
Mum who nearly died after falling sick in Spain issues warning after anti-sickness pills left her ‘acting possessed'
A MUM is urging Brits to be careful buying medicine on holiday - after she nearly died when an over-the-counter anti-sickness tablet left her acting "possessed".
Keira Morrison had been unwell during her family holiday to Salou, Spain, and had been throwing up around 10 times a day.
4
4
When Dioralyte didn't improve the 29-year-old's symptoms, her partner Liam Bridgeman, 33, went to a nearby pharmacy and bought her some anti-sickness tablets for 1.90 euro.
Metoclopramide is an anti-sickness medication that is only available on prescription in the UK, however it's available over the counter in Spain.
After two days of taking the tablets, the former hairdresser's jaw suddenly "locked" as they sat in their hotel room - and she soon lost control of her body.
A panicked Keira and Liam went to their hotel manager for help and once they showed him the tablets he offered to drive the couple to a nearby medical centre.
Here the mum-of-two deteriorated quickly and began to act "possessed" - losing control of her arms and legs and her eyes rolling back in her head.
She admits it was so bad she "thought it was the end".
Staff put her on an IV drip while they ordered an ambulance to take her to hospital in Tarragona, where doctors manged to ease her symptoms with an injection.
It has since emerged that the recommended dosage is one 10mg tablet three times a day - but Keira claims the pharmacist had told her to take two of the tablets at once.
This meant she was taking twice the recommended dosage on each occasion.
She is now raising awareness about the terrifying experience online and about the potential risks of adverse reactions to common medications, particularly if more easily available with prescriptions when on holiday.
Beware 3 of the most dangerous medicines in the world - including one found in almost EVERY home
Keira, from Liverpool, Merseyside, said: "Liam said it was like I was possessed.
"I thought it was the end, I did. It was not a nice experience at all.
"It was like I wasn't in my body, it was like someone had control over my body. That's how I felt and I did feel like I was going to die.
"There were leaflets on the wall and when I was looking at the words, I couldn't see the words. They were going blurry.
"I was pleading with them [the doctors] like, 'please help me.'
"At the point before I had the injection my head was banging off the bed, my eyes were going to the back of my head and flickering. My legs and arms were flying everywhere.
It felt like I was having a seizure. I just wanted the feeling to stop
Keira Morrison
"It felt like I was having a seizure. I just wanted the feeling to stop, I've never experienced a feeling like that in my life. I was screaming, 'please help me, please help me!'
"If I didn't go to hospital when I did I probably would have thrown myself off the balcony because I wanted the feeling to stop that much. I was crying, screaming."
Keira said one of the doctors in the hospital explained that she had a reaction to the tablets.
After spending a night in hospital Keira left the following day because she was due to fly home and she said she thinks she experienced a side effect called tardive dyskinesia.
According to Mind, this is a condition where your face, body or both make sudden, irregular and uncontrollable movements.
This is a known potential side effect of the medication and a 2014 report by the European Medicines Agency's Committee on Medicinal Products for Human Use and recommended restricting the dose to "help minimise the risk of potentially serious neurological adverse effects".
4
Since returning to the UK, she has been to her doctor to have an allergy test and to have her heart checked as she had been experiencing palpitations.
Keira said: "My doctor did say in the UK you've got to have a prescription to get that medication.
"You can't get that over the counter here. You shouldn't be selling that over the counter.
"It has scared us. We have another holiday booked and we are in talks of cancelling. We're in shock and we can't believe it happened.
"I'll never ever buy anything over the counter again.
"If I ever do go away now I'll make sure I've got my own anti-sickness medication from the UK and it was something I'd had before.
"I can't describe the feeling, it was horrendous. I wouldn't wish it on my own enemy."
Accord, the manufacturer of the tablets, have been contacted for comment.
Safety measures when buying medicines abroad
IF medication needs to be acquired abroad, it's recommended to purchase from licensed pharmacies in large cities and to verify that the medication contains the same active ingredient as the one typically taken.
Also:
Whenever possible, obtain all required medications before travelling, as this avoids the risk of purchasing falsified medicines.
Do not purchase medicines from street markets or unregulated online sources, as these are high-risk areas for counterfeit products.
Discuss the need for medications abroad with your doctor or pharmacist, who can provide guidance on obtaining them safely and legally.
Be cautious of misspellings or incorrect packaging, as these can be indicators of falsified medications.
Some embassies can provide lists of reliable pharmacies in the country you are visiting.
Be cautious when buying medicines online, as there is a high risk of purchasing counterfeit products.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Daily Mail
38 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
RICHARD LITTLEJOHN: How dare the far-Left ideologues who run our health service visit their class-war bigotry on sick children
How often have you heard the Left scaremongering about the imminent privatisation of the NHS, warning of patients being turned away from hospitals and GP surgeries because they can't afford to pay? At every election I can remember they have disingenuously raised the spectre of people dying in agony because the Tories, and now Reform, were planning to scrap the 'free-at-the-point-of-use' principle which underpins the health service.


Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Why living until you're 200 really isn't a pipe dream
The idea of living for hundreds of years was once thought to be the pipe dream of billionaires and tech moguls. But scientists at the forefront of anti-ageing research believe they are on the cusp of developing a pill that could lead to people living to the age of 200 and beyond. Medical advances in the last century have led to humans in wealthy nations living into their 80s, almost double the average life expectancy at the turn of the 20th century. Improved nutrition, clean water, better sanitation and huge leaps in medicine have been key in prolonging human life. The oldest known person — the Frenchwoman Jeanne Calment, who sold canvases to Vincent Van Gogh when she was a girl in the late 1800s — lived to the age of 122, dying in 1997. There is some debate about whether humans can naturally live much beyond that age, but it is hoped that science will take human lifespans beyond what is currently thought possible. Dr Andrew Steele, a British computational biologist and author of a new book on longevity, told MailOnline there is no biological reason humans can't reach the age of 200. He believes the big breakthrough will come in the form of drugs that remove 'zombie cells' in the body, which are thought to be one of the main culprits of tissue and organ decay as we age. Pills that flush these cells out of the body are already in human trials in and could be on the market in as little as 10 years, according to Dr Steele, who believes someone reading this could make it to 150 with the help of the drugs. Another field in particular that piques the interest of anti-ageing scientists is the study of DNA of reptiles and other cold-blooded animals. Michigan State University experts have begun studying dozens different types of long-living reptiles and amphibians — including crocodiles, salamanders and turtles that can live as long as 120 years. The team hope they will uncover 'traits' that can also be targeted in humans. Some experts think that eradicating the big killers — cancer, dementia and heart disease — could be the true key to longevity. Dr Steele, the author of Ageless: The New Science of Getting Older Without Getting Old, told MailOnline: 'I don't think there is any kind of absolute cap on how long we can live. 'Studies come out every few years that propose some kind of fundamental limit on human lifespan, but they're always missing one crucial piece: we've never tried treating the ageing process before. 'I can't see physical or biological reason why people couldn't live to 200 — the challenge is whether we've can develop the biomedical science to make it possible.' Other experts believe humans could live to 150 naturally, if it wasn't for chronic illnesses, including Dr Peter Fedichev, a Russian molecular physicist who runs a biomedical AI firm Gero. His company has been studying the genetic data of 500,000 Britons in pursuit of the firm's goal of 'hacking ageing', as they call it. Researchers at Gero made use of an instrument, called DOSI (dynamic organism state indicator), that takes into account age, illness and lifestyle factors, to work out how resilient the body is, including its ability to recover from injury or disease. Using mathematical models, it calculated the maximum age the body — if not altered by drugs or gene therapy — can still recover from is between 120 and 150. The findings were revealed in a study published in the journal Nature Communications last year. But Dr Fedichev warned life extension without improving life quality would be pointless because extremely elderly people would be frail, and prone to illness, meaning new drugs will be vital in the quest for eternal youth. He told MailOnline: 'Such life extension would increase their lifespan past the end of their health span and thus reduce their quality of life. 'Only addressing the root causes of ageing may help bring humans closer to negligibly senescent animals, intercept aging and increase our productive lifespan by a hundred years or more. 'That is why we are calling on a refocusing of our attention from diseases to ageing, from incremental to more radical solutions using those slow-aging animals as inspiration.' Dr Steele says new advances in senolytics could extend life span and quality. Senescent cells — dubbed 'zombie cells' — are cells that eventually stop dividing, then accumulate, releasing compounds in the body that accelerate ageing. Experts believe younger people with healthy immune systems are better able to clear the damaged cells, but as people age, they aren't removed as effectively and they accumulate causing potential problems. Dr Steele said if you put a human cell in a petri dish, it would divide around 50 times before stopping, whereas a Galapagos tortoise — which can live for up to 120 years — sees its cells divide more than 100 times. Studying these sorts of long-living reptiles can help researchers understand more about the way human cells age. Since the 1960s, scientists have known that, as we age, we accumulate ever-greater numbers of these cells, but it wasn't clear if they were just a product of ageing or whether they caused it. The breakthrough came in 2016 when scientists found removing the cells from mice, typically with a short lifespan and plagued with a range of age-related conditions, by injecting them with a synthetic drug called AP20187 extended their life by up to 35 per cent — suggesting senescence was behind ageing itself. Since then, there have been a number of studies confirming the importance of such cells in the ageing process. In 2019, research in the journal Aging Cell showed that old mice pre-treated with Navitoclax, an experimental anti-cancer drug that kills senescent cells, recovered at similar rates to younger mice from an induced heart attack, raising the prospect of a new type of treatment for people with heart conditions. Another study, published in the journal EMBO, demonstrated that clearing out senescent cells from the hearts of mice also reduced symptoms of ageing, such as enlargement and thickening of the walls of the heart muscles. Senolytic drugs are now being safety tested in humans and have attracted investment from several billionaires, including Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel. Dr Steele said: 'Scientists have given these drugs to mice, and they basically get biologically younger: they live longer, get less cancer and heart disease, are less frail — they can run further and faster on the tiny mouse-sized treadmills used in these experiments — and, honestly, they just look great, with plumper skin and thicker fur. 'What this shows us is that tackling the hallmarks of ageing can affect the whole ageing process, from disease risk to the cosmetic stuff, and can do so preventatively — this is the holy grail of anti-ageing medicine.' Both Bezos and Thiel are investors in Unity Biotechnology, which carried out the first human trial of one such drug, aimed at tackling moderate-to-severe osteoarthritis of the knee, in 2019. In the phase one trial, 78 patients were divided into two groups: one was given a dummy drug, while the other was injected in the knee with a drug codenamed UBX0101, which interferes with two proteins in the body, leading to the elimination of senescent cells. The study was a success, with UBX0101 'well-tolerated' by the treated patients, who, after a single injection, had experienced 'improvement in several clinical outcomes, including pain and function'. However, the company faced a setback in 2020 when results from the bigger phase 2 trial found no statistically significant difference between UBX0101 and the placebo groups. Now, the company is trialling a new drug called UBX1325, which has been designed to combat age-related blindness on 46 adults. Dr Steele said it only took one trial to be a success to make a breakthrough in the field of anti-ageing. He told MailOnline: 'We might get unlucky and none of this works but, if it does, every development gives us longer to make the next one, and the first 150-year-old could be someone who's reading this.' Last week, Michigan State University researchers announced they are studying 77 reptiles and amphibians with the hope of understanding what allows them to be so resilient. But they have yet to pinpoint any potential longevity targets, meaning a true breakthrough could still be years off. Dr Alex Zhavoronkov, a biotechnology expert and physicist, said studying animals — particularly those as distantly related to humans as reptiles — has rarely resulted in breakthroughs. He believes scientists are better placed focusing their efforts on studying ageing in real people, and, in particular, technology. Implant chips that use electrodes in the brain to ward off illnesses like Parkinson's are currently being trialled on people. Southmead Hospital in Bristol is believed to be the first in the world to implant the tiny deep brain stimulation (DBS) device when it launched its trial in April. The device works by delivering electrical impulses to damaged areas of the brain. Dr Zhavoronkov said: 'Many years from now humans will be able to control the biology of aging and many other converging technologies will not only return the lost functions but likely augment our capabilities — as you have seen with the glasses, cars, cell phones, the internet, and robotics. 'Advanced technologies starting from dual-purpose pharmaceuticals — drugs that target fundamental aging pathways and age-associated diseases and are trackable with aging biomarkers, which my team is focusing on— to cell and gene therapy and advances in regenerative medicine, implantables, and augmentation of human function with AI and robotics will allow us to dramatically increase life.


The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Drinking a soda could be worse than eating a candy bar, researchers find
Could cracking open a can of soda be worse for you than unwrapping a candy bar? Researchers at Utah's Brigham Young University and institutions in Germany say that drinking your sugar could have a greater negative impact than eating it. They found that drinking sugar was consistently linked to a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Of the 38 million Americans with diabetes, between 90 and 95 percent have type 2. Other sugar sources have a lower risk. 'This is the first study to draw clear dose-response relationships between different sugar sources and type 2 diabetes risk,' BYU nutritional science professor Karen Della Corte said in a statement. 'It highlights why drinking your sugar — whether from soda or juice — is more problematic for health than eating it.' Della Corte was the lead author of the research which was recently published in the journal Advances in Nutrition. The reason for this difference may be linked to metabolic effects. The sweetened beverages contain what are known as isolated sugars, or sugars extracted from fruits and other sources and then added to processed foods. Added sugars are found in energy drinks, lemonade, sports drinks, soda, breads, cereals, yogurt, canned food, and other products. Because of that, there is a greater glycemic impact — an impact on blood sugar — that would overwhelm and disrupt metabolism in the liver, increasing liver fat and resistance to insulin. Insulin is the hormone that helps regulate blood sugar levels, and injections are often given to people with diabetes who need it to help their blood sugar levels in a normal range. Whereas, dietary sugars in nutrient-rich foods including fruits and whole grains do not cause metabolic overload in the liver. Instead, they lead to slower responses due to the accompanying fiber, fats, proteins and other beneficial nutrients. To reach these conclusions, the researchers studied data from over half a million people across multiple continents. An analysis of that data found that each addition 12-ounce serving of soda and other sugar-sweetened beverages a day increased the risk for type 2 diabetes by a quarter. 'This strong relationship showed that the increased relative risk began from the very first daily serving with no minimum threshold below which intake appeared to be safe,' the authors said. Furthermore, each additional eight-ounce serving of fruit juice per day led to a 5 percent increased relative risk. However, 20 grams in the same time frame of table sugar and total sugar showed an inverse effect. Generally, a high sugar intake is linked to an increased risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer. But, sugar helps to provide the body with energy and has an 'important role in nutrition,' according to Harvard Medical School.' 'This study underscores the need for even more stringent recommendations for liquid sugars such as those in sugar-sweetened beverages and fruit juice, as they appear to harmfully associate with metabolic health," Della Corte said. "Rather than condemning all added sugars, future dietary guidelines might consider the differential effects of sugar based on its source and form."