Advil, a brand name applied to the generic drug ibuprofen, is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug used to treat pain and fever.

It works by reducing the production of certain hormones associated with inflammation and pain.

Ibuprofen has been available since the FDA first approved it in 1974. It was initially approved in prescription form, but it has since become available for over-the-counter sales.

Advil and Stevens Johnsons Syndrome

With Advil as effective and easily available as it is, one would hope that a patient taking Advil wouldn’t need to be on the lookout for symptoms of a destructive, painful and potentially deadly drug reaction.

Unfortunately, like many other types of drugs, Advil has been associated with cases of Stevens Johnson Syndrome, or SJS, a condition that attacks the patient’s skin and mucous membranes, exposing them to potentially deadly infection.

Fortunately this condition is rare. When it does happen, it’s most often a reaction to some medication the patient has been taking.

It’s happened frequently enough with Advil users to suggest a link between Advil and Stevens Johnsons Syndrome.

Symptoms to Watch For

When a patient takes Advil and Stevens Johnsons Syndrome ensues, the first symptoms seem innocuous enough. For perhaps a few days, patients may experience cough, fever, sore throat, runny nose, muscle or joint aches, and itchy or irritated eyes.

If those symptoms sound familiar, it could be because they have much in common with symptoms of a cold or the flu. Sometimes that similarity may cause a case of SJS to be initially misdiagnosed – and that can give the condition a chance to advance while proper treatment gets delayed.

After these initial symptoms appear, Stevens Johnson Syndrome starts to attack the skin and mucous membranes. A discolored rash breaks out over the torso and spreads to the neck, head and extremities.

The skin within those areas of rash may break out in blisters that grow and merge to form areas of skin that peel away, leaving the lower layers of skin exposed.

In the most extreme cases, the areas of skin affected this way may cover a large area of the patient’s body.

Usually in cases that extreme – specifically, those that cover 30 percent or more of body surface area – physicians will refer to the condition as toxic epidermal necrolysis.

TEN and Stevens Johnsons Syndrome are now considered different extremes of basically the same condition.

Loss of skin puts victims of Advil-induced Stevens Johnson Syndrome at risk for a serious infection. Areas of lost skin open the patient up to systemic infection associated with sepsis, shock and organ failure.

Infections like these are often the direct cause of death in cases where the patient does not survive.

Mucous membrane symptoms can also cause conjunctivitis, an inflammation of the membrane that connects the white of the eye to the eyelid that can leave the patient with inflamed, sticky and irritated eyes.

Patients are at risk for corneal damage like ulceration, scarring or opacities. The worst cases can leave the patient blind for life.

Victims of Advil and Stevens Johnsons Syndrome may be in for several weeks of hospitalization. There is no ready cure for this condition, other than to manage symptoms and prevent infection in a controlled hospital environment while the body gets a chance to heal itself.