A woman has shared horrifying photos of how her face was left swollen and burned as she passed out while carrying out an activity now known as ‘chroming’ on social media. American Katie Schroeder was 24 years old when she first inhaled toxic fumes from a cleaning spray and other cleaning products to attain a temporary high.

The dangerous habit was previously known as ‘huffing’ but has re-emerged on social media platforms and dubbed ‘chroming’, it has been linked to multiple deaths. Speaking about her own addiction, Katie, a former business administrator, said she was buying three cans a day and forking out £150 ($200) a month to fund her habit. Because her purchases were all seemingly innocent cleaning products, she said she could comfortably conceal her habit from friends and family. Now she wants to raise awareness about the dangers of addiction.

The dangers of Katie’s huffing habit soon caught up with her when she passed out and an aerosol can sprayed onto her face after she had inhaled the product. Shocking photos show her swollen, red face covered in painful blisters after the accident, leaving her hospitalised for days with facial injuries.

Katie, who lives in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin, US, told loved ones she’d suffered a “cleaning accident” and continued to inhale cleaning products at home, even going on to break her eye socket after passing out while huffing.

After two years, Katie finally ditched huffing for good, but admits the sound and smell of air dusters still trigger her addiction.

Katie, who is now 42, wants huffing to be taken more seriously – especially in light of social media trends involving inhaling aerosols, which she described as “heartbreaking”.

Katie said: “The first time I did it, I loved it. I’d never done it before. There was a temporary high. I really enjoyed the sensation. I liked how it made me feel and that light-headed feeling. It was a good escape.

“When I inhaled, I would basically hallucinate, a lot of times I would pass out or puke on myself. Everyday after work I would just go to the shop and buy a few cans.

“I would do two or three a day, about 15 cans a week, when I was doing it every day.”

On one occasion while huffing, Katie was hospitalised after an aerosol can sprayed onto her face, leaving her with multiple burns and blisters across her face.

Katie added: “My lips started tingling which I thought was weird then all of a sudden they started swelling.

“I went to the hospital and my face was huge. I told them it was a cleaning accident and everyone believed me. I had blisters around my mouth. It took three or four months for my face to go back to normal.

“That still wasn’t the last time I huffed. There was another time at my parents when I huffed and actually broke my eye socket on the bathroom floor. I hid it from everyone. No one suspected anything.”

Katie hasn’t huffed for 16 years but admits that she won’t keep air duster sprays in the house for fear of a relapse. Katie said: “[After I had stopped huffing] I remember working in an office and someone sprayed air duster on their keyboard.

“I jumped and went into a panic attack. I just had to learn to cope and deal with it without wanting to do it myself. I won’t keep them in the house. It’s like being an alcoholic, you don’t buy alcohol. It’s not worth the risk for me, I know myself.

“I’ve been in the store and thought about buying it. I’ve sat there thinking ‘it won’t hurt just to do a little bit’.

“The sound and smell is a trigger for me. I have to remind myself about what happened to me. I can’t put myself through that again.”

Katie wants to spread awareness of the dangers of huffing, especially in light of social media challenges that involve inhaling aerosols.

Katie said: “It’s something that needs to be talked about more. It’s not taken that seriously as a real addiction. It’s cheap, it’s easy. It’s very dangerous because there’s not just air in that can, there’s a lot of chemicals in there.

“A lot of people just do it for fun but there’s many dangers with it. You can cause brain damage. I feel lucky there was no long-term damage. I could’ve easily been disfigured.

“Social media challenges involving huffing are awful – it’s very scary. It just takes one person to try it and become a full-blown addict or causing themself serious damage.

“It’s heartbreaking to me that they’re being taught how to do this. It’s so easy to become consumed by it. It’s not something that should be taken lightly. Don’t even try it – it’s not worth it. It only takes one time before it can escalate so quickly.”

The NHS-linked ‘Talk to Frank’ addiction service offers help and advice to people and families seeking support with drug and substance issues. Visit their website here. 

For families seeking advice, Addiction Family Support, offers the chance to “talk with someone who understands the challenges caused by a loved one’s harmful use of alcohol, drugs or gambling”.

Childline offers help and advice for children about a wide range of issues, call 0800 1111, or visit the website to talk to a counsellor online, send Childline an email or post on the message boards.

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