A 20-year-old woman was rushed to hospital and almost died after using a super-absorbent tampon and developing Toxic Shock Syndrome.
Katie Knight, from Inverness, Scotland, had left the tampon in for 48 hours before it was removed by doctors when she became violently ill.
“I genuinely thought I was going to die,” Katie told Metro.
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The young woman was unable to walk and talk and reportedly just hours from dying by the time she was rushed to intensive care, yet the whole time she was sick she had no idea the tampon was the cause.
TSS is caused by infection with certain types of bacteria, including Staphylococcus aureus (Staph) infection.
Katie told news service Caters that on the fourth day of her period she put in a super tampon – which was too absorbent for the flow she was experiencing – so that she could study for an assignment with fewer interruptions.
Listen: The Mamamia Out Loud team discuss their period problems.
“I was in the library trying to finish an assignment so I was pretty stressed when I started feeling unwell.”
She said she went to a local cafe for a coffee but did not feel any better, calling a taxi to take her home because she “couldn’t walk”.
Over the next 24 hours her condition worsened.
“When I was being sick, the last thing I was thinking about was my period – and because I had no idea I had TSS, I left my tampon in,” she said.