Woman, 19, discovers shocking cause of her ‘terrible hangovers’

Poppy Beguely thought she couldn’t handle her booze – but when she started coughing blood, she knew her hangovers were more sinister.

A teenager has shared her devastation after discovering her “terrible hangovers” were being caused by a rare cancer.

Poppy Beguely, was just 19 when she began vomiting and developing facial rashes and sores after consuming as little as two drinks on nights out.

She initially put it the symptoms down to partying, a common indulgence among young adults, but when she started coughing blood Poppy became increasingly concerned.

After a series of tests and multiple hospital stays, the young woman from Auckland, New Zealand, was eventually diagnosed with stage-three Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

The rare cancer affects the lymphatic system, which is part of the body’s germ-fighting mechanism, and in turn limits the body’s ability to ward off infection.

In Australia, it is the 7th most common cancer in young adults and people under 39 years old, but also commonly affects people aged over 65 years.

Poppy Beguely (R) thought she was someone with a low tolerance for alcohol due to her ‘terrible hangovers’ – but they were actually a sign of something sinister. Picture: Jam Press

For Poppy, the diagnosis was “bittersweet”, as while she felt relieved she knew what was wrong, she knew there was a long road ahead.

“Part of me was happy that I didn’t have to worry about what exactly was wrong anymore,” she told NeedToKnow.co.uk.

“But then, the other part of me was obviously quite upset that I was going to have to go through chemotherapy and lose my hair/eyelashes/eyebrows.

“I had been a model for a few years, so the thought of that was really hard to get my head around, but at the end of the day you win some and you lose some.”

Poppy said doctors were reassuring about her odds, stating the cancer was “unlikely to be fatal”, and she quickly began treatment in February 2023, shortly after her 20th birthday.

But it wasn’t smooth sailing, with the budding florist revealing she was hospitalised for a month at one stage due to a severe reaction to a blood transfusion.

The 19-year-old was eventually diagnosed with stage-three Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Picture: Jam Press

Poppy began chemo shortly after turning 20. Picture: Jam Press

“It gave me the worst pain I’ve ever experienced in my life – in my bones,” she recalled.

“I was on so many painkillers that it totally screwed up my stomach and bowels and in turn my weight dropped down to 35 kgs and left me stuck on a feeding tube.

“[This was] the only time I was really scared for my life.”

Thankfully Poppy is now in remission and has recently returned to work, but she said she’s sharing the warning signs she missed in a bid to help others.

“If I went out drinking, it would take me two drinks to feel a lot more drunk than most people my age and maybe three, four drinks before I would start feeling very ill,” she explained.

“Nearly every night I would go out it would end in me vomiting the same night or the morning following.

“I also noticed a trend with coughing up blood in the mornings after drinking and the rash on my face would flare up and get worse.”

Thankfully she’s recently gone into remission, but is sharing the warning signs to help others. Picture: Jam Press

The Auckland woman also has a ‘different outlook on life’. Picture: Jam Press

However, coming face-to-face with death at such a young age has had a positive effect on Poppy, who said she now has a “different outlook on life”.

“I remember when I was an inpatient and I wasn’t allowed outside for weeks because my immune system was too compromised.

“When I did get to go outside, and the sun was on my face, I just started crying, and I couldn’t stop,” she said.

“I took the smallest things for granted before the smallest things were out of reach.

“I’m grateful that I won my life back, especially after a year of not knowing [what was wrong].”