While TSS is commonly associated with ultra-absorbent tampons from decades past, doctors have recently seen a concerning spike in cases.
December 4, 2023
If you’re a person who uses tampons, you’ve probably heard of the dangers of toxic shock syndrome (TSS) and how it can potentially result in amputation or even death. You may even associate TSS — a life-threatening complication of certain types of bacterial infections — with the late 1970s or early 1980s when highly absorbent tampons were introduced to the market. During that time, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention disclosed that 890 cases of TSS were reported of which 91% were associated with menstruation. The outbreak — linked to a specific tampon brand and its materials — resulted in highly absorbent tampons being taken off the market once news made waves, and eventually menstruators were warned about potential risks of using tampons. But, while rare, TSS is still happening to tampon users.
Earlier this year, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services reported seeing their largest spike in TSS cases in over 10 years. Although that spike only included five instances, some high-profile TSS cases have also been making headlines: In September, influencer Kelsey Foster said she nearly died from it after she left a tampon inside of her for what she assumes was about six weeks.
Sadie Kirdar, a student in New York City, learned about TSS after nearly succumbing to sepsis which was caused by the infection. In August 2022, Kirdar was leaving summer camp with friends and camp staff, traveling on a flight from Maine back home to New York when her TSS symptoms began. She felt overheated, nauseous and faint, but chalked it up to being dehydrated since she pulled an all-nighter the night before and skipped breakfast the morning of the flight. Her plane had a detour landing in Connecticut and after sitting on the tarmac for a while, she began to feel even more faint. She and a friend begged a flight attendant for air and were let out onto stairs attached to the plane. Fifteen minutes later, her friend — who also was feeling unwell — vomited and felt better after leaving the plane. Kirdar vomited as well, but her symptoms worsened.
Shortly after, she collapsed on a chair inside of the hangar on the tarmac and was shaken awake by her counselor. She vomited more, couldn’t keep down liquids and went in and out of consciousness. “I was suddenly unresponsive…it felt like my life kept flickering before my eyes,” Kirdar tells Allure. Kirdar was taken in an ambulance to Connecticut Children’s hospital, while going in and out of consciousness the entire ride. “I’d wake up and have to vomit, and then my blood pressure would drop and I would nod out again. I remember asking, over and over, whether I was going to be okay. But all I could hear was a long beeping noise that wouldn’t go away and someone saying, ‘we’re going to try our best’.”
Before her plane took off, Kirdar inserted a super tampon from a popular brand. When she exited the plane, about three hours later, she mustered enough energy to change the tampon. Kirdar says she didn’t know much about TSS at the time. “We didn’t cover it in my health class at school. I had just turned 15 years old so I had not been to the gynecologist yet,” Kirdar says. “The only thing that I had been told from my mother was not to use a single tampon for more than six to eight hours and to not sleep with a tampon.”
Five days later, after four IVs, multiple medications, and oxygen tubes, Kirdar was diagnosed with TSS. Doctors suspected she had the infection but needed tests to confirm it as they were skeptical since she wasn’t using tampons for long periods of time. But, leaving a tampon in for more than six to eight hours straight is just one of many ways to get TSS from tampon usage.
Meet the experts:
- Tiffany Pham, DO, is a board-certified obstetrician and gynecologist and medical advisor for Flo Health
- Stephanie Hack, MD, a board-certified obstetrician and gynecologist and founder of the Lady Parts Doctor health platform
https://www.allure.com/story/tss-symptoms-treatment-prevention
NO COAST MENOPAUSE 