something seems odd here.....
i find it odd that a doctor will agree with you with no further tests?
i also find it odd that he said you were poisoned but showed you no proof id love to see what the doctor wrote for you if he wrote or did anything at all besides:
"I went to my doctor and he said I might have gotten slightly poisoned by ingesting the poison. He then told me If I were to ingest a higher amount I would only have had 90mins to get treated at the hospital ori would have died!!! Next time I'm not taking any chances with these things and will go to the hospital ASAP! Be careful with your zoas guys!!, don't take any risk and remember the most beautiful things in life can be the most deadly!"
if someone goes to a dotor showing symptoms of poisoning more than likely unless its a basement doctor they are going to push for further tests or to go to a facility who can accomodate the tests needed to verify the poison(toxin)
how does the doctor know it isnt contagious, lethal or something that could be viral? does the doctor have any info at all on the subject any references or experience with the toxin? highly doubt it which is all the more reason to suggest seeing someone more suited to this type of work.
werent you concerned? didnt you push for solid answers, maybe go to a lab and get tested?
the toxin in doses large enough to kill or hurt us is in P. heliodiscus or P. toxica which is still in circulation but p. toxica is no longer allowed to be collected, not sure if p.heliodiscus is or not but i imagine it is.
we are still unsure if any more species have it but the family is too large to tell for sure.
yes i agree always wear gloves fact is anything marine is foreign to our bodies not just toxin but theres other risks as well since we do not know alot about some of these wide spread species.
saying that my " zoas " have palytoxin will need to do much better....
and for the comment above about what does it matter well it matters.
why?
how can we limit collections, handling and restrictions on species if we cant weed out the serious, fake or mild experiences? how can we prepare general hospitals and doctors of such toxins if they can not be narrowed down? how can we do research on the toxic species if we do not know what they are?
yes it is hard to tell a zoanthus gigantus from a zoanthus sociatus or palythoas sp. or protopaly but its not impossible and there are distinct differences in the species like any other.
over all when dealing with marine animals all precautions shjould be taken after all we know very little about much of these animals.
glad your ok but i do not think palytoxin was the cause in this case , more probable is an allergic reaction or some other reaction.
http://www.plosone.org/article/info%...e-0018235-t003
cheers