After experiencing a devastating event, a woman is cautioning tampon users about the dangers.
For those who use tampons, Toxic Shock Syndrome (TSS) is a potential risk you may be familiar with.
TSS is a serious and rare condition that can result from an infection, particularly associated with tampon use.
Lauren Wasser, hailing from Los Angeles, faced a life-altering situation at the age of 24 when she was informed that she had contracted TSS, leading to the loss of both her legs.
Currently 36, Lauren recalls changing her tampon every four hours during her cycle back in 2012. She began to experience symptoms akin to the flu, along with a significantly high fever.
On The Diary of a CEO podcast, she recounted: “I was on my period. It was super heavy. I guess I must have passed out. They found me face down on my bedroom floor. I was 10 minutes from death.”
Upon being rushed to the hospital, she went through two cardiac arrests and was placed in a coma due to organ failure.
The medical team explained to her parents that her chance of survival was a mere one percent.
She shared: “My feet were turning black so when I finally woke up they needed to amputate my right leg or I was going to die.
“They’re telling me that we cannot give you any pain medication. I felt every single thing that was done to me.”
Her legs were severely affected by gangrene, necessitating the amputation of her right leg below the knee.
Although much of her left leg was initially preserved, persistent pain over the years led to the difficult decision to amputate it as well.
Today, Lauren is an advocate for enhanced safety standards in menstrual products.
She stated, “If men’s dicks were falling off tomorrow, that wouldn’t happen. So why is it women are having to fight for everything? Let alone the products we are given for something that we are naturally having to do every month for 40 something years.”
Toxic shock syndrome symptoms can include high fever, low blood pressure, vomiting, confusion, and seizures.
To minimize the risk of toxic shock syndrome, Better Health suggests that tampon users change them at least every four hours, avoid super-absorbent tampons, only unwrap tampons if they will be used immediately, wash hands before and after use, opt for sanitary pads overnight, and consider using pads during the lighter flow days at the end of a period.