The real slim shady, Eminem, has revealed in a candid interview with Rolling Stone that prescription drugs wiped out years of his life, caused him constant writers block, and culminated in an overdose that put him two hours from death.
Speaking out in the hope others might seek treatment, he revealed to the magazine that at the peak of his addiction he was taking up to 60 Valium and 30 Vicodin pills a day.
The pills also caused him to forget things, with him saying “I’m very paranoid about writer’s block – I had it for four years, and it drove me fucking crazy. No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t think of shit. The pills had a lot to do with it. Just wiping out brain cells. I don’t know if it sounds like I’m making excuses, but the absolute truth is a lot of my memory is gone. I don’t know if you’ve ever taken Ambien, but it’s kind of a memory-eraser. That shit wiped out five years of my life. People will tell me stories, and it’s like, ‘I did that?’ I saw myself doing this thing on BET recently, and I was like, ‘When was that?'”
He also revealed that he didn’t start early with drugs and his use rose along with his fame. “It didn’t really start until my career took off,” he said. “I was probably in my early 20s before I even kicked back my first beer. But the bigger the shows got, the bigger the after-parties; drugs were always around. In the beginning it was recreational. I could come off tour and be able to shut it off. It probably started to become a problem around the 8 Mile movie.”
“I was taking so many pills that I wasn’t even taking them to get high anymore. I was taking them to feel normal. Not that I didn’t get high. I just had to take a ridiculous amount. But I remember I got the methadone from somebody I’d gone to looking for Vicodin. This person said, “These are just like Vicodin, and they’re easier on your liver.” I thought, “It looks like Vicodin, it’s shaped like Vicodin – fuck it.” I remember taking one in the car on the way home, and thinking, “Oh, this is great.” Just that rush. I went through them in a couple of days, then went back and got more. But I got a lot more.”
His real scare came in 2007 when he overdosed on methadone. “The doctors told me I’d done the equivalent of four bags of heroin,” says Eminem. “They said I was about two hours from dying.”
Now well along the road of recovery, his strength comes from somewhat of an unlikely source, Elton John. “He usually calls me once a week to check on me, just to make sure I’m on the up-and-up,” says Eminem. “He was actually one of the first people I called when I wanted to get clean.”
Eminem is due to tour Australia for a two date tour in December. There are rumours that a third date may be added in Brisbane but the promoter Paul Dainty has yet to confirm or deny such rumours.
