(NaturalNews) If ever there was a situation to prove, once again, that taking another person's medication can produce life-threatening results, it's the unfortunate story of California college student Yassmeen Castanada. The mother of a four-month-old daughter is wrapped entirely in bandages, 70 percent of her body covered in blisters from head to toe as she suffers from Stevens-Johnson syndrome, a very rare condition that can occur from a drug reaction. The syndrome causes the skin to burn because its barrier function becomes severely compromised.⁽¹⁾

"It can be considered sort of a burn from the inside out," said dermatologist Dr. Lawrence Matt in an ABC News video. Castanada, who has been transferred to the University of California Irvine's burn unit, has burns covering most of her body, including the outer layer of her eyes, lips and genitals. She's already undergone a series of surgeries and, still, parts of her body such as her feet continue to blister.⁽¹⁾

Dr. Joshua Zeichner, a dermatology professor at the Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan who says he typically sees this reaction in response to antibiotics, explained, "You're not truly burned, but what happens is you have compromised the skin barrier function."⁽¹⁾

Life-threatening health problems can result by taking someone else's medications

Indeed, Castanada's condition is traced back to antibiotics that she took this past Thanksgiving. She wasn't feeling well, so she decided to take the medication. However, these weren't antibiotics that she was meant to take. Instead, they belonged to her friend. Clearly, she believed that they would make her feel better, but her mother, Laura Corona, says in an ABC News video that they were "toxic to her body." Within just a few days of taking the antibiotic, her skin broke out in blisters and soon thereafter she was sedated and on a ventilator. In that same video, another family member says that what was an attempt to stop feeling sick has "spiraled into a nightmare."⁽¹⁾

Fighting back tears, Corona stresses the importance of not sharing medications, ever. "Don't share medication. Don't give someone else your medication. Don't offer medication," she told ABC News. She also urges both adults and children to get checked so they are aware of what they may be allergic to.⁽¹⁾

Practicing safe steps to avoid medication reactions and health complications

According to the Mayo Clinic, "The appropriate use of antibiotics -- often called antibiotic stewardship -- can help preserve the effectiveness of current antibiotics, extend their life span and protect the public from antibiotic-resistant infections." To that end, the Mayo Clinic recommends a series of steps that people should take to ensure their health as it relates to taking antibiotics. Some of the steps include never taking antibiotics prescribed for another individual, never taking leftover antibiotics initially prescribed for one illness to treat a new one that may develop, always taking the full course of treatment, not pressuring a medical professional to provide you with antibiotics and only using antibiotics as prescribed by a doctor.⁽²⁾

Corona is optimistic that her daughter will heal. Her Christmas wish for her child is "for her not to suffer."⁽¹⁾

Stevens-Johnson syndrome is a rare skin and mucous membrane disorder, often caused by a reaction to a medication or infection. Typically, a person may develop flu-like symptoms, after which rashes and blisters develop. Then, top layer of skin starts to die and shed. The condition can cause a range of complications, from blood infections and eye tissue damage that leads to blindness, to internal organ damage and the inability for nails and hair to grow normally.^(3,4)

Sources:

(1) http://abcnews.go.com

(2) http://www.mayoclinic.org

(3) http://www.mayoclinic.org

(4) http://www.mayoclinic.org

(5) http://science.naturalnews.com