Symptoms of toxic shock syndrome revealed by a Sydney nurse who accidentally left a tampon for a month

For Sydney’s mother, Tammy Jenkins, that was an innocent mistake.

I’ve been using tampons since I was a 16 year old girl, so I was relaxing before going to bed.

Watch the video above: Tammy shares the story of the tampon

“I’m not a heavy bleeder, I usually sleep with them,” says Tammy. 7Life.

But in October 2020, after inserting the last tampon of her time, something strange happened.

Tammy forgot to get rid of it.

The nurse, 42, claims that it caused a catalog of symptoms that made her feel suicide.

“At that time I was doing a lot. It happens,” Tammy admits.

There was no discomfort for days, and there was no smell, and it was okay.

But one night after getting intimate with her partner, he felt something was wrong.

“He insisted he felt a lump or something and told me he should go to an obstetrician and gynecologist,” Tammy recalls.

“But I just got rid of him and put it on him who didn’t know the anatomy of a woman.”

She now says the conversation was the “first sign” she should have asked for help.

I was never hungry

From that moment on, Tammy claims that her mental health made a dark nod.

She lost her appetite, began to become paranoid, and was often crazy and dizzy.

“I probably ate once every four days, but I wasn’t hungry,” she says.

Once a happy and confident mother who loved sharing on social media, she began to be locked out of the outside world.

“I just wanted to sit in the same place at home every day,” recalls Tammy. “I wasn’t myself … I felt like an empty shell.”

Things were so bad that she sought advice from her GP taking antidepressants.

But the drug didn’t help.

Tammy had a hard time even buying groceries. She started having a panic attack trying to leave the house.

“I started to question my ability to do something, such as” Can I actually go to Coles or do I shop for myself? ” I didn’t know anymore, “she reveals.

As the calendar dates passed, Tammy remained intimate with her partner, not knowing that the rotten tampon was still hidden inside her.

One day, after a trip to the beach, she almost fainted-and on November 5, the mother returned to the doctor and said she was “finished.”

“I couldn’t cope with my life anymore,” Tammy says frankly.

“I told him I was done, he had to put me in a spiritual house because I couldn’t live anymore.”

The doctor comforted Tammy, increased the dose of antidepressants and barium, and sent her along the way.

Later that day, the nurse headed for the scheduled night shift.

I was depressed

It was also the day when my period started, so I went to the bathroom.

But when Tammy tried to insert the tampon as usual, she felt resistance.

“I felt a lump and I was depressed,” she recalls.

Soon her heart returned to the time when her partner said he also felt a lump.

“I thought it was cancer, so I started to feel the surroundings.

“It was soft and fluffy … and my heart just clicked, it was a tampon,” she says.

She immediately unplugged the phone, looked at the date, and was surprised to find that it was “there was there for a whole month.”

“It was very hard to get out,” she reveals.

But in the end, Tammy managed to get rid of what was now a “black” lump.

Immediately she went to her colleague’s nurse at work and explained her situation.

“Everyone just looked at me and said,’How are you?'” Tammy says.

“They kept telling me I had sepsis and I couldn’t believe I was still walking,” she says.

Thankfully, Tammy says he wasn’t adversely affected anymore, and that he began to feel better when the tampons were gone.

Gradually her dark mood rose and she regained her appetite-the symptoms she claimed must have been the result of toxic shock syndrome.

according to Better healthToxic shock syndrome (TSS) is a rare and potentially life-threatening illness that is thought to be caused by infection with certain types of bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pyogenes.

The symptoms of TSS are:

• heat
• vomiting
• diarrhea
• Skin rash that looks like a sunburn
• Peeling patch for foot and hand skin
• Muscle pain
• headache
• sore throat
• Red eyes
• confusion
• Lowering blood pressure
• Joint pain
• Sensitivity to light
• kidney failure
• Collapse.

No deterioration in mental health is mentioned, but obstetrician-gynecologist Dr. Gino Pecoraro said: 7Life Mental health problems can be a side effect of any serious illness, including TSS.

“Whenever someone has a severe infection, you can get what is called delirium, which is basically the change in pH in the blood that accompanies the infection,” says Dr. Pecoraro. ..

Tammy certainly believes that forgotten tampons are the cause of her mood changes.

Since then she hasn’t used tampons.

Currently, mothers choose menstrual underwear, but the options she knows are not suitable for everyone.

“I’m not telling everyone to stop using tampons, but don’t think it won’t happen to you-I thought of me,” she says.

“Just set an alarm or reminder to remove the tampon,” she advises.

It took her a year to openly talk about her experience.

Some in her story say she’s labeled “unhygienic,” but Tammy says it was a simple mistake that could happen to anyone.

Her message to someone else experiencing the same thing?

“Don’t be shy, it’s okay.”

If you need help in the event of a crisis, call Lifeline at 13 11 14. For more information on depression, contact beyondblue at 1300224636, or talk to your GP, local health care professional, or someone you can trust.