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reef toxins and arthritis-like symptoms?
- Thread starter joanstone
- Start date
My hands started being a bit stiff and sore a month or so ago. A couple of weeks ago I did some major work in my tank and pricked a couple of my fingers on each hand on some sharp things growing on the rock. Those fingers became very sore and swollen, one even developed a tiny bit of pus where the skin had been broken. They started feeling better about a week later. That experience served as a reminder of what kind of stuff is in our tanks and got me thinking that maybe the symptoms I have been experiencing could be related to a previous exposure to something in my tank. I can't remember back to a specific incident around the time my hands started hurting though. It's just the more recent incident that got me to thinking about it as a possibility. I'm going to try to get in to see a doctor, but I think the chances of them knowing anything about that possibility are slim to none so I was hoping someone on here may have read or heard about someone with that experience.
delta
Impatient Reefer
Yes for reference as to what can happen when you make the mistake of kissing your live rock or sucking tank water
post 47 for photo
Blast from the past
http://www.bostonreefers.org/forums/showthread.php?11841
post 47 for photo
Blast from the past
http://www.bostonreefers.org/forums/showthread.php?11841
~Flighty~
Now with more baby
Look for greg hiller's thread about bristle worms and read steven Pro's article here (warning: yucky photos) http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-07/sp/feature/index.php
ahhh those pics are crazy! Nice post! well kinda lol
sillyfishy
Non-member
I had some issues a few months ago, we treated it as that microbacterium thing and it wasn't that! Turns out I'm allergic to neosporin (that i used on my hand for 8 weeks)!!!
Lyme's suck had it talk about draggin your butt around. You get sore joints that is for sure.
But best to go to the doctor before someone mentions something else you can start worrying about
best advice yet. See a doc, get it figured out. The Lyme test is pretty straightforward, the infection (if you have it) takes a few days to culture.
I had my hand swell up like a balloon from a frogspawn sting the third or fourth time I got one. I'm pretty careful now, because I know I'm pretty oversensitive to it.
jackthestrat
DON'T PANIC
+1. people have different sensitivities - for example, the infmaous "blue palys"/"spooky palys" floating all over the club have a really weird effect on me, my hands turn numb when I handle them. Others I've spoken with have no issues. So be careful and WEAR GLOVES.
I just got a report back from my blood work. Apparently, I've got rheumatoid arthritis. I've got an appointment with a specialist next month. One question that I have is what triggered it? I can't help but think it's still related to my tank somehow. I had a bad episode with my very large lionfish last summer and spent the night and next day in the hospital after being stung. Does anyone have any contacts for reefers that know a lot about toxins in the aquarium and their affect on people? Who was it that spoke on that topic at the big meet last fall?
Since arthritis is more allergy related than they(MDs) once thought, the short answer would be yes it could be related imo. You did the right thing by going to get checked out. Did you have any pain in your hand prior to the ref?
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