I remember the first time I really inspected a tampon box. Specifically, I remember the bright colors, designs and the folded up pamphlet inside the box with illustrated directions on how to insert it.
At the bottom of that pamphlet in small letters was a warning to not leave a tampon in for too long with the risk of Toxic Shock Syndrome, an illness I didn’t take seriously because I had never heard of anyone actually getting sick from it. The only problem with that assumption is that it was wrong, because last March I got TSS, and it came far too close to killing me.
I am not on a rampage telling women to stop using tampons, though it is not a bad idea. I am on a personal mission to educate women. It is not enough to simply put a small warning on a folded up pamphlet, usually thrown away, inside the tampon box. Parents and pediatricians alike should take preventative measures by educating young women who are just beginning to menstruate about the dangers of leaving tampons in for too long and alternative products to use. There are small and easy decisions that women can make to prevent this from happening.
Photo Illustration By Brittany Murphy/ Opinions Editor
Toxic Shock Syndrome is a severe blood infection with a 50 percent mortality rate caused by tampon use.
I woke up on a Thursday morning and immediately started vomiting, which continued for the next few hours. I called my parents and told them I had the flu but later that day I began to faint, which I had never done before. I slept horribly that night and in the morning I thought a shower might perk me up.
My energy was depleted at this point and it took me 20 minutes to get from my room to the bathroom right next door.
I remember trying to use my computer chair as a wheelchair to get to the bathroom but I couldn’t push across the carpet, so I started crawling. It was so bad that I could not stand up for more than five seconds without fainting and I would even faint when I was sitting on the toilet.
My mom came home early from work that day and found me in bed with shallow breathing and purple fingers. She brought me to the urgent care center where they took blood and immediately called an ambulance after discovering my kidneys had shut down.
My temperature was 104 degrees and my blood pressure was 50/30 in the ambulance. Later that day an ICU nurse would tell me that if I had waited any longer to get help I would have died. In the ER I was swarmed by doctors and nurses, who put IV’s in both arms, inserted a catheter and a central line in my neck.
When the ER doctor examined me and discovered a rash I had on my back that I hadn’t noticed, he asked if I had a tampon in and that warning label on that pamphlet immediately came to my mind. I was admitted to the ICU and stayed there for a week where I went into septic shock from the infection. My kidneys failed, my liver failed, I gained 20 pounds in fluid weight, my lungs filled with fluid and my heart failed.
I was ventilated and put on some very heavy-duty antibiotics and was sent home to recover after I was stable enough and all my organs restarted.
It was a miserable week, but the severity of the situation didn’t really hit me until I was home and starting to feel better.
These days, my energy still isn’t 100 percent—I am anemic, and my heart muscle is still weakened to the point where I am taking medication twice a day for it but it is slowly improving.
Tampons must be changed every four to six hours, use the lowest absorbency possible, wear pads while sleeping, and use 100 percent cotton tampons because there hasn’t been a documented case of TSS with cotton tampons. The higher the absorbency of the tampon, the higher the risks are of getting TSS.
When I fell ill I had purchased a higher absorbency tampon than I usually use. If possible, avoid tampons altogether by opting for pads or menstrual cups.
TSS is often misdiagnosed because it presents flu-like symptoms such as vomiting, diarrhea, high fever, fatigue, dizziness and nausea. A tell-tale symptom of TSS is a rash, the symptom I didn’t notice because it was on my back and it was not itchy. If you begin having these symptoms, immediately remove the tampon and seek medical attention.
This infection spreads so quickly that I was in the ICU within 48 hours of having my first symptoms, so do not hesitate to get help if symptoms occur.
I consider myself lucky despite everything I went through. Many cases result in amputated extremities, complete hair loss, permanent organ damage or even death.
It still sounds strange to be called a survivor.
But I know that I survived so that as a nurse, I can educate women of all ages along with fellow health care providers about TSS. Then, maybe, I can save a life just like mine.
Share this story with women in your life of all ages, spread the word and maybe you can save a life too.
Jennifer Ritter can be contacted at jennifer.ritter@ksc.keene.edu