text: A mother has revealed her addiction to alcohol has cost the NHS more than £100,000. Julie Merner's heavy drinking has resulted in her being admitted to hospital 13 times in the last six years. In January, following her latest admission, the 39-year-old vowed to quit the habit, which has ravaged her liver, causing her to suffer severe cirrhosis. 'I know if I carry on, I will end up dead - they say one more drop will kill me,' said the mother-of-three, who has been left with 'luminous' jaundiced skin. Not a drop of alcohol has passed Ms Merner's lips since January - marking her longest spell of abstinence. Scroll down for video . Julie Merner, 39, has revealed her alcoholism has cost the NHS £100,000. In the last six years, the mother-of-three, who suffers severe liver cirrhosis, has been admitted to hospital 13 times . But the damage to her health is severe. She can barely manage to speak as she struggles for breath. And her stomach regularly bloats with liquid, which is no longer being processed by her liver. Regularly, up to 18 litres of fluid has to be drained away via a tube. Admitting she only has herself to blame, Ms Merner added she does not feel any shame in needing treatment. 'I don't see it as a waste of money, they are helping with a problem I have - an addiction,' she said. Ms Merner, from Bootle, Merseyside, hopes her story will push the Government and society to do more to prevent Britain's killer drinking epidemic. Taxpayers pay up £3.5 billion a year to treat alcohol-related problems, and that figure is set to rise. In the last 20 years, the number of alcohol-related deaths has doubled. While smoking, drug-taking and obesity are increasingly frowned upon, drinking is still socially acceptable, Ms Merner highlighted. After her latest hospital stay in January, Ms Merner  vowed to quit her habit, and hasn't touched a drop of alcohol since - her longest spell of abstinence . Taxpayers pay up £3.5 billion a year to treat alcohol-related problems, and that figure is set to rise. In the last 20 years, the number of alcohol-related deaths has doubled. At the peak of her addiction, Ms Merner was drinking a bottle of vodka a day. More than 6 standard drinks per day for men, and 4 standard drinks for women, is known to cause harm. Long term effects of alcohol on the liver include impaired liver functioning, severe pain, inflammation (hepatitis) and cirrhosis. Research published late last month revealed that binge drinking is costing Britain a staggering £4.9bn every year - or £550,000 an hour. This is because it triggers, for example, a 45 per cent increase in arrests and a 17 per cent rise in road accidents, economists from Bath University calculated. The figures also took into account A&E admissions, police time and court cases. But Marco Francesconi, head of the Department of Economics at the University of Essex, explained his calculations hadn't included costs associated with absenteeism, lost employment, reduced productivity, and long-term health problems. The report came shortly after the head of the NHS warned binge drinking fuelled by cheap alcohol is having a 'huge impact' on health services. Chief executive Simon Stevens said the Government needed to deal with the 'overuse' of alcohol urgently as it is creating problems for over-stretched A&E units. The most recent NHS figures show that more than one million patients are being admitted to hospital for alcohol-related illness and injuries every year – twice as many as a decade ago. She said: 'People aren't as aware of the risks as they should be and alcohol is too cheap. Help for alcoholism isn't advertised anywhere.' Ms Merner began drinking heavily 10 years ago. After splitting up with her partner, the father of her then toddler, she was forced to stay with her brother because she was unable to find a home of her own. Her two older children, now 20 and 16, stayed with their father. 'It was one or two drinks at night at first. A couple of vodkas helped me sleep,' Ms Merner recalled. 'Then it was half a bottle, then a full bottle... and then I started drinking when I woke up.' Six years ago, she started to have withdrawal effects when she didn't have a drink. 'I felt sick, I'd be shaking and sweating. I realised I had a problem,' she said. Ms Merner went to her doctor, and was referred to an NHS rehab clinic. But, six weeks after leaving, she slipped back into her habit, having one drink. Soon she back to drinking a litre of vodka a day. 'I ended up at the clinic nine or 10 times,' she admitted. By this time, Ms Merner had been diagnosed with cirrhosis. Her most dangerous collapse was in 2013. 'I wasn't found for three days,' she said. 'I was in a coma for 12 days. My kids were told I wouldn't see it through the night.' The pattern continued until last December. Once again she fell unconscious for three days after drinking and was in hospital for four weeks. But this time something clicked, and the mother-of-three vowed never to drink again. 'I know if I carry on I will end up dead - and I don't want to die,' she insisted. But her liver will never repair itself. In the meantime, she lives a painful existence and has to take 11 pills a day. 'People say to me "just don't have a drink", If it was that easy, don't you think I'd have done that rather than put myself by the pearly gates?' she said, fighting back tears. 'But I'm so grateful for what the hospital has done. I owe everything to them.' At the height of her addiction, Ms Merner, who still has to visit hospital once a week, was drinking a bottle of vodka every day. She has been warned another drop of alcohol could kill her. Ms Merner is seen weekly at the Aintree University Teaching Hospital, by specialist nurse Jenny Pearson. The 30-year-old nurse chose the specialism after losing her father and sister to alcoholism. She agreed society needs to change, urging the Government to take steps to address the growing epidemic. 'I have definitely seen an increase in numbers of patients,' she said. 'This is an epidemic. 'Every day we see 20 to 30 people in varying stages of liver disease, and oral cancer. 'Alcohol is practically poured down our throats. 'Watch daytime TV and they cook lunch with glasses of wine. Sporting events are sponsored by alcohol. It's no surprise people develop problems.' Ms Merner's story is featured in Benefits and Bypasses: The Billion Pound Patients, tonight on Channel 5 at 9pm.
target: At the height of her addiction Julie Merner drank a bottle of vodka a day .
  39-year-old has been admitted to hospital 13 times in six years .
  Mother-of-three has been told one more drop of alcohol will kill her .
  Admits she is to blame but does not feel bad about £100,000 NHS care bill .