From That to This

By Tony Andrews

When I started to write down what I`ve experienced over the years it made me realise there could be so much I could do to help other people. I believe for a lot of people fear is the worst,I also believe by me writing this book it has helped me deal with my fears along the way. I think anyone can give thier views and oponions thats why I`ve written FROM THAT TO THIS as I would like people to know how I dealt with my recovery and what lengths I`ve gone to so I could get where I am today.

I was proberly an alcoholic by the time I was sixteen and been battling it ever since. The only way I could get my voice heard was by me writing down my experiences through substance misuse and I want people to know from me what it could do to them. What I`ve written is in my own words,there are mistakes in this book as I`ve had no help with this whatsoever. Thats what makes FROM THAT TO THIS so special.

It has certainly improved my literacy,as you will read in my forthcoming book the spelling will better and believe me,if you find this book interesting then the next one is even more interesting and longer. FROM THAT TO THIS is only a little taster of what`s to come.

I found all drug users drink alcohol,
yet alcoholics didn`t take drugs,
not at fi rst anyway.

Old behaviour could of got
me into alot of trouble had I
not had self-control.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse UK
• Release date: Jan 31, 2012
• ISBN: 9781467884129

Tony Andrews

I was an alcoholic at 16,up until 2011 i was battling alcohol for more than 25years. I have no family apart from my daughter,stepdad and stepbrothers which now i have excepted. The only way i could get voiced heard was by writing about my life and what substance misuse can do to you. I`ve been successfull so far and i do believe i can be even more successfull without any support whatsoever. If you can change as a person and to deal with your old behaviour then you be successfull in what ever it is your going to do. You have to grab every oppertunity you get like myself,i`ve escaped 4 deaths so i`m not going to waste anytime in helping myself to help other people like myself. It makes me feel very proud to be writing how i managed to get From that to this,however i`m not proud of some the contents within this story. When i read back through the book i had to stop and think wheather i should continue with this story as i was finding it quite disturbing,yet i carried on and that was the best dicision i`ve ever made in my life. When you truely believe in something then you should keep believing,i found if you start getting negative then most other things will become negative and thats where it all starts to go wrong. It`s true,positive thinking is the one to have to get you away from somewhere where you don`t want to be. looking back,the reason why i kept drinking excessively was because i couldn`t face what was coming to me,i also started to think that i would never be able to get away from alcohol as it was to late for me,it nearly was.

Book preview

Contents

DETOX

THE VILLAGE

LIFE

FOR ALL THOSE PEOPLE I’VE HURT OVER THE YEAR’S, INCLUDING MY CHILDREN, I’M SO SO SORRY AND PLEASE FORGIVE ME FOR ALL THE BAD THING’S THAT I’VE DONE. I’VE FINALY EXCEPTED THAT I’VE DONE WRONG IN THE PAST, I’VE FORGIVEN MYSELF & THAT I AM A CHANGED MAN DUE TO HAVING SELF-BELIEF & SELF-CONTROL.

I’m 40 this month & i’m lucky to still be alive. They do say life starts at 40 & i do believe this is my last chance at life, i also believe my life will start at 40. What i do know is, if i ever picked up another drink or get addicted to another substance, sadly that would be the end for me as i wouldn’t be able to forgive myself. That’s never going to happen as i have to much to lose, more so now than before, also my lovely little girl has her daddy back & to me having contact back with her is priceless. What your about to read is very personal, shocking, sad, funny & totally crazy. If you can be honest with yourself, then you can be honest with the rest of the world. I’m not like everyone-else as i’ve found it easier staying off the alcohol then dealing with issue’s on a daily basis. DO NOT try to attempt to do what i done, go & take the world on alone. It can be done but i was lucky to manage to get through it all & be successfull. Self-belief & self-control is what made me into the person i am today. If you read this, i would like for reader’s to email me with thier comments & oponion’s. We need to do something to stop our future generation ending up like myself & alot of other people. God forbid, if our children were to get addicted to drug’s or alcohol like myself, with mine & your support, we can prevent them being treated like i have. PLEASE give me your support so we can make a difference to our society.

People will read this, they may judge me, they might not, i really hope they don’t as i cannot continue to live my life the way it was. The frustrating thing for me was, i kept looking at myself the way i used to be, i couldn’t get my head around the fact i had to change as a person. Where do i start, is it possible, if so can i do it?. When you have read this you’ll have a better understanding of how i managed to get from that to this. You should never judge people by thier past, it’s what’s going on today that’s important. I’m a very caring person, i would give someone my last penny if they needed it, but i had to change all that because people started taking advantage of me, so i put a stop to it. Now i say no to alot of things as i’m not going to let people under estimate me because of my good nature, people get annoyed with me now as i won’t go out my to help them. I’m standing my ground, i’m believing in myself that i’m making the right decision’s to protect myself from being humilated & to make me feel like i’m worth nothing.

When i was twelve years old i thought drinking special brew through a straw wouldn’t do me any harm, how wrong could i have been. Not so long ago a group of 13-14 yr old children were asking me to buy them a bottle of Frosty jacks, i said why don’t you get it he replyed im not 18 you dickhead. As i walked off they called me a w***. I wasn’t offended at all, but that’s how desparate they were to get this alcohol/chemicals down thier necks. I’ve escaped 4 deaths through exssessive alcoholism & these kids need to understand what it will do to them & thier loved one’s if they carry on. Alcohol nearly killed me, i tried killing myself & when i was smashed out of my head which was everyday, somebody i don’t know injected heroin into me, or did they?, which overdosed & nearly killed me. I might of tried to inject it myself & that’s why I overdosed, i don’t know.

What i do know is, I’m lucky to be alive to tell the tale, after you have read this you will be taken back by what i’ve put myself through over the year’s due to alcoholism & we need to stop others doing the same as me. What i have written is in my own words & have been totally honest with myself about everything. After 20 year’s of substance misuse, people need to know from me what it can do to them. Everyone has thier opinion & idea’s, well this is mine, you may agree or disagree with it.

DETOX

When i left detox in 2009, i moved straight into a