Coffee addict mistook her brain tumour symptoms for caffeine withdrawal

Real Fix

Credit: SWNS / Abi Feltham  An ex-addict was diagnosed with a brain tumour after mistaking her brain fog for caffeine withdrawal.  Abi Feltham, 36, has been sober for four years after dealing with alcohol and drug addiction since she was 14 years old.  She started realising she was drinking a lot of caffeine in November 2023 - having up to 12 cups of coffee a day and reduced her intake.  Abi started having headaches, nausea and brain fog but put it down to caffeine withdrawal.  But when the symptoms started again and she struggled with double vision she went to see her doctor and an optician.

Transcript

00:00When this year started out, one thing that wasn't on my 2024 bingo card was getting a brain tumour.

00:05Yet here we are! One moment I'm crushing PBs at the gym and celebrating four years of my recovery

00:10from alcoholism and drug addiction, the next a neurosurgeon is slicing into my skull and

00:14having a good old route around in my cranium there.

00:30When I first got sober, people told me it wouldn't all be sunshine and rainbows but

00:49honestly I wasn't expecting this. I guess life happens whether we're self-sabotaging

00:54with reckless abandon or looking after ourselves with green juices and journaling.

00:57For now, I'm staying grateful that this challenge has come at a time when I'm clean,

01:01sober and emotionally stable. I'm a bit scared about the prospect of going on a cancer journey

01:05right now because it would be quite the inconvenience. I have so much care and

01:09support around me, especially from my cheery golden retriever partner Steph who balances

01:13out my cynical black cat ways.

01:28If you could find out when you were going to die, would you? The doctor told me that the tumour in

01:34my brain is a grade 3 oligodendroglioma and although research is not up to date and I am

01:39a unique human with an individual case, he thinks my life expectancy is going to be about 15 years.

01:44In my last video, I spoke about how much time I wasted being unspeakably cruel to myself

01:48due to my chronic and honestly pointless self-loathing which, by coincidence,

01:53also lasted about 15 years. Well, now that I know I have approximately the same amount of

01:57time left on this earth, you'd better believe that I'm going to continue my self-compassion

02:01journey. Just so happy I made those changes when I did, because to find out now that I

02:05might not make it past my 50s and to know I wasted even more time deliberately making

02:09myself sad for no reason would hurt even more. And hey, a lot can happen in 15 years.

02:13That's a whole teenager worth of enjoying life, loving myself and putting good into the world.

02:18So, if you're stuck in this cycle of self-hatred and self-punishment,

02:21this is your sign to start treating yourself with love and respect, because life just is not that long.

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