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Drug Causes Skin to Peel Off Body in Horrific Reaction
13 Apr
Summary
- A severe skin reaction to lamotrigine caused one patient's skin to turn purple and peel.
- The drug's rare side effects can include Stevens-Johnson syndrome, leading to peeling skin.
- A young man experienced blistering, organ failure, and vision loss from the drug.
A patient experienced a harrowing ordeal after taking the drug lamotrigine, which resulted in severe skin lesions. Initially covered in painful sores on her first hospital day, her skin turned deep purple and began peeling within 24 hours. By the fourth day, the damage was extensive, with skin blackening around her mouth.
After four days, her condition stabilized, and she spent 66 days in the hospital recovering. Six months post-discharge, doctors noted excellent healing of the affected areas. The NHS website lists rashes as a common side effect of lamotrigine, with extreme cases potentially leading to conditions like Stevens-Johnson syndrome.
In 2016, a 21-year-old man named Christopher Wooll was diagnosed with Stevens-Johnson syndrome after taking lamotrigine. He developed flu-like symptoms, followed by facial and eye swelling, and blood blisters in his mouth. His condition worsened, leading to blistering across his entire body, skin peeling, multiple organ failure, and temporary vision loss.
