A LOTTO winner who nabbed £26m has revealed how this week's record £1.4b jackpot up for grabs will change your life forever.

Timothy Schultz's 1999 win turned his world upside down in ways he couldn't have imagined.

Now he hopes this Saturday's winner of the historic US Powerball jackpot of £1.4bn doesn't make the same mistakes.

Schultz said that when you win the lottery "the exhilaration is through the roof — it’s one of the most potentially life-altering things that can happen".

He told Fox news: "One minute you have one life, [and the next] your world is turned on its head.

"The euphoria is real, but it eventually subsides."

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The Iowa Powerball winner said bagging a mega jackpot makes it "much more difficult to trust people".

"Most people were supportive and happy for me, but I did receive stacks of letters from people asking for money," he said.

"It was difficult to trust new people — that they didn’t want me for the wrong reasons. It felt like some people viewed me as a walking, talking ATM machine."

Although he did "quite a bit" to help others, Schultz said it was an even bigger challenge to live within a means.

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He said: "There was a learning curve in how to deal with that sort of thing."

But he was more sanguine about what the money can't change.

"[It] doesn't change who are are as a person. If you were unhappy before, you might be unhappy after," he said.

"There are some very wealthy people in the world who are extremely unhappy. Money can be positive, but it doesn’t necessarily fix all problems."

He added: "People often consider the odds of winning the lottery, but what about the odds of even being alive in the first place?

"It’s astonishing. You have a better chance of winning the lottery a million times over than of being born."

Today, Schultz interviews other lottery winners on his popular YouTube channel.

"Every lottery winner is different, but I have noticed some common themes," he told Fox News.

"Winning the lottery can magnify personalities. For example, if you are into the church, you may decide to build one.

"If you’re into movies, you may decide to produce a film. If you enjoy fishing, that may become a full-time hobby.

"People often become larger versions of themselves."

But it's not all blue skies and sunshine for every lottery winner.

Some have burnt through their cash so fast they turned to robbing banks to avoid dying broke – some have even picked a nasty heroin habit.

When Alex Toth won $13million from the Florida Lottery in 1990, he took his winnings in instalments, getting an easy $666,666 annually.

But along with wife Rhoda, he wasted no time splurging their cash on the large ticket items and jet-setting the world, meeting celebrities from Oprah Winfrey to Donald Trump.

Alex – who had six kids from past relationships – frittered away much of his winning to a nasty gambling addiction and once lived in a $1000-a-night Vegas hotel room during a three-month bender.

He also never hired an accountant to deal with his taxes and the couple were later charged with tax fraud, owing the state $2.5million in overdue charges.

The duo ended up filing for bankruptcy not once, but twice, according to Lotto Exposed.

Jim Hayes was clocking off from an overnight shift as an Los Angeles security guard in 1998 when he discovered he won $19million playing California's SuperLotto game.

Promising to "change for the better", Jim bought six different Lamborghinis and an array of Bentleys, Porches and Corvettes and splashed out on a $1million oceanfront pad and bought other properties in Utah.

At one point, he spent money racing in Lamborghinis with Formula One world champion Mario Andretti, according to the Daily Mail.

But Jim's ex-wife cottoned on, suing him and taking half and the ex-security guard soon developed a heavy heroin habit costing him $1,000 a week.

"He was spending like crazy," said former girlfriend Candace Walker.

"He'd get an advance on the next year's [lottery] payment and borrow against it. But he was using more than he had."

Jim ended up moving into a friend's garage and turned to robbing banks.

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He was so prolific the FBI nicknamed him the "PR Cruiser Bandit" and the "Seasoned Bandit" because of his car and grey hair.

According to Jim, he made 11 robberies before being caught and swiped nearly $40,000.

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