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" A woman who suffered toxic shock syndrome caused by a tampon has opened up about her horrific experience. Joanna Cartwright thought she was suffering a bout of flu when she was rushed to hospital, as bacteria quickly invaded her bloodstream and caused her organs to start shutting down. The last the mother-of-three can remember before she went into the medically-induced coma is being in the car on the way to the hospital. As her internal organs began shutting down, she was put on life support and into a medically induced coma. Other horrific side effects included swollen hands, her nails falling off, severe peeling of her skin and hair loss.  The terrifying ordeal saw Joanna stay in the coma for a full eight days, as medics explained that the toxic shock syndrome had caused a bout of meningitis, too. When she woke up, she found that she was not only unable to walk and had lost her memory, but also didn&amp;#039;t recognise who her own three daughters were. &amp;quot;I was put in the coma on my 25th birthday so when I woke up I was surrounded by birthday cards. A nurse was reading the cards out to me but I didn&amp;#039;t know any of the names - I didn&amp;#039;t even realise it had been my birthday. All I really knew was that I was very poorly, and I thought I was going to die.&amp;quot; Joanna&amp;#039;s recovery process has been a long and difficult battle taking about two years, but the brave mum has re-learned to walk again and is gradually getting her memory back.  &amp;quot;I had to have intense physio as I had to learn to walk again, and it took ages for my hair to grow back. It&amp;#039;s been a really traumatic experience and I know there are parts of me that will never be the same again. &amp;quot;But I&amp;#039;m just relieved that I made it through and my girls have still got their mum - I count myself very lucky.&amp;quot; Toxic shock syndrome is caused by bacteria that lives harmlessly on the skin, nose and mouth but, should it invade the bloodstream, can release poisonous toxins. These toxins damage skin, organs, and affect many vital organ functions, with tampons being the cause of a significant number of cases in women.  For Joanna, it was indeed the case that a tampon caused her TSS, and she said: &amp;quot;I hadn&amp;#039;t done anything different from what I usually do every other month.&amp;quot; So what&amp;#039;s the deal with TSS? Should we be worried? &amp;quot;I&amp;#039;ve been practising for 20 years and I&amp;#039;ve never seen a patient with it, so don&amp;#039;t be put off using tampons because of TSS,&amp;quot; says consultant gynaecologist Deborah Bruce from the London Bridge Hospital. &amp;quot;Tampon use is a factor in less than half of toxic shock conditions (it&amp;#039;s also spread in other ways like skin infections, surgery and burns \u2013 children and men can get TSS too). While it&amp;#039;s rare, it&amp;#039;s still important to be vigilant - if you experience flu-like symptoms and/or a bad odour down there, seek medical advice.&amp;quot; And to learn more about Toxic Shock Syndrome, head over to the NHS website. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.cosmopolitan.co.uk/body/health/news/a31319/woman-toxic-shock-syndrome-tampon-story/>