An Indiana mother of six warns against using tampons after two of her daughters were sent to the hospital with sepsis from toxic shock syndrome infections.
“We honestly thought we were going to lose them,” said Javon Johnson, 46, of Elkhart. he told Kennedy News. “Both were in very bad condition. “It was a delicate situation because his organs were inflamed and at risk of closing.”
Johnson said her daughter Devine, 21, became ill in May 2022 after using a “super plus absorption” tampon. She had just finished her period when she developed flu-like symptoms and was unable to walk without assistance.
Devine spent a week in the intensive care unit. The family returned to the hospital in July when Johnson’s daughter, Jaya, 17, experienced similar symptoms during a family vacation in Florida.
“She had used tampons for the first time in the last two days,” Javon explained. “We were in Florida on a family vacation and she just wanted to wear it to go swimming.”
Javon initially thought Jaya was suffering from heat stroke due to redness in the palms of her hands, until Jaya’s condition worsened with a viral infection, nausea and high fever.
She was reportedly taken to the emergency room and given ibuprofen.
Jaya fainted, so an ambulance was sent to take her back to the hospital.
“We couldn’t believe this had happened to us again. What are the odds?” Javon asked himself.
Jaya was diagnosed with sepsis due to toxic shock syndrome, as was Devine.
Toxic shock syndrome, often associated with tampon use, is a bacterial disease that affects 1 in 100,000 people. according to the Cleveland Clinic. It can cause serious organ damage or death.
“It was a moment of deja vu when we received the same diagnosis for [Jaya] only 30 days later,” Javon confessed.
“We just got a girl out of the ICU, who is still recovering, and now we have another girl who was about to start this process again, but she looked worse,” he added.
The child care business owner revealed that doctors said her daughters’ infections were caused by the “higher potency chemicals” in super plus absorbency tampons.
The tampons the sisters allegedly used were not identified.
“The doctors said [Jaya] I had used the super-plus absorbency when I didn’t need it. They contain a different type of chemical with greater potency,” Javon shared.
She said her daughters used tampons from the same box but did not sleep with them in.
“I didn’t think people would believe this happened to two of my daughters 30 days apart in the same year. Those were unrealistic odds,” Javon said.
Both daughters had a slow recovery process, Javon said, and in the year since, Johnson’s home has been tampon-free.
“No one can use them, that’s why we don’t keep them at home,” he declared. “I just wouldn’t recommend tampons right now. “I recommend not using tampons at all as they are not safe to use.”
In the meantime, the Johnson family remains focused on helping their daughters get through this ordeal.
“My husband and I are grateful that they both survived,” Javon sighed.
