Eminem Opens Up About Pill Addictions
 Friday, May 8th, 2009  by Connie T.

Marshall Mathers aka Slim Shady on the cover of his new album, shown in hundreds of pills

It's no secret I had a drug problem. If I was to give you a number of Vicodin I would actually take in a day? Anywhere between 10 to 20. Valium, Ambien...

The numbers got so high I don't even know what I was taking.

-Eminem admits in a new interview with Vibe Magazine. Vicodin is a prescription painkiller; Valium, used for treating anxiety, insomnia, and withdrawal; Ambien, a sleep medication; all are extremely addictive.

He almost overdosed on methadone and nearly died, he said.

"Had I known it was methadone, I probably wouldn't have taken it. But as bad as I was back then, I can't even say 100 percent for sure. My doctor told me the amount of methadone I'd taken was equivalent to shooting up four bags of heroin. Even when they told me I almost died, it didn't click...lt never once hit me that drug addiction runs in my family. Now that I understand that I'm an addict, I definitely have compassion for my mother [Debbie Mathers-Briggs]. I get it."

A lot of the pain he went through is documented in his songs. For example, in the lyrics for one of the tracks on his new album, Relapse, Em raps, I'm just so...depressed, I just can't seem to get out of this slump, If I could just get over this hump... He hadn't written a song sober in 7 years, he told Vibe, because writing raps had stopped giving him the "high" that it used to on its own.

If you are struggling with addiction, there is help out there, and it doesn't have to come in the form of Beverly Hills rehab, either. If you or someone you love has an addiction to drugs or alcohol, visit Addict-Help.com or call them for free at 800-390-4056. Millions of people are successfully recovering and recovered from drug and alcohol abuse, because they got help before it's too late.

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