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​Teetotal Woman Has 'Terrible Hangover' Daily Due To Rare Condition

​Teetotal Woman Has 'Terrible Hangover' Daily Due To Rare Condition

Despite the difficult health condition, Sarah is determined to remain as positive as possible

Jess Hardiman

Jess Hardiman

Hangovers are difficult beasts to control, with many people often left writhing around in bed for most of the day after a heavy drinking sesh. Eventually, you manage to muster the strength to place an online order for a pizza the size of the room, before conking out half way through eating it from the sheer exhaustion.

But what if it wasn't even self-inflicted? That's what happens to 34-year-old Sarah Moughtin, who wakes up feeling hungover not just on Sunday mornings like the rest of us, but every day - and she doesn't even drink.

Within a space of months, Sarah went from feeling perfectly healthy and active to pretty much bedridden, having experienced strange headaches and facial pains, before being diagnosed with lymphocytic hypophysitis, hypopituitarism and diabetes insipidus, which are all pituitary conditions.

Sarah said her life was 'turned upside down' one day, discovering a strange lump in front of her ear while on a busy tube ride home in October 2014.

Collect/PA Real Life

Having already seen her GP just weeks earlier about the mysterious headaches - apparently just related to stress at work - she decided to book another appointment. The doctor was 'a bit perplexed by it', and put it down to hormones, but suggested a CT scan to check it out.

However, her health then deteriorated, as her face began to swell, she vomited almost constantly and her vision became disturbed, meaning she had to be in and out of hospital.

She was eventually admitted to a hospital in Truro for three weeks, with doctors initially believing she had parotid cancer in the salivary gland, and then lymphoma, a form of blood cancer that is treatable.

Sarah said: "Still, it didn't feel like good news and I was incredibly frightened. Having to tell my parents was very traumatic."

She was then transferred to a hospital in London for more tests, when doctors said they actually thought she had a pituitary condition, before telling her that her pituitary gland was malfunctioning and unbalancing her hormones - though why, no one was sure.

Following a biopsy on the lump, Sarah was then told she had lymphocytic hypophysitis - where the pituitary gland is infiltrated by lymphocytes (a form of white blood cell), while diminished hormone production and diabetes insipidus cause large amounts of urine and the frequent feeling of thirst.

Just months later, Sarah had a potentially life-threatening adrenal crisis - where she starts vomiting, her body goes into shock and she needs to use an emergency injection - which can now happen at any time, making her a 'ticking time bomb'.

FIND OUT ABOUT ANOTHER WOMAN WHOSE HEADACHES WERE MORE SERIOUS THAN SHE THOUGHT:

Despite the difficult health condition, Sarah is determined to remain as positive as possible, saying: "Life sometimes takes you in a different direction, challenges you and makes you all the stronger for it.

"I wake up and it feels just like being hungover, but of course without the fun of the night before. I feel sick, my head is sore, I feel a bit disorientated and I'm always really dehydrated, but I'm learning to live with it.

"I'm lucky that I don't have to go through this alone. I have a wonderful support network through my family, friends and medical professionals. I am thankful every day for our amazing NHS.

"I have been helped by the Pituitary Foundation, who are a small charity, but they offer so much advice and support."

Featured Image Credit: Collect/PA Real Life

Topics: UK News, Hangover, Health