A New Zealand woman, who claimed to have had side effects from the depression medicine, burned her “from the inside out” and she experienced a “terrifying” reaction. According to Charlotte Gilmour, she was covered in painful blisters after experiencing a severe response to lamotrigine, a medication used to treat epilepsy and sadness in bipolar disorder sufferers.
The 23-year-old reportedly acquired Steven-Johnson syndrome (SJS), a rare disorder that results in excruciating blisters on the lips, skin and stomach, according to local news source Stuff.
She told Stuff, “I looked in the mirror, and I just burst into tears. I think I subconsciously knew it was something quite serious.”
The Palmerston resident reportedly woke up with a severe rash all over her body after fighting a chest illness for many weeks, according to The Sun.
After she was rushed to the hospital, nurses discovered that she had SJS, an uncommon but dangerous illness brought on by the body’s response to medications, especially those used to treat seizures, antibiotics and medicines that reduce inflammation, like ibuprofen.
SJS can be deadly in 10% of instances and usually starts with flu-like symptoms followed by a blistering rash, according to the Mayo Clinic.
The issue was that employees were unsure of how to address it, which may have been fatal if left untreated.
“I guess hearing ‘OK, no one knows a lot about this’ was scary,” Charlotte remarked.
The most terrifying aspect, she said, was that it burnt her from the inside out. Her insides were so scorched that they began to show on the exterior of her skin, which is why she had all the burns on her body.
“The rash had started to take over my body,” she stated.
“It was like my arm had been cooked. I could also feel the bone of the top of my mouth because my gums had died.”
Her digestive tract blistered so badly that she needed a feeding tube.
Gilmour, who had “never been so scared,” was also prescribed steroids, but they did not appear to help.
After losing her vision swiftly, she struggled hard to stay awake for five days in a row.
“I was so terrified that if I went to sleep I wasn’t going to wake up,” she stated to 1News.
Fortunately, she was released from the hospital after receiving therapy for 30 days, although she still has some symptoms.
She revealed to the news outlet that she continues to get rash flare-ups and blisters in her eyes, always in the same spot where the worst burn occurred.
But she has a fresh perspective on life.
“I’m just so grateful for the small things that I used to take for granted.”
Doctors believe lamotrigine, which she began taking two months prior, may have been the cause of her SJS, though they cannot be certain.
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