Matthew Perry opens up about opioid addiction that almost killed him
Friends star Matthew Perry has spoken about his struggles with substance abuse issues on multiple occasions. However, the actor has revealed new details ahead of the release of his upcoming memoir ‘Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing’.
During a conversation with People Magazine, Perry admitted that he almost died due to complications caused by his opioid addiction. According to the actor, he almost lost his life at the age of 49 when his colon burst after the severe overuse of opioids.
While recalling the incident, Perry said: “The doctors told my family that I had a 2% chance to live. I was put on a thing called an ECMO machine, which does all the breathing for your heart and your lungs. And that’s called a Hail Mary. No one survives that.”
At one point, Perry was consuming 55 Vicodin a day. He added: “I didn’t know how to stop. If the police came over to my house and said, ‘If you drink tonight, we’re going to take you to jail,’ I’d start packing. I couldn’t stop because the disease and the addiction is progressive. So it gets worse and worse as you grow older.”
The actor revealed that therapy showed him the way out of his self-destructive descent. Perry commented: “My therapist said, ‘The next time you think about taking Oxycontin, just think about having a colostomy bag for the rest of your life.’ And a little window opened, and I crawled through it, and I no longer want Oxycontin anymore.”
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