Living with Ciguatera Fish Poisoning: My Real Life Experience of Eating Fresh Fish!

By Christine Bruce

Eating fish is like playing russian
roulette with your life
Ciguatoxins are amongst the deadliest mammalian
poison known to us, volume for volume, 1000 times more
potent than arsenic.
THIS FRIGHTENING POISON has been around for
centuries - WE ARE NOT INFORMED WHAT IT IS
OR MORE IMPORTANTLY, WHAT DO YOU DO
ABOUT IT?! MY REAL LIFE EXPERIENCE OF
EATING FRESH FISH. I ATE FISH CONTAMINATED
WITH CIGUATERA. THIS POISON IS CONSUMED
EASILY BUT NEVER GOES AWAY - LONG TERM
DISABILITY - LONG TERM PAIN - LONG TERM
COMPLICATIONS
Ciguatera DAMAGED my life completely; nothing I used
to do is possible now.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris AU
• Release date: May 21, 2011
• ISBN: 9781456844189

Book preview

Copyright © 2011 by Christine Bruce.

Library of Congress Control Number:       2011908524

ISBN:         Hardcover                               978-1-4568-6921-2

                   Softcover                                 978-1-4568-6920-5

                   Ebook                                      978-1-4568-4418-9

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Xlibris Corporation

1-800-618-969

www.Xlibris.com.au

500598

‘Eating fish is like playing russian roulette with your life’

Ciguatoxins are amongst the deadliest mammalian poison known to us,

volume for volume, 1000 times more potent than arsenic.

THIS FRIGHTENING POISON has been around for centuries

WE ARE NOT INFORMED

MORE IMPORTANTLY, WHAT DO YOU DO ABOUT IT?!

MY REAL LIFE EXPERIENCE OF EATING FRESH FISH.

I ATE FISH CONTAMINATED WITH CIGUATERA.

THIS POISON IS CONSUMED EASILY BUT NEVER GOES

AWAY—LONG TERM DISABILITY—LONG TERM PAIN—LONG

TERM COMPLICATIONS

Ciguatera DAMAGED my life completely;

Nothing I used to do is possible now.

CONTENTS

My Experience

‘Eating Fish Is Like Playing Russian Roulette With Your Life’

Invisible & Miserable Illness Begins

Manager Urges Silence

Getting Home & Help

Life Gradually Slips Away

No Recovery From Ciguatera

Totally Disabled

Before And After Ciguatera

Poison Always Present

Brief Look At Astrology

Description Of My Symptoms

The Aches

The Sweats

The Itch

The Thirst

The Metallic Taste

The Shooting Pains

The Corrosion

The Heart Palpitations

The Exhaustion

The Depression—Years And Years

The Nausea

Blood Tests

Partner’s Experience

The Facts About Ciguatera

What Is Ciguatera?

General Description And Incidence

Relapses Occur

What Fish Species?

The Symptoms

The Cause

COPING WITH CIGUATERA—

LIVING WITH POISON

MY EXPERIENCE

‘EATING FISH IS LIKE PLAYING RUSSIAN ROULETTE WITH YOUR LIFE’

I have travelled twice to Fiji. The first time we encountered a major cyclone and the second time I contracted fish poisoning! What a nightmare. My partner was in Fiji often for work and surfing interests and he always told me how beautiful Fiji was. He said that I should go one time. I never had much of a yen for travel being a bit of a homebody; but eventually I agreed to go and I loved it.

I never saw a lot of the towns or cities in Fiji but did spend a day in Nadi looking around and getting to meet local people. Everything is done in fiji time which means—whenever. Buses run late or early and the local people just cruise along happily, getting things done well enough without schedules, deadlines and times.

It is very laid back and very relaxing. It is said that Australians are laid back but Fiji is even more so. The cities are the same as anywhere else, so I am talking about the outer towns and islands. I found it easy to slip into this pace of life and didn’t even miss home particularly. I remember that I would have easily moved to Fiji and lived there, although I already live in a place that is heaven on earth.

The island we stayed at is called Namotu Island and it is the most beautiful place I had ever seen. The island is only tiny with a few gorgeous cabins looking out over the ocean in all directions. No telephones, no times, no have-to’s, except eating, swimming, relaxing! This is a fabulous holiday destination, a tropical island in one of our safest and most gorgeous places in the world, beautiful Fiji. Not too far outside Australia so it is a quick flight and before we knew it we were at a secluded private resort/house in the delicious jungles of Fiji. These same friends had a unit in Nadi, so we could stay with them, before heading out to Namotu. The following time 4 of us rented their house.

Namotu is a very small island off the northern tip of Fiji and is a privately owned island and I do not know if it is open for tourists anymore. The island was initially a surfing camp island but had been refurbished into a lovely natural resort and in later years it has become an exclusive island. We happened to go there the first time in January on year when there was a cyclone and it was awesome. The island wasn’t usually open for guests at this time of year, for this reason. We knew the managers, whose business partner was involved in the surfing competitions held each year. Namotu Is, along with a neighbouring island, Tavarua Is, hosts the competitors from around the globe who stay at both these resorts. Tavarua Island is an island just for guys who surf, where Namotu was more for couples as well as surfing access to those who sought these surfing spots.

Only the guests who stay at islands nearby can use these waters through the permission of the Fiji people. You cannot just go out there and surf, it’s too far from the shore as well, and there isn’t really a shore; it’s more weedy swamps that become land and everything is done by boat. They hold the competitions during monsoon time while the seas are large for the more experienced surfer. The competition is held at a famous surfing spot called Cloudbreak. It is also held at these times before tourist season, as it is safer after February/March each year as the monsoons are finishing, generally speaking.

Because of a recent severe cyclone the mosquitoes at this time were absolutely the worst I have ever encountered. It was terrible and it became a nightmare to sleep at night. We did get our mozzie nets down and use a lot of mosquito repellent, but it never did any good. I never contracted any horrid disease from the mosquitoes during this visit, even though I was concerned that we might have gotten Dengue fever, Malaria or something similar. Tropical destinations can often have all sorts of bities that can make one sick. However, we did not get sick at all. I also ate fish every day on this trip and I didn’t get sick from that either.

We were staying 2 weeks and the first week was absolutely perfect weather with only 4 guests and a few staff so it was very intimate and we got looked after wonderfully. The competition was delayed due to lack of surf but then the storms came. It became very frightening really, but besides the storm it is a perfect place. I have been in many cyclones but not on a tiny island in a cyclone and we were very vulnerable to wind and rising seas.

After four or five very windblown days, small walks and a lot of Monopoly later—with worse weather approaching, we were evacuated. The trip to the mainland in a Fiji long boat was something else again!! It was a pretty scary boat ride