A 20-year-old woman almost died from leaving a tampon for 48 hours in while she had her period.
Katie Knight of Inverness, Scotland, was studying for her exams when she started feeling very sick.
She told Metro, “‘I was in the library trying to finish an assignment so I was pretty stressed when I started feeling unwell.
“I went down to the cafe to get a coffee and a piece of cake because thought it might be to do with my period, even though it was the fourth day.
“I then splashed my face with water as my essay was due the following day and I really needed to get it done. I ended up having to ring a taxi to take me home because I couldn’t walk.”
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She said that from when she got back to her university residence, she started vomiting then passing out in 25 minute intervals.
“It escalated as soon as I got home, but I had no idea what was going on. I thought Toxic Shock Syndrome [TSS] was a myth.
“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.”
It only got worse from there, until she finally got taken to the emergency room by her friend who was training to be a doctor.
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Doctors found the tampon in her system, which she hadn’t taken out for 48 hours by that point, and deduced that she was suffering from Toxic Shock Syndrome.
Katie has since revealed that she had used a super absorbent tampon, which have a stronger link to Toxic Shock Syndrome. She has decided to move from tampons to sanitary pads now.
Toxic Shock Syndrome is extremely rare in Australia, with only 25 reported cases since 1981.
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