Woman left ‘burning from inside out’ in 17-day coma after taking ibuprofen for stomach cramps
Warning: This article contains graphic content which some readers may find distressing.
A woman who took ibuprofen for menstrual cramps ended up being put in a coma for 17 days and had her skin peeling off.
Jacqueline Gmack said it was 'a miracle I survived' as she took the medication and then a few days later started feeling an itch in her eye.
The next day she woke up to blood blisters in her mouth and decided to go to hospital, but things only got worse for the 31-year-old woman.
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Before long her entire face was covered in blisters and she could hardly see, and the next thing the woman remembered after that was waking up from a coma 17 days later.
The induced coma was as a result of a rare condition which had reacted to the over-the-counter medicine.
“It was like I'd been burned from the inside out,” the Brazilian woman said of her life-threatening experience.
"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 learned she was suffering from Stevens-Johnson Syndrome, an incredibly rare condition caused by the body's overreaction to medicine, particularly epilepsy medicines, antibiotics, and anti-inflammatory painkillers.
In essence the syndrome causes the body to attack its own skin, resulting in blisters and peeling.
Without treatment the condition is life-threatening and Jaqueline was left with scars and severe damage to her eyes.
"They told me it was a miracle I'd survived," she said of the doctors' verdicts on her health after she'd come out of the coma.
"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 went in for ophthalmologist treatment in a bid to save her vision and she will need treatment for the rest of her life.
Her ophthalmologist said she 'needed to have surgery as quickly as possible otherwise I would lose the eye organ'.
Jaqueline's first operation was in 2011 and since then she's had over 24 procedures including transplants for corneas, amniotic membrane and stem cells.
She currently has around 40 percent vision and continues to have fortnightly check-ups to monitor her eyes.
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."
Topics: Health
Joe Harker