A 24-year-old woman developed ergotism, a condition known in the Middle Ages as “St. Anthony’s fire,” after taking ergotamine for migraines. The case was documented in *The New England Journal of Medicine* by doctors at the Government Medical College in Thiruvananthapuram.
She sought hospital care after experiencing severe, burning pain from her thighs to her feet, along with difficulty walking and skin discoloration in her lower limbs. Examinations revealed severe arterial narrowing in both legs caused by a drug interaction between ergotamine and her HIV antiviral medications.
Although treatment eventually relieved her vascular symptoms, the intervention came too late to save one of her toes. Due to localized gangrene, doctors were forced to perform an amputation on her left foot… CLICK BELOW TO READ MORE
