Mum ‘minutes from death’ after £25 ‘Barbie drug’ bought online ‘poisoned’ her body on holiday
A MUM suffered a life-threatening reaction after using a nasal tanning spray she bought online.
Edith Eagle was so desperate to be bronzed for her holiday that she snorted a Melanotan, often dubbed the “barbie drug“.
But just days after using the spray, the 47-year-old chef’s face ballooned after the drug “poisoned” her body.
Edith, from Norfolk, said she felt “grateful” to be alive and urges others not to make the same mistake as her.
“I could’ve died that day,” she said.
“If [doctors] hadn’t been so hands-on in the hospital, I wouldn’t be here to tell the tale.”
The tan enhancers, popularised by influencers on TikTok, work with your body to create a dark tan.
They contain melanotan, a synthetic hormone that stimulates cells to produce more melanin – the pigment that darkens the skin.
It is not illegal to use or promote the nasal product but it is illegal to sell them in the UK.
They have previously been linked to melanoma, a serious form of skin cancer responsible for about 2,300 deaths in the UK every year.
A few days before a family holiday to the Canary Islands, Edith, got some tanning spray off the internet, which she paid £25 for.
At first, the step-mum-of-four loved her new sunkissed look.
“On the first day [of the holiday], we were so brown, I’ve never experienced anything like it,” she said.
But the next morning, Edith woke up struggling to breathe – and her face was “completely swollen”.
She said: “I was so out of breath and had to concentrate so much on breathing. It was really difficult to breathe.
“My neck was so swollen that my necklace was tight. I was just swollen everywhere. I realised it must be an allergic reaction.”
The mum quickly contacted the hotel reception, who called a taxi to drive her to the nearest hospital, where she was fast-tracked through A&E.
There, she was treated with a high dose of steroids and discharged later that day – but said her symptoms took more than a week to subside.
“I wouldn’t be standing here if the hospital staff hadn’t acted so quickly,” she explained.
“It was so frightening.”
Tanning nasal spray: risks and side effects
PLENTY remains unknown about the long-term effects of melanotan.
But experts have identified a number of short-term side effects associated with tanning nasal spray, including:
- Nausea and vomiting
- Diarrheoa
- Dizziness
- Loss of appetite
- Facial flushing
- increased pigmentation of the skin and nails
- priapism in people with penises
- changes in libido
Melanotan may also contribute to more serious effects, including:
- Melanoma, a potentially serious form of skin cancer
- Rapid increase in the colou , size, and development of new moles, including atypical moles
- Rhabdomyolysis, a potentially life-threatening destruction of muscle cells
- Melanonychia, which is brown to black discolouration of nails
- Encephalopathy
- Renal infarction or the death of kidney tissue due to lack of blood flow
If you use a tanning nasal spray, anything more than mild side effects warrants a visit to a healthcare professional.
Source: Healthline
Warning to others
Edith, who had no known allergies, believes the spray was behind her life-threatening reaction.
“I’ve never had an allergic reaction to any foods or anything in my whole life,” she said.
“I think it was definitely the spray.
“There’s no ingredients on the bottle so you don’t know what you’re putting in the body.”
Since her horror ordeal, she said she has seen other people on social media have similar reactions to the spray.
She hopes her experience can act as a warning to any other people tempted to try the products.
“Please don’t make the same mistake as me,” Edith, who has since sworn off tanning enhancers, warns.
“If this can save someone’s life, then I would rather suffer for anyone else before they make a stupid decision like me! I blame myself.”
