Teddi Mellencamp hospitalized after waking up with ‘sores all over entire body’: Here’s what happened

Former ‘Real Housewives of Beverly Hills’ star and wellness coach Teddi Mellencamp recently went through a stressful episode regarding her health, and she’s now sharing the grim details of it.

Mellencamp revealed that she landed in the hospital recently after waking up covered in painful sores, which turned out to be a scary new twist in her fight against cancer.

What happened to Teddi Mellencamp?

Teddi opened up about the ordeal on the March 3 episode of her podcast, ‘Two T’s in a Pod’, which she co-hosts with her friend Tamra Judge. When she was not feeling well for a few days, at first, she figured she just had the flu, as she’d been feeling lousy for a couple of days.

But then, one morning, she woke up and found her whole body covered in what she could only call sores. Not just a rash: these were burning, painful blisters, and they weren’t just on her skin.

They showed up in her mouth, around her eyes, everywhere.“I hadn’t felt good for a couple days,” Teddi told Tamra. “I thought it was the flu, and then one day I woke up and my whole body was covered in this terrible rash. You can’t even call it a rash, honestly, it was more like sores, all over.”

Turns out, Teddi had come down with Stevens-Johnson syndrome, a rare and dangerous disorder that affects the skin and mucous membranes.Teddi stayed surprisingly calm, even though the pain was intense, and went to urgent care, hoping it would be something simple to fix. That’s when her doctor told her, “You need to get to the ER right now.” The culprit? A new medication she’d started, which triggered a severe allergic reaction.

Stevens-Johnson syndrome is no joke either; it’s a medical emergency that can cause massive, painful blisters inside and out.And Teddi didn’t just have it on her arms or legs — it was everywhere. “It went into my mouth,” she said. “Around my eyes a little bit. I couldn’t swallow.” Doctors at the hospital moved fast, diagnosing her and starting treatment right away, but Teddi still had to be admitted.

What is Stevens-Johnson syndrome?

Per Mayo Clinic, this particular illness usually starts out feeling a lot like the flu, but then things get serious fast.

Painful blisters and rashes spread across the body, and if it’s not treated, the condition can be life-threatening. Patients need to be hospitalized because the skin damage can cause dehydration, infections, and make it hard to eat or swallow.In Teddi’s case, doctors quickly put her on steroids and antibiotics to calm her immune system and prevent infections from taking hold.

Road to recovery

Teddi stayed in the hospital for a few days so doctors could keep a close eye on her.

Sometimes, the symptoms look like they’re improving only to get worse again, so they didn’t want to take any chances. Luckily, the meds worked. “They immediately started me on steroids and antibiotics and after a couple days, thankfully, it got better,” she said. The hospital staff insisted she stay until they were sure her symptoms wouldn’t rebound.The timing was tight, but Teddi managed to get discharged just in time to make it to her youngest daughter’s birthday party. She admitted she still didn’t feel great, but seeing her daughter gave her the boost she needed. “I was so happy,” she said.