A British woman with an addiction to Red Bull energy drinks was forced to kick the habit after a doctor's visit revealed her liver was twice the size it should've been, the Telegraph reported.
Mary Allwood, 26, drank up to 20 cans of Red Bull a day, the Mirror Online reported. That's the equivalent of 16 Mars Bars worth of sugar daily and the amount of caffeine found in 17 cups of coffee.
Allwood visited doctors after experiencing excruciating pain, and the effects of the energy drink were so damaging to her liver that doctors believed she was an alcoholic.
"They kept talking about alcohol and asking how much I drank," said Allwood. "They said my liver looked the same as someone who was an alcoholic and that's when I said I drank at least 12 Red Bulls a day. They looked at me in disgust."
After an MRI scan showed just how much damage her liver had suffered, including two fibrous lumps, Allwood quit consuming the drink "cold turkey." A test last week showed that after five months without the drink, her liver has returned to normal.
Allwood, who first tried the drink when she was 22, said the drink was like a drug for her.
"I needed it, and I didn't care at the time what damage it was doing to me," she said. "If I didn't get my fix I would be miserable and grumpy and it just wasn't an option. I would make sure I got it. At first I would feel as if it would give me a buzz and energy, but eventually it wouldn't give me energy. I just needed it. I needed the taste and fizziness. It was my heroin. I would feel awful if I didn't have it."
At one point, she was spending more than $3,000 on Red Bulls a year.
"If I didn't have any in the fridge I would walk to the shop and get two," said Allwood, who said she drank at least two cans as soon as she woke up in the mornings. "I'd drink the first one in three sips and then try and make the second one last longer. I would go to the supermarket and get 10 multipacks at a time. I'd tell the (cashier) that I had a restaurant and (was) buying them for that reason."
Allwood gained weight, increasing in size from a 16 to a 24. She admitted that Red Bull was the only drink she was consuming.
After deciding to change her diet, Allwood said she underwent withdrawals, including mood swings and shakes, for about a month.
Since quitting, the mother of one said she doesn't have a craving for Red Bull anymore.
"It was really hard and there were times when I bought one, opened it, but I never drank it," she said. "Now the thought that anyone can go to the shops and buy it makes me so worried. I think it should be treated as if it is alcohol and cigarettes."
