Earlier this month a YouTube sensation opened up about her hellish heroin addiction that left her slowly deteriorating in front of her concerned fans.
And Taylor Nicole Dean is one of many addicts who have dramatically transformed their look after getting clean.
Below, we take a glimpse at some of the most astonishing before and after photos from people who have proved you can recover from substance abuse.
From rotten teeth to beaming smiles – here are the most eye-popping changes.
Austin Greene
Austin Greene shockingly became hooked on meth and heroin at the tender age of 13.
But the dangerous habit eventually threatened to ruin his life – even leaving him temporarily unable to walk.
His toxin-fuelled state also led to him slashing ties with his eight-year-old daughter.
But realising he needed to get better, the 27-year-old, who lives in Ohio, US, found the strength to become drug free.
Afterwards he exclusively told Daily Star: “Every single aspect of life has improved since getting clean. I’ve rekindled relationships with family and my daughter that I so selfishly destroyed in active addiction.
“Right before I got clean I would refuse to go see her and she knew when she did see me it was only long enough for me to get money to get my fix and then I would disappear for days on end.
“Now, she lights up when she sees me.”
Holly Fitzwater
Another heroin addict who has saved their life is Scottish mum Holly Fitzwater.
Holly, from Fife, spent eight years putting heroin into her body – leaving her with sunken cheeks and glazed eyes.
She became dependent on it aged 20 and the consequences included losing custody of her son and living in a homeless flat.
Speaking exclusively to Daily Star, Holly said she was “skinny, dirty and close to death” after she and her boyfriend, Jake, became reliant on drugs.
She added: “I first started taking heroin when I was around 20. I had my son with me, I was single and alone, and one day I met up with (a man) who introduced me to the drug.
“And unfortunately from then it was a horrible downward cycle.”
But Holly, along with Jake, have now had an incredible transformation.
Sharing unrecognisable before and after snaps, she said: “Now you can see the difference, we’ve put on weight, the smiles are real, we look more in love.
“You can see colour, you can’t see our bones sticking out and best of all you can’t see a dingy horrible background.
“It hasn’t been easy. We relapsed so many times but for now we’re doing great.”
Shawn Penkenth
Shawn Penkenth, 46, spent three decades of his life abusing cannabis, heroin and crack cocaine.
And the 6ft 3in father, who weighed just 10st during his substance spiral, has spent almost 20 years behind bars.
Shawn, who is now a volunteer at a rehab centre, once described feeling “mentally and emotionally dead” because of his addiction.
But last year GrismbyLive reported how Shawn turned it all around.
He himself said: “I’ve spent 18-and-a-half years in prison overall.
“I went into the rehab centre on January 23 last year and I’ve now been clean for about 18 months.
“Now, I’ve got my first ever flat that I’ve furnished and decorated myself in Castleford and I volunteer at Reflections teaching other people like myself.”
Faith Hill
Faith Hill lived rough for six years and lost all her teeth to a crippling meth addiction.
She shared her journey in a series of TikTok videos where she opened up about her startling weight loss.
Meth also caused her teeth to erode before they were eventually removed for dentures.
The Missouri based woman said in one clip: “I was on a six-year drug bender on methamphetamines.
“I was living on the streets, hotels, anywhere I could manage to lay my head at.
“I obviously didn’t take care of my teeth. Well, I thought I did, but I didn’t. And it caused a lot of breakage, a lot of rotting, and I finally got them removed.”
Her meth struggles also resulted in Faith attempting to take her own life.
She tried to check into rehab eight times – and in 2020 she finally managed to get sober.
And Faith has since had millions of views on her inspiring videos.
One fan wrote: “You are amazing. Thank you for your honesty and congratulations on your recovery.”
Lee Sandilands
Incredibly, Lee Saindilands was hooked on drugs for 21 years.
And during the first lockdown the 40-year-old deliberately launched a brick through a pub window – just so he could return to prison to take him away from the streets.
But he received a suspended sentence and was released where he went “straight back into the drugs”, GrimsbyLive reported.
However Lee began to turn his life around after seeking help from Cath and Ken Homewood – who run a food kitchen in the town.
