One woman said she was “hurt from the inside out” after taking antidepressants.
Charlotte Gilmore had a severe reaction to lamotrigine, which is used to treat depression in people with epilepsy and bipolar disorder, and her body was covered in severe blisters.
23 year old said thing: “When I looked in the mirror, tears suddenly came to my eyes.
“I think subconsciously I knew this was something pretty serious.”
Charlotte, from Palmerston North, New Zealand, had been battling a chest infection for several weeks when she woke up with a painful rash all over her body.
She was rushed to the hospital, where nurses diagnosed her with Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS). This syndrome is a rare but serious condition caused by the body’s overreaction to drugs, especially epilepsy drugs, antibiotics, and anti-inflammatory painkillers such as ibuprofen.
The problem was that the staff didn’t know how to treat it, which can be life-threatening if left untreated.
“I think it was scary to hear, ‘Okay, no one knows much about this,'” Charlotte said.
“But the most frightening thing is that I was burned from the inside out, so all the burns on the outside were because I was burned so much on the inside that it started showing on the outside of my skin.
“A rash had started covering my body.
“It felt like my arm was being burned. I could also feel the bone above my mouth because my gums were dead.”
The blisters in her gastrointestinal tract were so severe that a feeding tube had to be connected.
Charlotte, who said, “I’ve never been so scared,” was also given steroids, but they didn’t seem to have any effect.
She quickly lost her vision and desperately tried to stay awake for five days straight.
“I was so scared that I thought I might not wake up even if I went to sleep,” she said. 1 news.
Thankfully, after 30 days of treatment, Charlotte was discharged from the hospital, but she still has some symptoms.
“I still get blisters in my eyes and the rash spreads further, but it’s always in the same spot where the worst burns were,” she says.
But she has a new outlook on life.
“I’m really grateful for the little things that I used to take for granted,” she said.
Although they can’t say for sure, doctors believe Charlotte’s SJS was triggered by lamotrigine, which she started taking two months ago.
I felt the bone above my mouth because my gums had died.
charlotte gilmore
according to DermnetSJS is more likely to occur during the first 8 weeks of taking the drug.
Symptoms usually begin with a headache, joint pain, and cough, followed by a rash. NHS Say.
This often looks like a target. A purple or dark area of the skin is surrounded by a lighter area.
Blisters and ulcers may also form in moist areas of tissue, such as the eyes, inside the mouth, and throat.
SJS requires hospital treatment. This usually includes intravenous fluids, painkillers, topical steroids, and antibiotics.
A 2017 study estimated that there are 6 cases of infection per million people in the UK each year. study.
The mortality rate is between 5 and 40 percent, depending on which part of the body is affected.
What is Stevens-Johnson syndrome?
Stevens-Johnson syndrome is a rare but serious skin reaction that is usually caused by taking certain drugs (such as epilepsy drugs, antibiotics, and anti-inflammatory painkillers).
It is named after two doctors who described the disease in the early 20th century.
It can be life-threatening and requires immediate hospital treatment.
Symptoms usually begin with flu-like symptoms such as high fever, sore throat, cough, and joint pain.
A rash usually appears after a few days and spreads from the upper body to the face, arms, legs, and genitals.
Blisters and sores may form on the lips, inside the mouth, and eyes.
Hospital treatment usually includes hydration to prevent dehydration, creams or bandages to moisturize the skin, strong painkillers to relieve discomfort, and medications to reduce inflammation and prevent infection. Masu.
Full recovery may take weeks or months.
sauce: NHS
