounds like a localized reaction to something. My guess is that with the toxicity reported in the sticky posts, if you had absorbed enough palytoxin to have had that strong a localized reaction, you probably would have experience significant systemic issues as well, like maybe cardiac arrhythmia, not confined just to your arms.

As is the case with other venoms and allergens, different people can react differently to different quantities of foreign substances.

I have handled my zoanthid rocks with my fingers while having open cuts on my hands with no ill effects. Not suggesting this to others just reporting my experience.

Perhaps being a chemical engineer you were exposed to something at work?

[JeffReef]

This happens to me (not to the same extent) everytime I re-aquascape - which is often. :D

Does the skin around your finger/knuckles feel "think" (like callused) and numb? Do you have localized pain on your hands? This is how my hands feel everytime I re-aquascape. I personally don't think it's the zoa/paly that does this but something in the live rocks that stings. Perhaps some tubeworm or bristle worm or whatnot. I've never had this experience from just fragging zoas with bare hands.

[Reef Bass]

You present a compelling case for something on your rocks irritating you. You may be right that it's not palytoxin but something else. The symptoms you describe (thick feeling, numb) are very much like what I experience when I consume decapods, you know, those tasty 10 legged arthropods - shrimp, crab, lobster. My lips, mouth and throat start tingling and eventually feel swollen and numb. I don't eat them any more.

Does handling a specific rock cause problems or handling any rock does?

Of course probably the easiest solution, other than to quit reefing, would be to wear vinyl or latex gloves while aquascaping.

[JeffReef]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14354048#post14354048 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Reef Bass


Of course probably the easiest solution, other than to quit reefing, would be to wear vinyl or latex gloves while aquascaping.

Yeah - wearing gloves would be ideal. However, I would aquascape for hours and wearing gloves is just too cumbersome. I'd like to dry my hands everytime I take my hands out of the water and wearing/removing gloves everytime is just a pain for me.

[Reef Bass]

I hear your point about gloves being cumbersome and wanting to dry your hands. I do that too.

From your description, your exposure to your allergen / irritant sounds "prolonged" and "repeated" which possibly adds to the extent of your reaction.

BTW, I used to fly RC helis and planes. What size engine on your copter? I had a .60 on a GMP Cobra and .32 I believe it was on a Hirobo Shuttle. I bet the radio sytems have come a long way since I used to terrorize the skies.

[JeffReef]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14355175#post14355175 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Reef Bass
I hear your point about gloves being cumbersome and wanting to dry your hands. I do that too.

From your description, your exposure to your allergen / irritant sounds "prolonged" and "repeated" which possibly adds to the extent of your reaction.

BTW, I used to fly RC helis and planes. What size engine on your copter? I had a .60 on a GMP Cobra and .32 I believe it was on a Hirobo Shuttle. I bet the radio sytems have come a long way since I used to terrorize the skies.

Yeah - I've learned to just deal with the irritation after being in this hobby for many years.

I have too many helis (7) and 4 planes but don't get to fly much since I went back to fly fishing again. I have (2) .90 size helis - both can be a camera ship with SLR mount - a Fury Extreme and a Min Air Ion-X (lithium) that I need to sell to fund a new camera body. Helis have come a long ways and too expensive for most people like myself.

[Skipper]

Not sure, but this might be related to something in this article:

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-07/sp/feature/index.php

[Reef Bass]

Interesting reading Skipper, thanks. I like your swimming clown.

The swelling in those cases was due to the long term presence of enlarging hard material in the affected areas. In this case the swelling was acute and most likely edema (fluid collection). The relatively rapid onset and spontaneous remission are much more like an acute trauma than a chronic infection. Just my two cents.

Thanks again for the informative article.

[jcmccue]

thanks everyone

I was looking for reassurance that it was not from the Zoas, I was pretty sure, but you never know

Reef Bass
I have been mostly working from my desk lately, so that route is unlikely


I think that I wil go out and buy some more frags

Thanks again