IT’S one of the world’s most common over-the-counter painkillers, used by millions every day to cure everything from headaches to fevers and back pain.
But it nearly killed Jaqueline Gmack, who was placed in a coma as her skin blistered and peeled off, all caused by a little-known reaction that can occur with dozens of medications.
The 32-year-old took the medicine to alleviate her period cramps when she was 18 years old, just like any other woman with menstrual pain.
In a terrifying twist, she suffered such a rare but severe allergic reaction that doctors didn’t believe she would survive.
Shocking images showed her in a hospital bed with blistering skin, back in 2011, before she was placed in a coma for 17 days and spent a further 10 days in hospital.
She says she had no idea what had happened to her until she was woken by doctors and looked as though she’d “been burned from the inside out.”
Although Jaqueline made a miraculous recovery, she has been told her vision will be impaired forever, leaving her permanently scared from the ordeal.
Despite 26 operations to save her sight, she is left only able to detect shapes and some light, and the vision in her left eye is extremely limited.
Jaqueline, from Papanduva, Brazil , tells Sun Health : “It has taken a while for the reality to sink in – I entered a period of real mourning.
“I don’t recognise faces on the street, I can barely see who’s next to me.
“I can’t walk alone because I can’t see steps, holes, or obstacles.”
The ibuprofen triggered a reaction known as Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS).
It can also occur in reactions to antibiotics , epilepsy medication or other anti-inflammatory painkillers, or in children, it can be caused by infection, like a cold or flu.
Jaqueline says she popped the over-the-counter medication as usual in 2011, but started to experience a mild itch in her eye 48 hours later.
When she woke up with blood blisters inside her mouth the following day, she went to the hospital, where her condition continued to worsen.
Soon, her entire face was covered in blisters, and she could barely see.
When she woke up from the 17-day coma, her life had changed forever.
“It was like I’d been burned from the inside out,” Jaqueline, who had just finished high school and was taking university entrance exams, says.
“I didn’t know what had happened to me.
The medicines most likely to cause Stevens-Johnson syndrome
The NHS lists these medications as the most likely to cause Stevens-Johnson syndrome:
- allopurinol
- carbamazepine
- lamotrigine
- nevirapine
- oxicam anti-inflammatories, such as meloxicam and piroxicam
- phenobarbital
- phenytoin
- sulfamethoxazole and other sulfa antibiotics
- sulfasalazine
“I noticed my entire body was bandaged, my vision was completely blurred, and I had a tube down my throat, but I wasn’t in any pain.
“Only then did the penny start to drop, and I realised that I was very weak, and that something very serious had happened to me.
“Doctors told me it was a miracle I’d survived.”
SJS sees the body attack its own skin, causing agonising blisters and peeling. Without treatment, it can be life-threatening.
Jaqueline says: “My family didn’t let me see myself in the mirror for a few days.
“When I did finally look in the mirror, I saw someone I didn’t recognise.”
‘Why me?’
She faced more than two dozen operations, including amniotic membrane transplants and stem cell transplants, and immediately started ophthalmologist treatment in a bid to save her vision.
But Jaqueline has been suffering from corneal perforation – when the cornea in the front part of the eye has a hole or opening – ever since the incident.
She has recently had two corneal transplants to prevent her eye from leaking.
What is Stevens-Johnson syndrome?
Stevens-Johnson syndrome is a rare but serious skin reaction, usually caused by taking certain medicines – often epilepsy drugs, antibiotics and anti-inflammatory painkillers.
It is named after the two doctors who described it in the early 20th century.
SJS can be life-threatening so requires immediate hospital treatment.
Symptoms usually start with flu-like symptoms, such as a high temperature, sore throat, cough and joint pain.
A rash usually then appears a few days later – spreading from the upper body to the face, arms, legs and genitals.
You can also get blisters and sores on your lips, inside your mouth and on your eyes.
Hospital treatment usually involves fluids to prevent dehydration, creams and dressings to moisturise the skin, strong painkillers to ease discomfort and medicines to control inflammation and prevent infection.
It can take several weeks or months to fully recover.
The NHS says: “SJS is rare and the risk of getting it is low, even if you’re taking a medicine that can cause it.”
Source: NHS
Sadly, the issue means she will never regain clear vision. And as the first transplant wasn’t fully successful, she was forced to have her eyelids sewn shut for a second procedure in February.
Jaqueline says: “I was devastated and overwhelmed because I didn’t want my eyelids to be sewn, but I knew it was the only option to save my eye from further corneal damage.
A few months on, the stitches eventually fell out, but doctors delivered the devastating news that she would no longer be able to see out of her right eye due to the extensive damage caused by SJS.
She says: “Tears came, alongside anger and unanswered questions – ‘Why me?’ I got no answers.
“But little by little, I learned to listen to myself.
There are days when fear grips me, when the longing for sight weighs heavily
Jaqueline
“I learned that seeing doesn’t depend solely on the eyes – that the heart also sees, and sometimes with more clarity.
“I began to value the sounds, the smells, the textures, and the voices that guide me.
“I’ve rediscovered the world with other senses.”
Unsurprisingly, Jaqueline, who has never had a “formal” job but co-owns a business with her ex-husband, has steered clear of ibuprofen ever since her body’s extreme reaction to it.
She says she has also taken “great care” of her health in other ways, adding: “It was a process of adaptation and learning how my life would be from that point on.
“I haven’t taken anything similar to anti-inflammatories ever since.
“When I have menstrual cramps, I use an antispasmodic called Buscopan, which is what my doctor recommends.”
And while she has been through huge trauma, Jaqueline is determined to remain positive.
She says: “It still hurts and there are days when fear grips me, when the longing for sight weighs heavily.
“But there are also days of laughter, and of achievements that only I know how much they cost.
“Not because everything is over – but because I didn’t stop.
“Over time, l’ve managed to live a normal life; I travel, exercise, go out for drinks and have fun just like anyone else.”
