Utah woman is in intensive care after potentially fatal reaction to anxiety medication

• Kayla Nelson, 23, was diagnosed with Stevens-Johnson syndrome, a rare, serious and extremely painful condition after taking lamotrigine for anxiety.
• The disease causes the skin to blister and burn from within.

A woman in Utah is fighting for her life after having a fatal reaction to the effects of anxiety drugs, with peeling skin and red blisters all over her body.

Kayla Nelson, 23, had only taken three weeks of lamotrigine, a drug intended to treat depression and anxiety, when she first noticed symptoms on May 4 and was rushed to the emergency room. rice field.

Two weeks later, Nelson was diagnosed with Stevens-Johnson syndrome and remains at the University of Utah Burn Center. This syndrome is a rare and serious condition in which the skin burns from the inside out and can lead to blindness.

Not only is the once active woman tied to a hospital bed with a feeding tube in extreme pain, she also underwent eyelid surgery to prevent the risk of losing her sight and suffered panic attacks over what would happen. I’m in. Her family then said:

Nelson will remain in the burn unit for several weeks. There she is being treated for a severe burn-like reaction affecting 30 percent of her body. She will also need several weeks of physical and mental therapy before she can do her job again.

Even after being released from the burn unit weeks later, Nelson faces a long road to recovery after what her mother, Lindsay Ewing, described as “terrifying.”

“It’s hard for a 23-year-old, because she’s just starting her own life,” Ewing said. “She has her own life in front of her, but now we have to deal with this because she wanted her mental health to stabilize.”

Ewing said she was grateful the drug had helped some people’s mental health, but still wanted to warn others about the potential risks associated with the drug.

“Why could a family member, a friend, or anyone else go through something like this?” she asked. She added that her daughter’s doctor advised the patient to stop taking the drug immediately if she noticed a rash.

The National Library of Medicine describes the syndrome as “a rare, acute, serious, and potentially fatal cutaneous reaction,” in which skin peels off the body and causes painful blisters and blisters on the inside and outside of the body. A rash develops.

GoFundMe They say close friends of Nelson created it to help pay for medical expenses. “The symptoms don’t just stop on the outside,” he said, adding that Nelson had “severe reactions in his mouth, throat, eyes, ears and damage to his liver.”

The disease begins as a small rash that develops into a blister that, when it begins to slough off, exposes tissue and increases the likelihood of infection, not to mention unimaginable pain. ”

In the latest updates on May 11 and May 12, GoFundMe revealed that Nelson had a panic attack the night before giving birth. I had eye surgery because I lost my skin. inside her eyelids.

“They will insert artificial skin under her eyelids to prevent her from damaging her eyes and risking losing her sight,” GoFundMe said.

An update reveals that Nelson had an ‘r’.Because of the damage to her eyelids, she received placental tissue implants in each eye as a means of preserving her vision. ”

“She wasn’t thrilled, but her mom and dad gave her comfort and reassurance that she needed strength and strength to get through,” her friend wrote in a GoFundMe update. there is

“The surgery was a huge success and she was already looking around and pointing out the room right after the surgery!” I was able to spend a restful night. Thank you to everyone who has supported Kayla during her healing journey. Please continue to pray for Kayla and share/donate if you would like to donate for her!❤️❤️”.