Opening Pandora’s Box — With a Tampon Inside
Reality TV alum Savannah Miller never imagined a night out would lead to one of the most unsettling and bizarre experiences of her life — one that would see her unwittingly carrying around a forgotten tampon for an entire month. Now, she’s lifting the lid on her personal Pandora’s box in hopes of warning others.
The 24-year-old, who starred in Season 7 of Netflix’s The Circle, told The Post about the “truly humbling” — and borderline traumatic — saga that began when she was just 22, during her college years.
It started innocently enough: a night out with friends at the tail end of her period. Wanting to avoid any potential “spillage,” she inserted a tampon before heading to the bar. But the next day, it was seemingly gone.
“I forgot I put it in, and because there was no blood and the string had disappeared, I didn’t see it,” she explained.
A Descent into the Unknown
What followed was a steady unraveling. Within days, Miller felt ill, itchy, and deeply self-conscious. “It smelled like a rat crawled inside of me while I was sleeping and died,” she admitted — a vivid and disturbing red flag.
She assumed it was a lingering “old period” smell. Instead of suspecting a hidden problem, she kept inserting new tampons — unknowingly pushing the original further up.
And so the box stayed closed, the mystery festering.
“I went to the campus clinic multiple times,” she said. “They tested for STDs. Everything came back normal. They thought it was just BV [bacterial vaginosis], but I knew something was off. People don’t smell like this with BV.”
Discovery at the Bottom
It wasn’t until her third appointment — after a doctor noticed cotton fibers in her urine sample — that they began to suspect the truth.
“I didn’t think so, but I was like, possibly?!” she said, desperate for answers. Finally, doctors performed a deeper exam and unearthed what had been hiding all along.
“There was a tampon so far up my cervix, there was no shot I was gonna see it,” she joked. “The doctor had to fish it out of my ovaries.”
It was a close call — one that could have ended in toxic shock syndrome (TSS), a rare but life-threatening condition linked to long-term tampon use. Fortunately, she had no signs of TSS but was put on antibiotics as a precaution.
A Dangerous Mystery
TSS affects roughly 1 in 100,000 people annually but remains infamous due to its terrifying consequences. Caused by bacterial toxins entering the bloodstream, symptoms can include fever, vomiting, rash, low blood pressure, confusion, and in severe cases, organ failure or death.
Some survivors, like model Lauren Wasser, have faced permanent consequences — Wasser lost both her legs to TSS in 2012. Others still struggle with long-term health effects years after recovery.
Silver Linings and Swift Humor
Years later, Savannah has found a way to laugh — and educate — through the trauma. She’s even gone viral on TikTok for recounting the incident using Taylor Swift’s music.
“Too toxic for toxic shock syndrome I guess,” she quipped in one clip.
Even if the subject is uncomfortable, she hopes her honesty will serve as a warning to others about period hygiene and body awareness.
“I hope this isn’t embarrassing,” she said. “But if it helps someone, then I’m glad.”
Because once you open that box — be it Pandora’s or a long-forgotten chapter of personal health — you never know what you’ll find inside.