A grandfather is addicted to Lucozade despite having three heart attacks, and said it's harder to give up than class-A drugs. Garry Johnson, 65, began drinking coffee aged 12 and loved the caffeine buzz. The now-retired painter and decorator took cocaine and amphetamines in his teens, and after 15 years of on-off drug use went “cold turkey” when his son Sam was born in 1992. Keen to stay energised, he took up drinking 380ml bottle bottles of Lucozade Original, and now gets through eight a day. He's had the habit for 29 YEARS and it currently costs him around £150 a month. And at today's prices, his nearly three decade habit would have cost him more than £42,800. He had three heart attacks between 2012 and 2014 because of a hereditary heart condition, and doctors encouraged him to ditch caffeinated drinks. He gave up dairy and every other form of caffeine - but he still necks more than three litres of Lucozade a day. He said Lucozade is proving harder to give up than class-A drugs - because of the "after effect - like that lovely feeling in your mouth after you eat an expensive bit of chocolate." Garry, from Basildon, Essex, said: "I took cocaine every day but it was a piece of cake to give up - but I'd find it really hard to ever give up Lucozade. "I love it - not just the taste but the affect on my body makes me feel great. If I do go two or three hours without one, I fancy one... God knows how I'd be after two days.” He stopped using cocaine aged 30, when his son Sam, now 31, was born and went cold turkey because being a new dad was "stimulant enough". He started drinking Red Bull but found himself with migraines, and eventually moved onto Lucozade. He initially drank six a day, but has had eight a day for the last seven years. Now he goes to Tesco every day and buys one or two four-packs - depending how many bottles he already has stacked up in the fridge ready to drink. "I've always needed some kind of stimulant and eventually I realised Lucozade is perfect for me," he said. "After my heart attacks they told me to quit the energy drinks but I recently had new heart tests and my results are better than they've ever been. "I guess I've just found one that suits my body." But Garry said he doesn't even want to give up because it's a "part of his identity" - like a person's favourite shirt or their daily breakfast. He justifies the cost because he doesn't drink alcohol or smoke. He said: "£5 a day - that's less than a pint of beer today in some places." If you or someone you know is suffering from alcohol addiction, you can confidentially call the national alcohol helpline Drinkline on 0300 123 1110 or visit the NHS website here for information about the programmes available to you. If you or someone you know is suffering from drug addiction, you can seek confidential help and support 24-7 from Frank, by calling 0300 123 6600, texting 82111, sending an email or visiting their website here. SWNS Read More What I gained (and lost) by walking 10,000 steps each day for 5 months Husband ‘ruins’ dinner because of his wife’s typo: ‘The worst kind of control freak’ John Whaite says he ‘spent time apart’ from fiancé after ‘falling in love’ with Strictly pro

The Formula 1 roadshow reaches Barcelona after Red Bull’s Max Verstappen survived a mid-race downpour to win the Monaco Grand Prix ahead of Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso last weekend. The Dutchman now leads Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez in the drivers’ championship by 39 points after the Mexican had a disastrous, point-less weekend. Fernando Alonso came second in Monaco and will be eyeing a 33rd F1 victory - and his first for 10 years - at his home race as the paddock takes to the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya for the Spanish Grand Prix. The Mercedes duo of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell will be eyeing an improved weekend too in their revamped cars after Hamilton admitted the changes ‘were not the step forward’ they’d been hoping for in Monaco. Follow all the action from Barcelona as the teams go through their practice runs: Read More Lewis Hamilton declares Mercedes car upgrade ‘definitely not the step forward we hoped for’ Fernando Alonso eyes statement home victory, a decade on from his last triumph Monaco showed mesmeric Max Verstappen only has one obstacle to title – and it’s not Sergio Perez

By Daniel Wiessner Lawyers for abortion pill maker GenBioPro Inc on Tuesday urged a West Virginia federal judge

Tesla Superchargers may be the undisputed champion of EV charging networks in the US at

In July, photos of Disney’s new production of Snow White leaked, showing Rachel Zegler, the New Jersey-born actor of Colombian and Polish descent, in her role as the “white as snow” princess in the upcoming live-action version of the story. As with other Disney remakes that feature diverse casting and representation, racist fans of the franchise are big mad, taking to social media to criticize the casting because of Zegler’s Latine ethnicity and disputing the idea that the princess could be played by someone who has some roots in Latin America — even if she’s, quite literally, a white woman from the US Northeast.

In about six weeks, India has rattled the rice market. The world’s top shipper has placed restrictions on

Elon Musk has suggested that OpenAI may have discovered “something dangerous,” leading to chaos at the company. He made the comments after the research organisation recently fired and re-hired its CEO, Sam Altman, under mysterious circumstances. Musk, a co-founder of OpenAI, said that he had attempted to find out what happened behind the scenes, but had failed to do so. The billionaire had reached out to numerous people working at the company, including Ilya Sutskever, a chief scientist and board member, who is believed to have led the rebellion against Mr Altman, but had not heard anything. He has previously criticised the company’s shift toward profit-oriented operations and decision to cease open-sourcing its work. Read More Elon Musk meets Netanyahu for tour of Israeli kibbutz devastated on October 7 Sunak defends Elon Musk interview after MP says ‘world cringed at fawning welcome’ Bears chase cars on mountain road in Romania

Nicaraguan authorities have barred the director of the national beauty pageant from re-entering the country after a Nicaraguan woman seen as a symbol of opposition to the Ortega government was crowned Miss Universe, media...

The stocks rout fueled by the frenzy around a new class of weight-loss drugs is starting to make

The United States on Thursday denounced the scourge of human trafficking, calling out forced labor and the little-known but growing problem of boys and young...

HBO Max is merging with Discovery+ to rebrand as Max, and as part of that

Airlines in Europe are trying to avoid a repeat of last summer’s travel chaos, when strikes and staff