Teddi Mellencamp Says She Was Hospitalized After Waking Up with 'Sores All Over My Entire Body'

The "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" alum says a new medication triggered a rare, but painful and potentially life-threatening condition, which causes burning sores

NEED TO KNOW

• Teddi Mellencamp was hospitalized after waking up with “sores all over my entire body”
• The reality alum, 44, says a new medication triggered Stevens-Johnson syndrome, a rare, but painful and potentially life-threatening, condition
• She was discharged from the hospital in time to celebrate her daughter Dove’s 6th birthday

Teddi Mellencamp shared that she ended up in the emergency room after waking up with a severe, painful rash that caused “sores all over my entire body.”

“I thought I had the flu. And then I woke up one day and my whole body was just covered in, like, this terrible rash — like, you can't even say it's a rash because it's almost like sores all over my entire body,” the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills alum, 44, told friend and co-host Tamra Judge on the March 3 episode of their Two T’s in a Pod podcast.

The sores, she said, “hurt and they burned.” Mellencamp went to urgent care, sharing she was hoping it would be dismissed as an allergic reaction — but the doctor told her to promptly go to the emergency room.  

At the hospital, Mellencamp discovered that a new medication caused Stevens-Johnson syndrome. As the Mayo Clinic explains, it’s “a medical emergency that usually requires hospitalization” where the top layer of affected skin dies, causing the painful blisters and rash that Mellencamp experienced. It’s a rare, albeit severe and potentially life-threatening condition that affects the skin and mucous membranes. It can be triggered by certain medications, and people with cancer are at a higher risk of it. 

Mellencamp was first diagnosed with cancer in 2022 with stage 2 melanoma — the deadliest form of skin cancer. She underwent 17 surgeries for the invasive skin cancer, but in April 2025, Mellencamp shared the bleak news that it had metastasized to her brain and lungs.

However, she recently revealed that doctors told her she has “no trace of cancer.” She's still considered stage four, and Mellencamp is being treated with ongoing immunotherapy for the disease.

Mellencamp shared that she had blisters in her mouth, around her eyes, and "just everywhere," adding that she “couldn’t swallow.” She was ultimately hospitalized and given steroid injections and antibiotics. 

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“The reason they were like, ‘You have to stay in [the hospital]' is because they can start to get better and then shift right back up,” Mellencamp explained, sharing that after a few days, her symptoms got better — just in time to celebrate her daughter Dove’s birthday, after missing it last year. 

Mellencamp shares three children — Slate, 12, Cruz, 11,  and Dove, 6 — with her ex, Edwin Arroyave.

“It wasn't feeling great, but it's just, like, the adrenaline from being there," she says, "I was so happy.”

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