A woman who had crippling headaches after just one glass of wine thought she was allergic to alcohol - but she was shocked after going for tests as it emerged she had blood cancer.
Izzy Fletcher, 23, was confused when she started experiencing unusual pains after consuming just one glass of wine after work in March 2022.
She had to go home early as her head felt like it was 'going to explode' and her chest began to grow tight, and when the symptoms persisted, bewildered Izzy began to wonder if she had an 'alcohol allergy' or if the ailment was 'psychological'.
Izzy, from Derby, tried to limit her intake and monitored which types of alcohol made her worse, but when her symptoms persisted she went for tests and soon learned that she had something much worse.
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Izzy visited Southampton University Hospital for tests in December, and then on January 10 she was diagnosed with stage two Hodgkin lymphoma.
In spite of the terrifying diagnosis, the 23-year-old claims that finding out the reason behind her headaches was a 'relief' as she now knows that she 'wasn't going crazy'.
She began chemotherapy on Monday with a positive outlook thanks to its 'very high' success rate and is urging anyone experiencing unexplained symptoms to see their GP.
Izzy said: "It would be really strange, because I'd have one drink and the reaction to that would seem to last forever.
"I got one drink, I think it was a glass of wine or something. I started drinking it and had what started as a really splitting headache. It was really odd.
"My head felt like it was going to explode. I had a really tight chest.
"If I was going out and knew that I was going to be drinking a lot, as soon as I started drinking more [the pain] went. So everyone was encouraging me to drink more.
"My boyfriend used to say to me that it was just psychological, and that if I [don't] think about it then it won't happen. And then you think, 'am I going crazy?'.
"You're trying to push it down with this psychological voice in your head saying, 'it's not bad now - quickly, forget about it!'.
"The doctor thought it was nothing to do with [the cough], and then when they realised it was Hodgkin's lymphoma they found that it was linked to it.
"When they told me that, it was a relief. I wasn't going crazy."
Izzy claims that she's always loved partying, but admits that nowadays a glass of booze isn't always worth the immediate pain.
She is due to start chemotherapy treatment on February 6, and has high hopes that the procedure will be a success.
Despite experiencing 'consuming' anxiety about her diagnosis, the unsuspecting cancer victim is trying to maintain a positive outlook.
Now, Izzy is encouraging others to make the effort to check with their GP if they start to develop confusing symptoms.
Izzy said: "The biggest thing I've learned from this is that if you are worried about something, just go and get it checked out."
"As a 23-year-old, you don't really think, 'oh, I'd best go and get myself checked out at the GP'.
"You obviously don't expect that it's really going to be anything that serious, and obviously you never expect that you're going to get cancer at 23.
"I think your mind automatically goes to your family, your friends and who you love.
"You feel this sense of guilt: it's so out of your control, you can't do anything about it, but your family are going to rely on your health for their happiness for the next six months.
"I have never struggled with anxiety in my life, but the anxiety I felt for those [few] weeks up until now has just been crazy.
"I can't really eat anything, I don't think about anything else. I think that is quite consuming.
"I will still have a drink if I fancy it, you've just got to take it day by day.
"But sometimes, you know that the pain just isn't worth it if you're not going to be going hard and doing tequila shots all night.
"It's weird because I've always been a big drinker and I've always loved to party.
"Now my treatment is six months of chemo. In terms of curability and survival it has a really, really high success rate."
Hodgkin lymphoma is a rare form of blood cancer that forms in the body's lymphatic system, collecting in areas such as the lymph nodes.
Some of the most common symptoms of Hodgkin lymphoma include swollen lymph nodes, unintentional weight loss and a persistent cough.
A risk of developing the disease can be increased by immunosuppressant medication, previous exposure to the Epstein-Barr virus, or having an illness that weakens the immune system.
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