EXCLUSIVE Mother who started using drugs aged 11 reveals her incredible transformation after 24 years of addiction that saw her spend up to £3,500 a week on heroin, crack and cocaine
A mother who started using drugs aged 11 has revealed her incredible transformation after 24 years of addiction.
Charlotte Seaman, from Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, was hooked on heroin and cocaine for years before she eventually got help and turned her life around.
The former addict, who blew £3,500 a week on drugs, has now shown off her incredible transformation after she has been clean for four months.
The 35-year-old started smoking cannabis at 11.
By the age of 12, she was using cocaine and amphetamine and by 13 she was smoking crack cocaine.
Charlotte, who admits she came from a 'really good family' used drugs for 'escapism' because she just 'felt different'.
By the time she was an adult, Charlotte was regularly using heroin, but last year decided to get clean to regain custody of her three children.
After being homeless on and off throughout adulthood, the mother-of-three has secured a four-bedroom council house.
And now she plans to help other people win their battle against addiction.
'For the last 10 years of my life I've woken up and wanted to die but now I want to live.
'I accepted I would die like that but I didn't have to.'
'If you want it enough, you can recover. I haven't been sober since I was 11.
'I was smoking weed then I moved onto speed.
'I always felt different when I was a child, like there was something missing. I wasn't bullied and I don't know why I felt different, I just did. Drugs were escapism.
'I was raised by a really good family and I don't come from a broken home but I was searching for something.'
Things started to spiral even more for Charlotte when she became a teenager and moved onto harder drugs.
She said: 'At 19, I started injecting heroin and things really got out of control. I started taking cocaine at 12.
'I was thieving to pay for it and I could spend around £3,500 a week.
'I stole things from shops like alcohol or meat and sold them. I went to jail around 12 times for stealing.'
Charlotte almost lost her leg due to blood clots in 2012 and was diagnosed with Hepatitis C in 2012.
She explained: 'I almost lost my leg because I got blood clots where I was injecting. That's the depths of addiction.
'I was homeless on and off. I've slept in train stations, behind an Argos and been in dangerous situations.
'My mum said she felt like she was grieving. She used to record me and show me the states I would get into.'
Charlotte has three children, who are now 17, 15 and 10, they were taken in by her parents during the debts of her addiction.
However that still wasn't enough to convince her to quit drugs, she even continued taking heroin while she was pregnant.
Charlotte said: 'I kept thinking having a child would change or stop me but it didn't.
'I read that it's dangerous to stop taking heroin while pregnant because the baby can withdraw and you can miscarry.
'I used because I was an addict before I fell pregnant, I took drugs when I was pregnant with all my children.'
Charlotte signed up to Cocaine Anonymous in January and revealed it transformed her life.
She went to a meeting where she talked about her addiction journey.
Two weeks after she stopped using heroin, she started experiencing withdrawals.
She explained: 'In my heart, I knew I was done. I didn't want to die so something had to change and I was hurting my family.
'I couldn't live like that anymore. I couldn't see a way out. For the last seven to ten years of my life, I woke up every day wanting to die.
'I was getting psychosis and it was getting worse, scarier, lonelier and I was petrified of my own shadow.
'It was constant, horrific, frightening and I tried to take my own life.
'I had an internal snap of 'I can't f***ing do this anymore, I can't live like it, I'm hurting my family. I was frightened of losing my own mind.
Charlotte claimed she had tried to get clean before but it was never successful.
She added: 'Cocaine Anonymous gave me hope because people had stories about being clean for years.
'I tried to get clean before but I wasn't ready. I would substitute one drug for another. Desperation was a gift. I had nothing left.'
'The withdrawals were hard, I had hot and cold flushes, nausea and vomiting. It was horrible.
'I have to pinch myself when I think about how my life has changed.
'I have my own four-bedroom house and my children come and go as they please. I was sober before I got my own home.'
'I never thought I would be able to sit in my own home with my kids but anything is possible and life can change.
Despite her previous drug addiction Charlotte she still managed night feeds for her children and claims they were 'never exposed to it'.
She said: 'For the first few years of their lives, I was around. I did all the baby bits, night feeds while on methadone and still using but at the time I thought it was controlled.
'They've never been exposed to it. I took it to feel well so I could do these things.
'If I was using, I would leave the home. We did have that bond but when I got out of control, my mum and dad stepped in.
'My relationship with my children now is beautiful. I was always in and out, I was around but not present and able.
'Our relationship is a million times better. My kids have got their mum back and I enjoy being their mum.'
'I don't have any health problems or mental health issues anymore.
'I've never worked but I want to work with addicts and give back or work in hair and beauty. At least I have the option now.
'I never felt right and now I do. I want to try and help other people and I want to send the message that we can recover.
'It is possible to get clean. We think we aren't worth it but we are. Everyone deserves help.'
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