A WOMAN claims taking ibuprofen to alleviate her period cramps left her in a 17-day coma with blisters and peeling skin all over her body.
Jaqueline Gmack says she popped the over-the-counter medication as usual, but started to experience a mild itch in her eye 48 hours later.
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When she woke up with blood blisters inside her mouth the following day, the 31-year-old went to hospital, where her condition continued to worsen.
Soon, her entire face was covered in blisters and she could barely see.
The next thing Jaqueline remembers is waking up from a 17-day induced coma – the result of a rare condition triggered by the body reacting to the drug.
“It was like I’d been burned from the inside out,” Jaqueline, from Papanduva, Brazil, said.
“I didn’t know what had happened to me.
“I noticed my entire body was bandaged, my vision was completely blurred, and I had a tube down my throat, but I wasn’t in any pain.
“Only then did the penny start to drop and I realised that I was very weak, and that something very serious had happened to me.”
Jaqueline was suffering from Stevens-Johnson syndrome – an incredibly rare condition caused by the body’s overreaction to medicine, particularly epilepsy drugs, antibiotics, and anti-inflammatory painkillers.
Essentially, the body attacks its own skin, causing agonising blisters and peeling.
Without treatment, it can be life-threatening.
The syndrome left Jaqueline with scarring and severely damaged her eyes.
She said: “They [doctors] told me it was a miracle I’d survived.
“My family didn’t let me see myself in the mirror for a few days.
“When I did finally look in the mirror, I saw someone I didn’t recognise.”
She immediately started ophthalmologist treatment in a bid to save her vision, which she will have to continue for life.
She added: “The ophthalmologist also said I needed to have surgery as quickly as possible otherwise I would lose the eye organ.
“I left the office crying.”
Since that first operation in 2011, Jaqueline has had over 24 procedures, including cornea transplants, amniotic membrane transplants, and stem cell transplants.
She currently has around 40 per cent vision, and continues to have fortnightly check-ups to monitor her eyes.
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Jaqueline said: “The most difficult obstacle to overcome is knowing I can never have the vision that I once had.
“I wish I could find a cure to see again. But I feel like a warrior.”
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What is Stevens-Johnson syndrome?
Stevens-Johnson syndrome is a rare but serious skin reaction, usually caused by taking certain medicines – often epilepsy drugs, antibiotics and anti-inflammatory painkillers.
It is named after the two doctors who described it in the early 20th century.
It can be life-threatening so requires immediate hospital treatment.
Symptoms usually start with flu-like symptoms, such as a high temperature, sore throat, cough and joint pain.
A rash usually then appears a few days later – spreading from the upper body to the face, arms, legs and genitals.
You can also get blisters and sores on your lips, inside your mouth and on your eyes.
Hospital treatment usually involves fluids to prevent dehydration, creams and dressings to moisturise the skin, strong painkillers to ease discomfort and medicines to control inflammation and prevent infection.
It can take several weeks or months to fully recover.
Source: NHS