Asking for a friend... (Palytoxin)

[chaostactics]

WARNING! By all accounts palytoxin is extremely dangerous and I am NOT in any way, shape, form suggesting that any reefer attempt to build up a tolerance or immunity to polytoxin via any methodology.

Every once in a while I'll come across one of our polyp friends that will leave my mouth tasting like sucking on a wad of pennies even with intact skin. I used to be left with that manifestation for days at a time, now it's just hours. However I don't know if it's does dependant or paly/zoa type or if it's repeated exposure that's shortened the period of symptoms.

I'm wondering if it's ever been studied of if anyone else on here has a anecdotal stories on this.

I wear enclosed eye protection and gloves for fragging but I don't always wear gloves when reaching in

tank or while moving frag plugs.

 

[fishguy242]

treat them all as toxic,better safe than sorry

 

[ichthyogeek]

This sounds similar to the "hot"(venomous) reptile keepers that build up their resistance to their animals by deliberately injecting increasing dosages of venom into themselves....or by going out and drinking larger and larger amounts of alcohol to increase how well you function under the influence....
This is bolded because this is important. Don't purposefully envenomate yourself without medical supervision and approval. I can't condone this behavior without proper medical supervision and approval.

There are also a multitude of different reasons why you might have a copper-y taste in your mouth (including have large amounts of copper in your pipes...). How sure are you that it's the palytoxin, and not some other factor? What leads you to thinking that it's the zoanthids and not something else, like, say, a hidden vampirism which causes you to accidentally drink other's coppery tasting blood?

It should be noted that it's possible to get a resistance, but it would be difficult to control for it, and even harder to replicate in a non-lab setting. With peanut allergies, something similar is done to mithridation, where participants engage in swallowing very tiny amounts (we're talking nano or picograms here) of the allergen to train their body to ignore it, and very slowly (over months to years) increase the dosage. It's called desensitization.

Similarly, with my seafood allergies, by working in the tanks, I was able, to some degree, reduce my topical dermatitis when it came to exposure to fish allergens. Keep in mind, that when I started out doing this as an 8 year old or so, I was told to 1) thoroughly wash my hands and arms with soap after working in the tank, which would serve to wash off a lot of excess allergens, 2) take a benadryl (antihistamine) if I ever got tank water in my mouth. I also lived with two doctors as well....since I went to college for 4 years, my resistance is completely shot now, so I'm wearing yellow rubber gloves when handling fish food again....

 

[Tamberav]

Not all are toxic and they have different amounts of palytoxin which may explain different symptoms.

 

[chaostactics]

Not all are toxic and they have different amounts of palytoxin which may explain different symptoms.

Yea I've only come across 2 kinds of hundreds that I have reacted to. That doesn't mean I haven't come across other toxic ones but I have probably barehanded 99% of zoa/paly during frag placement

 

[rusgum]

Several years ago I foolishly removed a green palythoa without gloves from a stone. In the evening, the temperature rose, it became difficult to breathe. It's good that my wife is a doctor. She immediately put me on a Reamberin drip.