Featured Image Credit: Kennedy News and Media
Topics: Health, US News, Women's Health
Lucy Devine
A woman who left a tampon in for eight hours during her friend's wedding was told she was 'lucky to be alive'.
Ashley DeSkeere, 46, from Texas, US, ended up in intensive care after she returned from a weekend of celebrating her friend's nuptials.
After suffering from a fever, vomiting and diarrhoea, Ashley assumed she'd picked up a bug.
But when her symptoms became more severe, she sought medical help at the Baylor Scott and White Medical Center in Frisco in Texas, US.
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Following a round of tests and investigations, Ashley was diagnosed with toxic shock syndrome (TSS).
TSS is a rare but life-threatening condition caused by an infection. It is often associated with the use of tampons, but can also happen when using a menstrual cup, or from an infected wound.
"I woke up at three in the morning with major chills and feeling nauseous," Ashley recalled. "I got my two boys off to school and then I started vomiting. I vomited every 30 minutes from 8am to noon.
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"I thought I had just picked up a stomach bug. I had been at a wedding on Saturday night and I thought I had picked up a germ from there or from my little boys.
"Home Health came and they did blood work and my potassium levels were really low and my blood pressure had dropped pretty low too. I began to feel worse and it started to get hard for me to breathe and talk as I felt really out of breath.
"I was very scared. I said to my husband that I thought I was dying. I have never felt so awful in my entire life."
When Ashley arrived at hospital, she was hooked up to six different antibiotic drips and fortunately, she began to stabilise.
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Ashley has used tampons for over two decades, but has said she will never use one again.
She also wants to advise other women to pay close attention to the different absorbency levels and to consider other types of products.
"I got to the hospital and they started doing tests and as soon as they did this they knew I was very sick," she explained.
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"On my CT scan was when they began to think about it being toxic shock as they realised I was just finishing my period and they asked me about wearing tampons which is all I ever used to wear on my period.
"They asked me if I had kept a tampon in for a long time and I told them the longest one had been in was eight hours.
"I typically change them every four hours and in the night, I always wake up in the middle of the night to go to the toilet and I always change my tampon then. For something like this to happen to me, eight hours doesn't seem enough.
"I've had friends message me saying they leave their tampon in for eight hours all the time which has really freaked me out. It wasn't like I had forgotten about the tampon or it had been in for 24 hours."
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Ashley explained that doctors believed the TSS could have been caused by a tampon she left in for eight hours, on the night of her friend's wedding.
After five days in hospital, Ashley was discharged and prescribed antibiotics to take home. But her ordeal was far from over, with the mum returning a few days later after almost suffering a blood clot.
"Multiple doctors told me I was very lucky that I was able to make it to the hospital," she said.
"I was told that I came in at the right time because if I came in any later they may not have been able to do anything for me.
"...My advice would be to change your tampon every time you go to the bathroom and to never wear one that is a higher absorbency than you need."
To support her recovery, Ashley's friends have set up a GoFundMe to help with her medical bills.
The FDA recommends to change tampons every four-eight hours, and urges that they must not be left inside your body for more than eight hours at a time.