Lionfish Venom

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Oiseaufeu said:
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.
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Oh yeah Im not angry at him at all! Sucked to find out I was allergic that way though!
 
www.dinkinsaquaticgardens.com
www.dinkinsaquaticgardens.com
littlefoxx said:
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 :)
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Wow! I am glad you are still here and hope you feel better soon.
 
littlefoxx said:
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 :)
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Glad you ok. The reason I joined this hobby was because of the lionfish.
 
Top Shelf Aquatics
Nitcrawler said:
Glad you ok. The reason I joined this hobby was because of the lionfish.
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Same. I love Nala my fuzzy. Shes my favorite fish. Parthnaxx my volitian is just so stunning. And the emperor angelfish!
 
Ive been stung by lions at least twice at my LFS. Hot water as hot as you can tolerate then I applied vinegar, then peroxide then iced it. Did the trick.
As long as you have no allergies- will end well
 
Ouch
You need to watch your venomous fish that’s two recently right?

Fish stings are more painful then bullet ant stings and the force of the sting is usually corresponds with the amount of venom injected and the pain of the sting. Stonefish for example have a very similar venom to lions, catfish, rabbit fish and stingrays but are far more dangerous because they inject a lot more venom if stepped on and that’s usually how people are stung.
 
Top Shelf Aquatics
Slocke said:
Ouch
You need to watch your venomous fish that’s two recently right?

Fish stings are more painful then bullet ant stings and the force of the sting is usually corresponds with the amount of venom injected and the pain of the sting. Stonefish for example have a very similar venom to lions, catfish, rabbit fish and stingrays but are far more dangerous because they inject a lot more venom if stepped on and that’s usually how people are stung.
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Yeah Im very aware of where Buddy (my foxface) is after that but wasnt too worried about the volitan since they are docile usually. Lesson learned. I usually watch Nala since shes a lot more active and he usually just hangs out on a rock. But now Im very aware of where he is! Nala poked me a few times but she must not have injected venom like he did :(
 
My suggestion to you would be to get rid of all the fish that will cause you harm! I then would start a membership at the Denver Aquarium and enjoy all the fish that you should not have in your tank. BTW, I was at the Denver Zoo two months ago. I enjoyed viewing all the animals that they should have and not me even though I really loved them all!
 
Yeah this is something Im considering. I cant part with Nala, my dwarf fuzzy. Ive raised her since she was a baby and shes one of my favorite fish. Im very attached to her. So it feels wrong to re home him because he is the one who stung me. I just get very attached to all my animals and the two fish Ive had to re home made super upset and guilty feeling even though I know it isnt logical. Just a hard decision to get rid of one of my animals I love and care for just because he stung me when it was my fault really for being that close to him ☹️
 
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littlefoxx said:
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 :)
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You better check to see if you are allergic to bee stings also......
 
FUNGI said:
You better check to see if you are allergic to bee stings also......
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Yeah Ive never been stung by a bee! Thats a good point didnt even think of that
 
Tidal Gardens
Of course you could do what I accidentally did with wasp stings. Be very unlucky and keep getting stung until your body builds up a resistance…
Or you could get a doctor to do it in a safe environment with tiny doses but what’s the fun in that?!
 
Sounds very much like an anaphylactic allergic reaction rather than just the effects of the venom. You should have had a prior exposure though as anaphylaxis generally does not occur on first hit. The venom itself can be painful but should respond to immersion in very hot water (as hot as you can stand…the heat denatures the venom). It works quite fast (personal experience from a sting ray and a scorpionfish while surfing. 2 separate events. Hot water worked both times) again your symptoms sound very much allergic and are different than what most people could expect. You definitely need to keep an epi pen handy or better yet, re-home the lion fish. The next time might be worse! Also, and they probably did this in the ER, make sure your tetanus shot is up to date. Any secondary infection should be treated with an antibiotic that covers skin bacteria plus vibrio vulnificans. Many ER docs overlook the later. Vibrio is a salt water bacteria that can cause severe skin infections after a wound. It won’t be covered by standard skin infection antibiotics.
 
littlefoxx said:
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
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Land-locked, yes, but at least there are real doctors in Denver. Here, in podunk southern NM they can't even diagnose a fractured ankle in the ER (I walked on it for a month before I got a second imaging). I can't imagine what they'd do if I went in with a foxface sting - probably prescribe two aspirin and a bowl of chicken soup.
 
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Peter Houde said:
Land-locked, yes, but at least there are real doctors in Denver. Here, in podunk southern NM they can't even diagnose a fractured ankle in the ER (I walked on it for a month before I got a second imaging). I can't imagine what they'd do if I went in with a foxface sting - probably prescribe two aspirin and a bowl of chicken soup.
Click to expand...
Sir, foxes don’t sting they bite. Probably their response honestly.
 
littlefoxx said:
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 :)
Click to expand...
I'm glad you are recovering.
My wife has a severe allergy to wasps, I'm thinking about getting a pen for her.
And what do you plan to do with the lion?
 
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