Paula Abdul Admits To Painkiller Addiction

Adbul, 46, told the magazine that for the first time in 12 years she no longer needs her meds after her stint at the La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, Calif.

“The rumors that her sometimes-bizarre behavior was fueled by drugs just may have been true. Abdul was taking heavy-duty pain killers, though she claims she never shot an ‘Idol’ episode under the influence,” according to the Ladies Home Journal.

Abdul’s chronic debilitating pain dates back to when she suffered a back injury as a 17-year-old cheerleader. Because she only had a 50/50 chance of correcting the injury through surgery she decided to work through the pain.

Her injuries didn’t stop there as she broke her leg during a stage routine in 1991 and then sustained a neck injury from a car crash in 1992. The following year she was left partially paralyzed after an airplane crash in an Iowa cornfield. The accident required 15 spinal surgeries.

Abdul didn’t want to put her tour on hold so she instead took regular shots of lidocaine to get through her intense schedule of performing.

After she was diagnosed in 2005 with a condition called reflex sympathetic dystrophy syndrome, Abdul “wore a patch that delivered a pain medication about 80 times more potent than morphine and took a nerve medication to relieve her symptoms,” according to the Ladies Home Journal.

“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.’ It was the combination of these factors that may have led to the impression that she was high at times when she was on the air.”

Last November Abdul checked into the La Costa Resort and Spa to wean herself off her medications.

A spokesman for Abdul said she “has moved forward in her life.”

Abdul told the Ladies Home Journal she feels “96 percent better” and that the pain is almost gone after her 15th surgery.

Abdul will perform her new single “I’m Just Here for the Music,” on tonight’s “American Idol” results show. The track is the first single from Abdul’s upcoming album, which is set for release this fall on Filament Entertainment Group. “I’m Just Here for the Music” will be available in the next few weeks on PaulaAbdul.com, according to a press release.

Abdul’s contract with “American Idol” is up at the end of this season but she’s stayed mum about whether she’s going to move on or stick with the series.

Click here to read the Ladies Home Journal article.