Hulk Hogan Shares How 25 Painful Procedures Led to Pill Addiction
Hulk Hogan is opening up about his past history of pill addiction as he recovers and moves on. The professional wrestler sat down with Muscle and Health to talk about the "vicious cycle" that happened as he endured numerous procedures to correct body aches and pains.
"There was a period of time, about five or six years ago, where I was in crazy pain to the extent I couldn’t even function. When you have back surgery, it takes a good year for your body to recover, yet they were cutting on me every four months. I needed pain meds at that stage, that’s for sure," shared Hogan, explaining how his use of pain meds started.
He went on, "But once things started to wind down, they continued giving me the same meds. It got to a point where I’d recovered from the tenth back surgery, and the pharmacy would call me and say, 'Your prescription’s ready,' and like a dog chasing a bone, I’d go pick it up."
"I had doctors writing me prescription after prescription, and all of a sudden, it became a vicious cycle," described the 70-year-old.
He said that he had to have around 25 procedures. Along with 10 back procedures, Hogan said he had "facial operations from being kicked, knee and hip replacements and abdominal and shoulder surgeries.”
At some point, Hogan reevaluated how necessary the pain meds were and realized how dependent he had become on them. Thankfully, he was able to work through the addiction and found a healthier form of pain management in CBD. On top of that, Hogan revealed that he also stopped drinking alcohol at the start of the year.
Hogan said, "Then, finally, I just looked at myself and said, 'I’m not in pain. I don’t need this. My body hurts from all the wrestling injuries, but I’m not in this excruciating pain that I can’t live with.'" Now, Hogan is starting a CBD company, which will offer a variety of products that he hopes will help others in the same way it did him.
He told the publication, “I’m really focusing on helping people with their health, whether that’s guys coming back from the war, hardcore drug users or people who’ve got themselves into the prescription trap following illness or anxiety. CBD is amazing for sleep and can also help overcome alcohol abuse.”
According to an interview Hogan did with TMZ Sports earlier this year, the release date of his new company has not been announced, but the professional wrestler is teaming up with Carma HoldCo for the venture.