A mom who spent $3,600 a year drinking 20 cans of Irn-Bru a day has finally kicked her 25-year habit after being hypnotized.
Carole Lamond, 57, first became hooked on the Scottish fizzy drink when she was a young girl in Glasgow, Scotland, before she moved down to live in London, England.
The HR manager returned to her home country around 25 years ago where she began swigging several cans of Irn-Bru a day.
But during lockdown her addiction spiraled out of control as she worked from home and she soon began guzzling down a staggering 20 cans before bed.
The problem got so bad that she would start hiding it around the house so her husband William, 52, would not find out the extent of her dependency.
During two years of lockdown she drank almost 15,000 Irn-Bru’s – including 94,000 grams of sugar and 450,000 milligrams of caffeine – as she splashed out 60 British pounds ($73) a week on 24 packs.
Lamond said: “We could have bought several family holidays for the money I was spending. My recycling bin was overflowing each week with cans of Irn-Bru.
“I would even take secret trips to the dump to dispose of the empty cans. I was like a drug addict trying to conceal my problem. I was literally chain drinking it.”
Mom-of-one Lamond knew she needed to kick the habit when she was hospitalized in June this year after suffering dizzy spells, fainting and heart palpitations.
It was originally feared she had suffered a stroke and was even sent for CT scans to see if she had a brain tumor.
Lamond, of Glasgow, said: “It was the wake-up call I needed really. I knew the amount of Irn-Bru I was drinking had something to do with it.
“I’d had spells of dizziness and fainting and they couldn’t find anything wrong although they suspected a stroke at first.
“I even had scans for a brain tumor which is pretty scary but I knew that drinking all this Irn-Bru was to blame.
“We always had Irn-Bru in the house when I was a little girl as my mum would drink it. It is the Scottish national drink after all.
“But when I moved away to London for several years you couldn’t get it down south so it never became an issue again until about 25 years ago when I moved back.
“I would drink several cans a day but at that point, it wasn’t really an addiction, more of a habit. I just loved the taste of it.
“But then during lockdown it just seemed to get out of control. I was cracking a can at 8 a.m. in the morning, drinking them all day and having one before bed.
“I would have around 20 cans a day and that continued throughout the duration of the pandemic.
“I tried to cut down and even went cold turkey but began suffering from crippling headaches. I was displaying all the symptoms of an addict.
“I was hiding cans from my husband in the garage, the car and cupboards I knew he wouldn’t go into. I’d drink one and replace it so it looked like I hadn’t drank it.
“I had become dependent on it. I would go to Tesco and buy stacks of 24-can pallets. It was embarrassing for me but I couldn’t stop.
“It had to be cans rather than bottles, it was everything from the sound of the can cracking opening to the feel of the aluminum and bubbles. It was bizarre looking back.
“I’m only 5 feet and weigh seven stone [98 pounds], so I must have looked a right sight with a boot full of Irn-Bru.
“So it never became about a weight issue, the rest of my diet and exercise has always been fine, but it soon became a health issue.”
After being advised by doctors to cut down to just one can a day, Lamond enlisted the help of London-based therapist and hypnotist David Kilmurry.
And after one full hypnotherapy session and a follow-up meeting four weeks ago, Lamond has not touched the drink since.
She added: “I was really skeptical at first as I never really believed in hypnotherapy but I was willing to give anything a try and incredibly it worked for me.
“Now I just don’t want to go anywhere near Irn-Bru, even the smell puts me off and makes me feel sick. I can’t thank David enough.”
Mr. Kilmurry said: “Since having her last drink three weeks ago Carole suffered severe migraines and had two days in bed and the first day off work in four years due to the sugar withdrawal.
“Carole used to pour Irn-Bru into a mug to get her sugar addiction appeased if she was in public.
“Sugar addiction leads to diabetes, cancers and heart disease and is one of the biggest causes of death in the western world.
“I treated Carole with some very strong aversion therapy which creates a disgusting taste just at the thought of drinking Irn-Bru or chocolate to conclude our hypnotism sessions.
“I’m delighted she has finally kicked this awful addiction.”
Produced in association with SWNS.
