Tuesday, March 19, 2024
Contact    |    RSS icon Twitter icon Facebook icon  
Unexplained Mysteries
You are viewing: Home > News > World of the Bizarre > News story
Welcome Guest ( Login or Register )  
All ▾
Search Submit

World of the Bizarre

Medication causes woman's blood to turn blue

By T.K. Randall
September 20, 2019 · Comment icon 4 comments

This is definitely not a good sign. Image Credit: Twitter / New England Journal of Medicine
A 25-year-old woman who was using a common pain relief drug for toothache ended up with inky blue blood.
The patient, who hails from Rhode Island, had been using an over-the-counter numbing medication containing benzocaine when she started to feel unwell and had to go to the emergency room.

"I'm weak and I'm blue," she told doctors.

Incredibly, it turned out that her blood had indeed turned a disconcerting shade of dark blue.

Dr. Otis Warren, an ER physician at Miriam Hospital in Rhode Island, quickly determined that she was suffering from methemoglobinemia - a potentially fatal condition that occurs when the iron in the blood changes form and can no longer effectively bind to oxygen and carry it throughout the body.
Dr. Warren believed that her condition had been brought on by a reaction to benzocaine.

"People have no idea that something very specific and very dangerous can happen," he said.

Fortunately however the condition is actually very easy to treat using a medication known (ironically) as 'methylene blue.' Within a short period of time the woman was feeling much better.

After being kept in for observation overnight, she was free to go home the next day.

Source: NBC News | Comments (4)




Other news and articles
Recent comments on this story
Comment icon #1 Posted by XenoFish 5 years ago
Smurfin', not even once.
Comment icon #2 Posted by Marquis Joseph Kosalsky 5 years ago
Ive heard about people who get lithium therapy for psychical deseases whose eyewhite coloured blue. An interesting treatment me thinks, but not all healthy. It is possible that this chemical product is used in the womans medication. Otherwise lead. Though tis strange indeed. Greetings, Marquis.
Comment icon #3 Posted by zygote_myles 5 years ago
Wow. That's one of the craziest things I've read in a while.
Comment icon #4 Posted by Jon the frog 5 years ago
That's creepy ! but less than blue people... https://abcnews.go.com/Health/internet-sensation-papa-smurf-dies-blue-people-live/story?id=20368758


Please Login or Register to post a comment.


Our new book is out now!
Book cover

The Unexplained Mysteries
Book of Weird News

 AVAILABLE NOW 

Take a walk on the weird side with this compilation of some of the weirdest stories ever to grace the pages of a newspaper.

Click here to learn more

We need your help!
Patreon logo

Support us on Patreon

 BONUS CONTENT 

For less than the cost of a cup of coffee, you can gain access to a wide range of exclusive perks including our popular 'Lost Ghost Stories' series.

Click here to learn more

Recent news and articles