Anyone react strongly to sea lice?

Sydne, one more thing I forgot. You should let your doctor see the ingredients on Safe Sea; that may help him with the mystery as to best help you if there is a next time! donna

Gosh, Mary, thanks for all your research; that helps a lot, except here in Honduras, there is no medical treatment to start with (LOL). Sea lice are seasonal and the ocean carries jellyfish/sea lice wherever the currents go. Normally their spawing season is prior to Easter, so even if you were to encounter a few jellyfish, I'd bet you wouldn't see sea lice and sea lice, to me, are much worse than jellyfish which I swim with a lot. The sting from a basic jellyfish is very short-lived; sea lice is a nightmare! It may just be the wrong time of year (your Mexico swim shortly) for you to encounter sea lice. The only thing I don't know is where in our oceans they first start spawing and when exactly. For the Caribbean which is south of your swim, our sea lice start in late March/early April and stay during May. Ouch! to all of us! donna

March/April through May... Hmmm, I'm going to Cuba in April for a wedding. Does anyone have any experience of swimming there in the spring? Specifically the Varadero peninsula area? My brother is into scuba diving and he mentioned a one-piece lycra bodysuit that he had to wear for the reefs off the Australian coast, not for warmth but to prevent jellyfish and coral stings. I suppose it could be awfully warm to swim in, but if the cuffs and neck piece sealed enough maybe it would offer some protection? Or would that just trap even more of the little beggers. Maybe the only solution is to dispence with clothing of any kind? :eek:

March/April through May... Hmmm, I'm going to Cuba in April for a wedding. Does anyone have any experience of swimming there in the spring? Specifically the Varadero peninsula area? My brother is into scuba diving and he mentioned a one-piece lycra bodysuit that he had to wear for the reefs off the Australian coast, not for warmth but to prevent jellyfish and coral stings. I suppose it could be awfully warm to swim in, but if the cuffs and neck piece sealed enough maybe it would offer some protection? Or would that just trap even more of the little beggers. Maybe the only solution is to dispence with clothing of any kind? :eek: Any kind of wet suit traps the little buggers; divers here have a big problem with this. I'm telling all of you this: the Safe Sea product works very well; just put on a ton of it. Instead of getting hundreds of stings, I only get a dozen and they don't go to the festering stage. The only true thing to do would be to not get in the water, but I can't do that as I am training for something very big. Unless a doctor can give you prednisone as a preventative (?). And I know nothing about Cuba's waters relating to sea lice. Sorry I'm not much more help, but I have found that a loose 2-piece swim suits works better because the sea lice flow through it rather than a one piece that fits snugly. donna

Hi again, Just thought it was worth an update. I went to the doctor this morning, after another night of terrible chills, headadche, and waking up soaking wet. Yuck! The doctor actually said "Wow! You're really sick." It's rare that they say that. He agreed that it's not the flu, and recognized spots I hadn't even noticed. (In the waiting room, although there was almost no fever, I literally sweat through my clothes. I looked like I had run a marathon by the time he saw me. GROSS! Given the fact that I am usually freezing cold, this is HIGHLY unusual for me.) He did a blood test, just to rule out everything, and basically said I have to ride this out. Of course, now between the trip and the illness, I've been gone from work for well over a week. Not great when you own your own business. Donna, like you, he said it could be 10 days of this!! He also said that at this point, he doesn't recommend the Prednisone, especially because my skin reaction is not as bad as my systemic one. Bummer. I had hopes of a miracle cure. I do have moments of feeling better, during which I of course do too much, and then feel worse again. (It's a gorgeous fall day here in Massachusetts and all I want to do is RUN!) He did mention that he thought I'd have to take next year off from St. Croix, let my system calm down a bit in terms of exposure--during which time I could become less allergic. Does this ring true to you? I could do Bermuda instead of St. Croix, although the St. Croix race really does have my heart--and appparently, my health. He said the systemic reactions can decrease with less exposure, during which time your immunity gets revitalized. (Not his word, but my interpretation.) Anyway, thanks for thinking of me, Donna and Mary, and thanks for all of the encouraging words. Take care, Sydne

hi donna thanks for the info. my first encouneter with the sea lice was during the st croix swim in october. i must not be one of the people to react too badly. on another note, paul may have told you we have set up "swim to remember" and it's getting a bit of publicity. i'll be doing it on nov 10 when i return from FL. he claims the hard work of raising money is all my fault for introducing you both :) and saying, we should really try that Utila swim :) anyway, it's getting a big splash here soon. take care mary

I've tried the vinegar solution. Didn't work for me but I think I also have highly enhanced reactions at this point. The doctor did tell me to avoid encounters for a year or so, at which point I can see what happens. He seemed to feel that the reactions build upon each other, getting worse each time. It did take quite a few days, but I am actually all recovered. Working out for the first few days after the fever and everything was pretty bad. Exhausting! But I'm back in the water--getting ready to leave for practice actually--and starting to think about next year's sting-free season! (Of course, getting my teammates to do open water will be a challenge now...) Maybe I'll try the vinegar again next time?? Sydne

On the USA National Swim Team (open water), we treat jellyfish and sea nettle stings with white vinegar which usually helps relieve the pain because it prevents the venom from firing, unless there is a specific allergic reaction that already began. Spraying the vinegar on with a mist bottle usually does the trick in most cases.

I got stung by sea lice off Florida while I was there for 4 months (Feb. - May '06 in Boynton Beach) and I was in the ocean every single day. The lifeguards said sea lice are present April & May (there was lots of warning signage posted) and I heard you don't go in the ocean between Mother's Day and Father's Day to avoid sea lice. Seems to be their peak spawning time. My stings weren't as severe as what I have read in this thread, no illness/fever, just red itchy bumps/rash. I do not have any allergies. I got more on my lower legs/feet then anywhere probably from walking in the surf a lot too? (There were dead jellyfish washed up on the beach quite a bit - you had to watch out for them.) I plan on doing the St. Croix 5-mile in October and will look into the Safe Sea. Thanks!