Mum who blew £70,000 on cocaine needed a line to do the hoovering
A mum who spent £70,000 on a cocaine addiction has revealed how she needed a line just to do the house work.
Stay-at-home mum Jade Flynn first tried the class A drug when she was 16 at a house party and began taking it most weekends.
While Jade ditched the habit when she started her family, the now 30-year-old ended up back on the drug five years ago, when she began having issues in her relationship.
At the height of her addiction, she was spending £300 a week on the drug, explaining she was sniffing cocaine for 'breakfast, lunch and dinner'.
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"I'd been off it for four years before deciding to do it again one evening then went onto a four year every day binge," said Jade, from Essex.
"Drugs were very easy to get hold of and I was just sniffing cocaine every day. I could get it within minutes."
Jade continued: "I wasn't leaving the house, I just got in such a hole. I was neglecting my self-care. I was spending maybe £300 a week on it.
"I did it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I would just wake up and do a line. It got to the point where I could function with it.
"By the end I felt like I needed it. It became a necessity. I felt like I couldn't do the housework without it, couldn't speak to somebody without it.
"I felt like I needed the energy to hoover the house by snorting lines."
Jade ended up dropping to just under six stone and developed a bump in her nose due to her nasal cavity eroding.
Also known as 'coke nose', snorting cocaine can cause a range of nasal problems due to the drug coming into contact with the tissue lining of the nasal passages.
UK Addiction Treatment Centres explains: "Cocaine is a potent vasoconstrictor, meaning it narrows blood vessels. This property contributes to its euphoric effects, but it also severely restricts blood flow to the delicate tissues inside the nose."
Jade is now speaking out in order to help others, after revealing she's spent around £70,000 on cocaine.
She said: "It massively affected me being a mum. I wasn't acting like a normal mum. I didn't interact with the school mums or do the school run, they couldn't have friends around.
"I think I used cocaine to mask a lot.
"It just stopped me going to events. I snorted whenever I could. It began taking a toll on my physical appearance where I couldn't really hide it anymore.
"If you look at my nose from the side it has a severe bump where there never was before. I used to have a straight nose.
"I think part of my nasal cavity has eroded because of all the cocaine use.
"I got down to just under six stone at the height of it. I was a size four. I wasn't eating or drinking water. Cocaine just stops you from doing anything.
"People didn't really know what to say.
"I think I spent between £50,000 and £70,000 on cocaine. I could buy a house by now."
Jade is now free from cocaine and is urging others to get help.
She said: "My life is just ten times better now. I think I would've died from it eventually if I'd carried on. It was ruining my life.
"Cocaine is more socially accepted, everyone is doing it. There's not the same stigma as there is with other drugs.
"I want to open some sort of support group once I'm further on in my recovery journey.
"I'd tell anyone else to open up to people and get out the house."
If you want friendly, confidential advice about drugs, you can talk to FRANK. You can call 0300 123 6600, text 82111 or contact through their website 24/7, or livechat from 2pm-6pm any day of the week
Topics: Drugs, Lifestyle, Parenting, Sex and Relationships, Mental Health, Health, UK News
Lucy Devine