Tulisa Contostavlos has opened up about her harrowing experience with prescription drug dependency during the Covid lockdown, revealing that she felt like “she was going to die” as she attempted to quit. In a deeply personal interview, the singer and former X Factor judge shared her struggles that persisted for years until January this year, including a candid insight into her time in the I’m A Celebrity jungle. Prior to joining the ITV show, Tulisa battled a secret addiction that nearly took control of her life. She confessed: “I was dependent without realising… I just went cold turkey for five days and I ended up in hospital because I didn’t know, but my body had become dependent on it. I felt like I was having a heart attack. I had pains in my chest…. I just literally felt like I was going to die.”
Now, 36, Tulisa chose to discuss these issues with podcaster Paul C Brunson in an extensive chat that allowed her to speak about her ups and downs. She opened up about her personal struggles, revealing: “But authenticity is and if I’m going to be in this industry and remain in it, I want to be really authentic and I want to speak words and do things that will make some kind of a difference. So I will tell you that running up to I’m A Celeb, during lockdown, I unfortunately became dependent on benzodiazepine. So we’re talking zopiclones and diazepam(pills which help with sleep and anxiety),” reports the Mirror.
(Image: Flight Studio)
“I had a backlog of them for flying, for sleeping issues from the trial, tons of them. I was alone during lockdown. I found out my dog had cancer. I got very depressed and I began self medicating. Now, as lockdown finished, for me it was time to get back to reality. I was like, ‘I can’t numb myself every day and this anxiety, I can’t get to sleep with a sleeper every night. I can’t have a diazepam when it hits 9pm to calm me down. So it’s time to stop’.”
“But by this point, what I hadn’t realised was, when you’re taking something every day to knock yourself out, you don’t realise if I skip two days and I start feeling anxiety and withdrawals because I was dependent without realising.”
The singer confessed that she felt like she “gone crazy” due to the dependency, often shaking and suffering panic attacks if she tried to quit the drugs.
(Image: ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
Overcoming her addiction gave her the confidence to participate in I’m A Celebrity, although she did experience some anxiety in the Australian camp, similar to what she had faced while quitting sleeping pills. Tulisa opened up about her struggles on set, revealing: “I definitely had an anxiety attack off-camera, because I went to the smoking area to do it and even then, I didn’t want them to know that I was having an anxiety attack, so I was trying to bring down my heart rate, literally through my nose, while I was like, ‘Okay, get the heart rate down. Get the heart rate down’. I wanted to leave that day. I was like, ‘I can’t do this but it’s not what I came here for. I came here to stick it out and do whatever I have to do’.”
She also shared a brighter side, adding, “And there were lots of amazing moments, really joyful moments, thanks to the people. The people made those moments.”
View news Source: https://www.ok.co.uk/celebrity-news/im-celebs-tulisa-reveals-i-34359297
