Hulk Hogan recalled his extreme addiction to prescription pain meds after undergoing 25 surgeries that left him in agony.
The WWE legend, 70, said he became stuck in a “vicious cycle” where he was unable to function without the pills — even after he’d recovered from the procedures.
“I was hitting the pain pills hard because I’d had to endure 25 procedures, including 10 to my back, facial operations from being kicked, knee and hip replacements and abdominal and shoulder surgeries,” the wrestler told Muscle And Health.
“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,” he went on.
“I needed pain meds at that stage, that’s for sure. But once things started to wind down, they continued giving me the same meds.”
The retired athlete, whose real name is Terry Gene Bollea, likened his behavior to a dog chasing a bone.
“It got to a point where I’d recovered from the 10th 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,” he said.
“Then, finally, I just looked at myself, and I 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.'”
Elsewhere in the interview, Hogan explained why he decided to stop drinking at the beginning of 2023.
“about seven months ago, I decided not to drink any more alcohol. I was at a New Year’s Eve party, and I saw a bunch of stuff that I didn’t condone or like. I saw myself in this environment and I went, ‘You know what? I don’t know how I got here, but I’m done,'” he recalled.
“I was around people who believed and behaved differently from me and I just said, ‘I’m out,'” he went on, noting he now feels “clear-headed” and is “no longer tempted to drink.”
“I’ve had certain wrestlers look at me in the face and go, ‘If you don’t have a drink with me, you’re not my friend.’ I say, ‘Well, I am your friend, but I’m not going to drink with you. What are you going to do about it?'”
He now credits CBD with helping him cut out alcohol and recover from his prescription pain addiction.
”At first, I was confused, because I’d never used CBD. I didn’t understand the health aspects of what it can do for you as far as energy, sleep or getting off hard drugs or pharmaceuticals slowly and winding down are concerned,” he said.
“It took me a while to figure it out, because I am a little slow. I had to do a lot of research and do my due diligence. I figured this was something that really would benefit a lot of people that needed help,” he continued.
Since January, Hogan has dropped 40 pounds and announced his engagement to yoga instructor Sky Daily.
“As soon as I quit drinking, I had no desire to eat junk at night, and the weight just started falling off me,” he revealed.
“Right now, I’m enjoying life on the beach, playing the bass for fun when my daughter Brooke comes to visit, working on my cars and partying hard and sober. Life is good.”
Hogan was married to Linda Hogan from 1983 to 2009. They share two kids: Brooke, 35, and Nick, 33.
He wed his second wife, Jennifer McDaniel, in 2010, but the pair called it quits 11 years later.
