CIGUATERA POISONING

TYPES

Currently, there are no specific types of Ciguatera poisoning; however, the toxicity depends on what kind of infected fish has been consumed by the infected patient beforehand, which will be the basis for the diagnosis and treatment of this illness.

SYMPTOMS

There are several symptoms that infected people can experience once infected by this illness. Most of the symptoms that one would experience would be the following:

• Gastrointestinal
• Cardiovascular
• Neurological

Those types of symptoms would depend on what infected fish was consumed and how much was consumed. Below are the symptoms for each type mentioned above:

Gastrointestinal

• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Diarrhea

Neurological

• Headaches
• Muscle pain
• Paresthesia
• Numbness in extremities (including the mouths and lips)
• Hot and cold sensation reversal
• Allodynia
• Ataxia
• Vertigo 
• Hallucinations

Cardiovascular

• Bradycardia
• Tachycardia
• Hypotension 
• Hypertension
• Orthostatic tachycardia
• Exercise intolerance
• Rhythm disorders

Do take note that Dyspareunia and its symptoms may occur after sexual intercourse if one of them had this kind of illness, making this toxin transmittable via sexual intercourse.

Symptoms can last for either weeks or even years, and there are some that lasted for over 20 years, but it has been confirmed that patients recover slowly over time.

DIAGNOSIS

As mentioned earlier, the diagnostic process for this illness will depend on the infected fish that was consumed, how much was consumed, and the symptoms an infected individual is experiencing from their end.

Additionally, an infected individual will be tested for other types of possible food-related poisoning, which are listed below:

• Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning (PSP)
• Neurotoxic Shellfish Poisoning (NSP)
• Scombrotoxin Fish Poisoning (SFP)
• Pufferfish Poisoning (PP)

TREATMENT

Unfortunately, there is no effective treatment readily available for this kind of foodborne illness, and only supportive care is currently available for patients suffering from it.

There are some cases where some medications, such as nifedipine and verapamil, can be used effectively to treat some of the symptoms which a patient can experience from this illness. Those medications mentioned above usually treat the poor circulation throughout the infected person’s body and the chest’s soothing pains. 

There is another type of medication called amitriptyline that can be taken by an infected individual who experienced symptoms during the process, such as fatigue and paresthesia. However, please take note that the effectiveness of this medication will vary for each patient.