Abby House, a 36-year-old mother of two from Gloucester, Gloucestershire, secretly spent up to £1,500 a month on cocaine, resorting to selling household items to fund her addiction. She accumulated £12,000 in debt and would often use the drug after putting her children to bed, describing it as her "evening glass of wine."
Addiction begins in teenage years
House first tried cocaine at a party when she was 17. "All of my friends had done it and I said I didn't want to do it. But I went to a party one night, did it, and felt amazing. Then it was every weekend. I became obsessed by it," she said. She continued using the drug for years, taking breaks only during her two pregnancies.
After the birth of her second son, House returned to cocaine, spending hundreds of pounds weekly. "As time went on, I would start doing it in the week. That's when it really started affecting my life. I had a career—I was a practice manager in a doctor's surgery, a job that I had really worked hard for. But I was ringing in sick the next day because I was so hungover," she explained.
Debt and selling belongings
To finance her habit, House sold items from her home on platforms like Vinted and Facebook Marketplace. "I sold things around my house, like lamps and decorative items, stuff I didn't want to sell but I had to to get the coke. Coke was more important to me than a lamp. I sold clothes and shoes I wanted just to pay for it. My kids questioned where stuff had gone," she said.
House fell into debt twice due to her addiction—first £9,000 and then £12,000. "I was paying the dealers from what should've been spent on my bill money," she admitted. At the height of her addiction, she would snort cocaine from 11am when alone at home, and even envisioned herself still using as a grandmother.
Turning point and recovery
In May 2025, House decided to quit for good. "I remember I was sat on the sofa and it was almost like something came over me and I thought 'you are the only person in control of your happiness, no one is coming to save you. If you want to be happy, you have to work on it'," she said. She immersed herself in sobriety resources, listening to books and podcasts on recovery.
House launched the platform 'Addiction2Advocate' to help others. "People reach out to say they've seen my videos and gone to get help themselves. It's just been incredible. I'm so passionate about this now. I'd say to anyone struggling just tell one person, don't isolate and don't feel ashamed. What's important is what you do next," she said.
