A day of rest courtesy of jellyfish

A day of rest courtesy of jellyfish.

I wasn’t going to post but I’ve heard of several jellyfish stings from last weekend.

I’ve learned a few new things about jellyfish this week and wanted to share because New Smyrna Beach area had loads of jellyfish last weekend. I’m not a doctor, just sharing my experience.

I was stung by 4 jellyfish last weekend in 24 hours. The second day, I put on my wetsuit pants but the jellyfish were still able to find my ankles. At the time of the stings it was quite painful, especially the last 2, but the fiery pain subsided after a few hours and I didn’t feel bad.

4 days later I was experiencing difficulty breathing, so I got a covid test which thankfully was negative. I was also examined by a medical professional, my vitals were good, oxygen levels are good.

I was a bit stumped when the respiratory difficulty continued. When I finally realized it was a reaction to the jellyfish I also learned a reaction to a sting can be delayed for a week or even a month. This was new to me! My guess is 4 stings in a short period of time was too much for my body to process.

The interesting part is the symptoms are similar to covid. Headache, muscle pain, weakness, feeling tired and respiratory difficulty and it seemed to come out of the blue, since it was 4 days after the jellyfish stings.

An antihistamine has helped tremendously. Not to worry, I’m on the mend and armed with my long wetsuit pants and tall boots ready to play with friends.

Wishing you a beautiful day friends!