In a Ladies’ Home Journal cover story, American Idol judge Paula Abdul speaks openly about her past with painkillers, revealing that for the first time in 12 years she’s no longer dependent on medication. According to the article, Abdul checked herself into the La Costa Resort and Spa, in Carlsbad, Calif., on Thanksgiving 2008, after years of medicating what is described as "chronic debilitating pain caused by an unusual series of accidents." An initial back injury suffered as a 17-year-old cheerleader was followed by: a broken leg during a rehearsal in 1991; a neck injury in a car accident in 1992; and partial paralysis requiring 15 spinal surgeries from a 1993 airplane crash. To deal with the pain — and keep dancing — Abdul began using a combination of painkillers, which included regular shots of lidocaine, the magazine says. "I couldn’t cancel my tour," Abdul explained. "I didn’t want anyone to count me out. I tried to keep everything hush-hush."
By 2005, Abdul was diagnosed with reflexsympathetic dystrophy syndrome, described as a chronic pain condition that disabled her with pain, made her teeth chatter, and produced shingles-like lesions. "Paula wore a patch that delivered a painmedication about 80 times more potent than morphine and took a nervemedication to relieve her symptoms," the magazine reports. "Sometimes she took a musclerelaxer. But the pain was so bad it often left her sleepless and shewould, as she says, ‘get weird.’ It was the combination of thesefactors that may have led to the impression that she was high at timeswhen she was on [American Idol]." Abdul, however, told the magazine that she never shot an Idol episode under the influence.
Last month, when asked by Nightline’s Cynthia McFadden whether she had ever abused prescription drugs, Abdul answered, "Never."
More Paula Abdul on EW’s Music Mix:
Paula Abdul remakes, improves on Kylie’s ‘Here for the Music’
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And why exactly are we giving media attention to this? Does it matter to our day-to-day lives that some random person out there was addicted to pain killers?
Well that explains alot. So much for “Never”. Let’s hope she stays clean.
http://tvdonewright.com/2009/05/05/tv-tonight-tuesday-may-5th-2009/
Put this waste of space out to pasture. Enough already! Simon, find some other airhead to fill her seat.
File this under, DUH! I haven’t been so not surprised since Clay Aiken came out.
“Past?”
c’mon, Paula…really?
http://movies-tv-entertainment.blogspot.com/
I’m rooting for Paula! She’s been great this year.
seriously. she’s wasted on american idol. She just learned how to control it. I love paula but girl is always wasted
She is a scary interview as she always appears to be a little too wacky.
http://blog.entertainmenttodayandbeyond.com/
Its so easy to make remarks, when you haven’t lived with pain! God Bless anyone living in pain!!!
Unless you’ve lived with constant pain you have no idea what it is like. Good for her for coming clean and sharing her story!! Hopefully she can inspire others to take control.
Thank you Paula. Thank you to Amy for her comments. I’m still there. Not on pain medication but chronic pain. Accidents and medical situation for me. Unless you’ve been there…
Reading stories like this makes people like myself feel not so alone!
I have wondered recently and more so after watching her with the group and the dance rehearsal if she shouldn’t be a judge on SYTYCD. Her dancing ability was always more impressive to me than her singing ability. I too live with chronic pain and know how desperate you can become just to ease the pain. Bless her for staying strong.
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I TO AM IN CHRONIC PAIN. 25 VERY LONG YEARS. I FINALLY TRIED THE PATCH SHE WAS ON BECAUSE I HAD EXHAUSTED OTHER PAIN CONTROL OPTIONS. JUST IMAGINE A TOOTHACHE THAT NEVER GOES AWAY EVER. WELL WE HAVE THAT PAIN ALL OVER. IT WILL DRIVE YOU INSANE. SO THE DOCTOR PRESCRIBES THIS STUFF AND WE TRY IT. IF YOU HAD THIS PAIN YOU WOULD TO. GOD BLESS HER ITS GONNA BE TUFF ROAD AHEAD WITH OUT DRUGS, AS WELL AS WITH THEM!
I’ve been addicted to opiates for almost 6 years now. I’m currently on methadone maintenence therapy to keep me feeling normal everyday & to slowly reduce my dosage to be completely opiate free within the year. I lost 3 friends who DIED from withdrawl. If you’ve never experienced it yourself then don’t knock anyone you may know to be addicted. Congrats Paula & we’re praying for you to stay clean. Its a long & hard road that’s nowhere near over for her yet.
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After the constant denials that she’s never done ANY drugs we get this confession that she’s a pill popping junkie? Absolutely pathetic.
Pill poppers are the worst form of drug addicts, because they are frequently on the “I’m totally clean” high horse, while popping painkillers that are dozens of times more powerful than Heroin.
I don’t understand why this is the “accepted” drug addiction. We throw crackheads and heroin addicts in jail. Why do pill poppers get treated with such kid gloves?
As for being straight on the show, that’s just BS. If she popped a pill 8 hours beforehand she’d still be high when they taped, so OF COURSE she was high while working.
@Kelly
“I have wondered recently and more so after watching her with the group and the dance rehearsal if she shouldn’t be a judge on SYTYCD…”
Please for the love of all that is good and right, keep Paula and all her AI rejects as far away from SYTYCD (http://www.sytycd.ca/) as possible.
jolsin, I am a recivering opiate addict and have gone thru treatment in a residential rehab center with a medical facility. I learned all about withdrawls from different addictions and withdrawls from opiates does not fall in this category. Is it painful? YES…deadly? no.
Actually, the similarity of heroin addiction to pain killer addiction lies basically on the opiates contained in these substances. Because opiates are considered to be addictive substances, the misuse and abuse of pain killers very often leads to addiction.
heroin addiction treatment
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