I was prescribed pills for pain and started a £100k habit that nearly killed me

A woman who was prescribed strong painkillers for stomach pain as a teenager became hooked on the drugs and ended up with a £100,000 addiction. Caitlin Atkins was diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) at 16 after having 'tummy issues' and was prescribed tramadol and codeine phosphate to manage her pain in 2010. The now 32-year-old from Edgbaston says she initially took the prescribed number of opioids a day but thought she'd found the 'key to life' as it also helped her care less about other people's judgements. Within months she was 'popping them like sweets' and taking her 224 monthly doses within two to three days, which led to a seizure in 2012. She then sourced more, ordering them online for £80 through illegitimate websites or via a private doctor. Her tolerance to painkillers led her to try heroin in 2015, which quickly spiralled into a crack cocaine addiction where she'd spend up to £1,000 a day. Caitlin says she begged family members for money and used her benefits cash to fund her addiction, admitting she felt 'numb and broken' to it all. In a desperate bid to find a 'better life' she moved to Lanzarote in May 2017, but this triggered a worsening addiction that saw her taking a box of 56 co-codamol tablets a day. Caitlin, who estimates she's spent more than £100,000 on drugs over the years, was brought home in December that year by family members who were warned she would die if she continued using. After unexpectedly falling pregnant in 2022 she sought help from a dry house, a sober residential setting, and has now been clean for three years. Codeine and tramadol are part of the opioid family and the NHS warn that they're addictive and doses should be reviewed. Caitlin said: "Using drugs stopped being fun very early on. I got trauma from addiction and I knew it was only going to end one way. From an early age I can always remember feeling different, there was something in me that was unsettled. "When I was leaving school I was having some tummy issues and it turned out to be PCOS. I was admitted to hospital where I was given tramadol for the first time, it did start with a legitimate health issue. I remember genuinely thinking I had found the key to life. All that worry of what people thought of me went away, I felt settled and I didn't care what they thought of me. "It didn't take me long to start abusing my prescriptions, I would pop them like sweets. As my painkiller addiction went on there were times I told lies that I was in some sort of pain and wasn't able to get more painkillers. "The doctors were becoming aware of the fact I was saying I was losing prescriptions and it was catching up with me. [A friend] introduced me to heroin but with that heroin use it commonly comes with crack cocaine use. It was through crack cocaine and heroin I began hanging around with not very nice people. I'd have black eyes and issues with dealers and it was absolute chaos. "If I had money I'd spend it. If I had £1,000 I'd spend the lot on drugs, it was hundreds of pounds a day. For the most part I was getting money off [family], then I went onto benefits and ended up spending all my benefits on substances. I was so numb and broken and I was a shell of a person, the only focus I had was the next fix." After Caitlin moved to Lanzarote, she quickly got hooked on painkillers co-codamol and pregabalin and would get through a box of 56 tablets a day she bought through a private doctor. Caitlin, who worked as a waitress while in Lanzarote, said: "I thought where I was living at home I was having problems and I thought the problems were associated with the people and the area and not with me. "I thought if I picked myself up and changed my location things would be fine and dandy, but now I know that's not the case. You need to get to the root of the problem. For a few months I want to say things were good but there was still that abuse of prescription drugs there but I was still able to function. "The amount of paracetamol I was putting into my body I don't know how I'm still here. I managed to be a waitress, God knows how. I remember dropping things a lot. I had built up such a tolerance that taking all of those tablets wouldn't even do anything, they'd just make me feel normal. "I moved over there to change and better my life but I came back more addicted to drugs than I was when I left. My dad and my aunt had to fly out to get me. One of the guys that worked in the hostel messaged [my mum] and said 'if somebody doesn't come out and get her she's going to die'. "They flew out to come and get me and I had to be sedated to come back home. That was probably the most unwell I'd ever been, physically mentally and psychologically. It was really scary." Despite completing a twelve-week course at a dry house in 2021 Caitlin relapsed and it was only when she fell unexpectedly pregnant in 2022 that she decided to fix her problem. Now she urges other addicts to be open about their experiences. Caitlin said: "My son has saved me in so many ways and it was never his job to save me, he's changed my whole entire life. I was so scared [getting pregnant] because I thought 'this is a whole life that is going to be impacted by the decisions I make'. "I had to make better choices and it was a really turbulent time. Don't get me wrong, it's not easy at times. Being a parent and a mother has been so self-worth building for me and I just love that. There is a way out and there's hope, seek help and go there."