A woman who took ibuprofen for her flu-like symptoms suffered a horrific reaction that left her with red, swollen eyes and snake-like scales on her face.
The 45-year-old patient had taken the over-the-counter pain reliever just hours earlier and also had a strange yellow scab on her lips and severe swelling on her face.
She was rushed to a hospital in Iraq and diagnosed with an extremely rare severe adverse reaction to ibuprofen called Stevens-Johnson syndrome.
This happens when the immune system overreacts to a trigger, such as a medication, causing high levels of inflammation and causing it to attack the body’s own cells, including those in the skin, causing blisters and swelling.
Doctors said he had suffered an extremely rare severe adverse reaction to ibuprofen caused by the immune system causing high levels of inflammation.
The patient was sent to the ICU, where a tube was placed down her throat to administer fluids, she was given an intravenous drip, and was prescribed a course of antibiotics.
Doctors kept her in the ward for seven days until the swelling began to subside and no new rashes appeared.
She had never suffered the ibuprofen reaction before and it was unclear whether the woman, who had no underlying conditions, had suffered any long-term effects from the reaction.
Revealing the rare case in Clinical case reportsdoctors said: ‘Ibuprofen… has long been a stalwart in the field of pain relief and inflammation treatment.
“However, behind their common presence in medicine cabinets lies a potential danger that, although rare, demands our attention and understanding.”
They added: “While ibuprofen is generally safe, the rare occurrence of serious reactions such as SJS serves as a reminder that no medication is completely risk-free.”
Rashes also appeared on the patient’s extremities, as shown above. Tests revealed that the outer layer of his skin, which contains billions of healthy cells, had also sloughed off.
The 45-year-old woman was urgently admitted to intensive care in Iraq after suffering these symptoms after taking ibuprofen.
Americans take an estimated 30 billion doses of prescription and over-the-counter pain relievers such as ibuprofen each year, and the vast majority have no reactions.
Only in extremely rare cases are serious reactions such as SJS reported (847 cases in the United States related to ibuprofen since 2004).
Patients are often hospitalized and in some cases may die from the disease.
In the reaction, the immune system triggers high levels of inflammation against ibuprofen, wrongly identifying it as a threat.
This can cause problems with the outer skin, which contains billions of healthy cells and many blood vessels, which can cause the outer layer to peel off in certain places.
The woman told doctors she had taken two 400 mg ibuprofen tablets before the reaction.
Tests on his internal organs, such as his lungs and heart, showed that they were all functioning normally.
But a sample taken of his skin revealed that the outer layer had separated from the body, leading to the diagnosis.
Doctors also recorded signs of necrosis, or when healthy cells begin to die due to a failure in the blood supply.
The woman also had no underlying disease, did not smoke or consume alcohol.
She was treated by doctors at Al Nasiriyah University Hospital in Thi Qar, southern Iraq.