Paula Abdul Says She Has Been Drug Free For Six Months
In an interview with Ladies Home Journal, Paula Abdul talked about how she finally got over her addiction to pain killers. Apparently this addiction was the reason she was slurring her words and was difficult to understand. Paula still says she never filmed an episode of American Idol while under the influence of pain medication. So, what exactly was her cutoff time? Does she consider not taking one while on the air not being under the influence?
She says she was dependent on heavy doses of pain medication for 12 years, but last Thanksgiving went to La Costa Resort and Spa and decided she didn't need them anymore.
"I could have killed myself....Withdrawal -- it's the worst thing," she says. "I was freezing cold, then sweating hot, then chattering and in so much pain, it was excruciating. But at my very core, I did not like existing the way I had been."
According to Paula, the reason she sometimes seemed like she might have been out of it was this combination of drugs. "Paula wore a patch that delivered a pain medication about 80 times more potent than morphine and took a nerve medication to relieve her symptoms. Sometimes she took a muscle relaxer. But the pain was so bad it often left her sleepless and she would, as she says, "get weird."
80 times more powerful than morphine? Seriously? That would definitely cause a reaction. I haven't watched the show this year. Does she still slur? Is she making up the part about being clean?
24 comments:
BS!
80x morphine would put you in a fucking coma. she could not function at all, let alone judge a talent competition.
Ah, this would explain the sudden drop in my co-pay prescriptions for my vicodin & percocet.
The market is now flooded.
Thanks Pooola!!
Fentanyl is 80x more potent than morphine.
lol, enty @: "So, what exactly was her cutoff time?". teehee!
She is still odd but seems more alert. This is a fun season to watch. Its not too late to tune in.
As someone who suffers with unexplained pain that never stops (and that no one can seem to diagnose after 4+ years), I've always felt a bit of sympathy towards Paula. I take pain meds daily so I can still have a semi-functional life, though at the age of 32 - almost 33 - I'd hardly call it a normal life. I take about as low of a dose of Vicadin as you can get a few times a day, but I've been on some of the stronger stuff and hated it precisely because it damages your brain. I found it hard to concentrate, think and do my job. I decided I'd rather deal with more pain and try to block it with my mind than to live in a complete drug-induced fog, to the disgust of many physicians who would rather drug me up, see me useless and home bound and out of their hair, instead of me constantly bugging them for more tests and trying to find an answer to my strange and painful symptoms.
I'm sorry, but when I see Paula each week she still seems like someone who is on some serious drugs. If she is truly in pain and needs them, then my heart goes out to her. Pain that never stops really sucks, and the longer it goes on the harder it is to fight. While I think she's likely still on pain meds, she also could be telling the "truth." I think that the drugs she took for so long could have done permanent damage to her brain and left her in the state she's in now. I took a nerve drug for seven months, and my mind has never been the same. I can only imagine what all those drugs have done to her.
She's been telling this pain medication story for years. Something about an old dance/cheerleading injury. It's probably true but I'll bet she's leaving out the part about the alcohol and the voice of DJ Skat Kat telling her about the promise of a new me.
Carrie S, I really sympathize with people who have fibromyalgia, which it sounds like you might have. I know some in your situation, and it sounds like sheer hell.
Have you visited centers specifically devoted to pain? Meditation, massage and other non-pharmaceutical ways of blocking the pain?
wait a minute. i thought she said recently she's never used drugs. no? i swear i read that.
chronic pain's a weird thing. you're in pain, you take stuff, then you take more stuff....you're still in pain, you take even more stuff.
after awhile, it's impossible to say if the pain's gone or not because you're an addict and you 'need' the drugs and to you, that's pain. your perception is altered.
it's still an addiction, no matter how it started or who's supplying your drugs.
LOL@Ror
Figgy, thanks for the info. I have really tried just about everything with no success. Most non-medical treatments actually made things worse. It started with an artificial disc replacement, and then everything snowballed from there. Part of my problem was that I was allergic to the metal in the disc, so they had to take that out and replace with a fusion (surgeries #3 & 4). My other issue seems to be auto-immune, as my anti-nuclear antibody count is through the roof and has been for over a year; it's destroyed almost all of my platelets (though I have no symptoms of a low platelet count), and it's basically attacking my body. We thought it was the metal allergy, but now we're not so sure since that was done in February. I've had several docs say it's fibromyalgia, but the symptoms don't fit. I think it tends to be a "catch-all", a place that docs put people in when they can't figure out what's wrong. The same thing happened when I was 12-15; I had Lyme, but it took them three years to figure out and they diagnosed me as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome instead. The treatment was anti-depressants and physical therapy; needless to say that was a complete joke of a treatment. I've done the "treatments" for fibromyalgia and none of them did anything.
I understand the thought that once you're on the meds your brain gets addicted and sometimes the pain you think is there isn't, but I have gone off of everything on several occasions thinking that maybe the medications (even things like Aleve) were causing the problems, with no success. Blood results don't lie; the docs just can't figure out what they mean, which means no treatment or relief for me. I do what I can to be a productive member of society and keep pushing forward in the meantime.
The pain medication that she was taking is called "fentanyl". It is given as a patch that is changed between every 48 to 72 hours. I have chronic pain for various reasons and was on 150mg of these patches for several years. And yes, it is 80 times stronger than morphine. It caused a number of deaths when some of the smack coming from Mexico had this fentanyl mixed in with it several years ago. To those that think they know pain and the effects of large opiate dosages when they have yet to experience disabling pain, talk to me after you've walked in similar shoes, as to what you can and can't do on pain meds. Fentanyl comes with all sort of warnings about that it is not to be used by anyone that is not already on opiate medications, therefore already having a tolerance level. It is used only for chronic ongoing pain by patients that have a history of large dosages of pain meds.
@nancer:
She said she's never been drunk, not that she's never been a pill popper.
p.s. I so called Fentanyl. Boo ya
thanks, sue ellen.
aren't those patches what kids are chewing on these days to get high?
i beleive that its 80x, its Paula i dont beleive. if she is taking all that girl is a DRUG ADDICT.
phantom pain is a lovely excuse to do shit loads of drugs legally.
Carrie, sorry to hear about your pain. Damn doctors.
I think Paula has denied ever doing anything shadey, drugs, alcohol, hell, I think she claimed she was still a virgin at one time.
Okay, maybe that was pushing it... Even though I do like her, I don't think she's ever been honest about whatever is causing her to act so damn looney.
When watching the occasional Idol I'm a fan of Paula's involuntary eyerolls.
Kathy Griffin does a knockout imitation!
Fentanyl patches can be chewed. We had somone at the hospital actually stick their hand into a sharps bin (where USED needles are kept) to get one out so they get high.
Mind you this had not been their patch but their roomates. It had been on that persons body for 48hrs and this dipwit stuck their hand into a container that could have held dirty needles. YUM hunh?
Carrie... Have they tested you for Lupus? They gave my sister a hard time about similar problems and hers turned out to be Lupus. Her Doc's answer to why he didn't think Lupus was " White people don't usually get Lupus. How was I to know?" He's not her doctor anymore.
I believe Paula when she said she was addicted to pain meds. She said she had neck surgery and is a lot better now.
Despite her loopy behavior, she is a very sweet person and a caring one.
I wonder what she did with her left-over stash...
Ardleigh -
The Dr. said white people don't get Lupus? Glad you fired him - that is BS.
my dh had back surgery this Feb and was given morphine pillfor pain. He decided he didn't like the way he felt and quit and had major seizures - 911/4days in Hospital. chemicals are not good for humans.22
well that explains the crap that is AMerican Idol...thanks a lot Paula -maybe now thats she's sober -it will finally go off the air !!
Ardleigh - based on the "pattern" of my ANA testing, I was told it could not be Lupus. I did look into almost all of the auto-immune diseases I could find, and most were not a good fit as most have skin disorders that go along with them. My skin is the one place I have no issues currently, though I've now heard you can develop the pain symptoms first and skin ailments later. I get to see Rheumatologist #2 within the next month, we'll see what they say. I've learned the hard way - you have to take control over your own health, do your own research and fight for tests. Sad but true. In total I've spent 7+ years of my life doing this...I should write a book!
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