Ali Carter opened up on his ongoing health problems after his UK Championship third-round exit against John Higgins.
The two-time World Championship finalist revealed after his 6-2 defeat at York's Barbican Centre that he was struggling with abdominal pains caused by Crohn's Disease.
Having also overcome a battle with cancer to return to the big stage, Carter spoke at length on the issue after his match.
"I've got such a handicap against all the other players, living with this Crohn's Disease that I've got," he said.
"You can't settle, when you've got constant abdominal pain like I have at the moment. I don't want to keep going on about it but it really is p***ing me right off at the minute.
"If you're not 100% feeling right, which is day-to-day for me at the moment, it's a wonder I can compete at all and make a living.
"I'd like to not have these problems but in the bigger picture, I'm lucky to be alive I suppose.
"I've got to take this new drug when I get back, which is an immune system suppressant - which arguably is probably why I got cancer in the first place, because I was taking a similar drug for eight years.
"Who knows, if I wasn't taking that drug, whether I'd have got it? They certainly don't want to put me near that again but it's a case of living for today, to an extent.
"It's hard enough as it is, without having to have that constant handicap, not being able to sleep because you're on steroids - but if I don't take the steroids I wouldn't be able to compete at all. It's a complete balancing act."
Meanwhile, Peter Ebdon defied sleep deprivation to send world champion Stuart Bingham crashing out.
Ebdon only finished his 6-5 second-round win over Dominic Dale at 1.30am and was back on the table less than 12 hours later.
But it was Bingham who took time to settle as Ebdon took the opening frame with a 66 break and stormed into a 3-1 interval lead, Bingham with an 88 in frame three.
The Crucible victor pulled one back but Ebdon took a pivotal sixth frame - he had Bingham needing a snooker, gave away a black-ball foul to open it up but pulled through. The next two were shared before Ebdon sealed a 6-3 win with an excellent break of 109.
Ebdon hailed his vegan diet for his ability to keep his energy levels up.
He said: "I've probably had four or five bananas today, I've had some apples, grapes...
"It's massive. I feel as fresh as a daisy. It would have been so easy for me to fold today and I just felt fantastic.
"I'm absolutely over the moon, it's not every day you beat a world champion. Thankfully for me he wasn't on his A-game today and I managed to put him under a little bit of pressure by playing quite well myself."
Bingham said: "He played particularly well today, especially after not coming off until 1.30. He got in first most frames and controlled the tempo of the match.
"I think he's maybe rolled back the years there, especially in that last frame with a nice ton."
Jamie Burnett was a 6-3 winner over Li Hang, while Matthew Selt beat Robbie Williams - the second-round conqueror of world number 10 Joe Perry - 6-3 in the afternoon's other match.
