Hi there,
I just got back from the 5-mile St. Croix Coral Reef Swim--a terrific race for anyone considering it. I've done this 4 times, and despite what I am going to ask about, I highly recommend the race. I saw tons of turtles, rays, and had a great 5 days in the sun.
Given all of that, during last year's race, I was stung by a man-of-war, and "sea lice." The man-of-war sting was extreme, and required a hospital visit as I developed a systemic reaction. (This kind of sting is almost unheard of in St. Croix so don't let it put you off the race!)
This year, I seem to have been attacked by sea lice again. The last two days, in addition to the bumps and itching, I have had a headache, felt feverish, had the chills, and generally felt like I have light flu symptoms. I am also sleeping really badly. I've been up since 4, totally unable to get back to sleep. I didn't equate the other symptoms with the reaction until I did some reading. Now, I'm pretty certain they're related.
Has anyone confronted this? My concern, based on looking at some things online, is that now that I've started these kind of reactions, they will continue to get worse the more times I encounter the little beasties. I hesitate to use the prednisone I have leftover from last year's man-of-war sting, but I'm feeling pretty lousy. (No pun intended!)
What have you done in the past? And have you tried Safe Sea, the supposed prevention lotion? I love the sport, but I'm paying for it dearly in terms of how I feel!
Thanks for any advice.
Parents
Former Member
We had an explosion of sea lice in the Great South Bay a few years ago.
It was the itchiest thing I've ever had (worse than poison ivy) and at times it felt like the itch went down to my nerve endings. I used an over the counter stop itch ointment.
The spot that was always a problem seemed to be on my stomach area so i quickly bought a 2 piece bathing suit that looked awful but seemed to keep them off of my body by not trapping them inside the suit.
For sure, if you swim with the lice you have to get that suit off immediately upon exiting the water and wash it in a washing machine. The sooner you shower the better. I'm thinking if you used a petroleum jelly they might not be able to stick to your skin.. but that's just a guess.
from time to time I feel them in my suit but they're not as bad anymore so i just live with an occasional outbreak. I'm pretty sensitive to this stuff because even the eel grass can irritate my skin if it has those rough barnacles attached.
We had an explosion of sea lice in the Great South Bay a few years ago.
It was the itchiest thing I've ever had (worse than poison ivy) and at times it felt like the itch went down to my nerve endings. I used an over the counter stop itch ointment.
The spot that was always a problem seemed to be on my stomach area so i quickly bought a 2 piece bathing suit that looked awful but seemed to keep them off of my body by not trapping them inside the suit.
For sure, if you swim with the lice you have to get that suit off immediately upon exiting the water and wash it in a washing machine. The sooner you shower the better. I'm thinking if you used a petroleum jelly they might not be able to stick to your skin.. but that's just a guess.
from time to time I feel them in my suit but they're not as bad anymore so i just live with an occasional outbreak. I'm pretty sensitive to this stuff because even the eel grass can irritate my skin if it has those rough barnacles attached.
