Matthew Perry revealed in an interview with The New York Times that he has spent approximately $9 million on various attempts to try and get sober over the years. The “Friends” actor has long been outspoken about his alcohol addiction and substance abuse struggles, confirming to People magazineearlier this month that he nearly died in 2018 after his colon burst due to opioid overuse.
“I’ve probably spent $9 million or something trying to get sober,” Perry said.
“I would fake back injuries. I would fake migraine headaches. I had eight doctors going at the same time,” Perry added about his substance abuse, which included addictions to Vicodin, Xanax and OxyContin.“I would wake up and have to get 55 Vicodin that day, and figure out how to do it. When you’re a drug addict, it’s all math. I go to this place, and I need to take three. And then I go to this place, and I’m going to take five because I’m going to be there longer. It’s exhausting but you have to do it or you get very, very sick.”
Perry added, “I wasn’t doing it to feel high or to feel good. I certainly wasn’t a partyer; I just wanted to sit on my couch, take five Vicodin and watch a movie. That was heaven for me. It no longer is.”
News circulated in 2018 that Perry was hospitalized because of gastrointestinal perforation. In reality, Perry’s opioid usage damaged his colon and he had to spend two weeks in a coma and five months in the hospital. He also needed to use a colostomy bag for nine months.
“The doctors told my family that I had a 2% chance to live,” Perry told People about when he was first admitted to the hospital. “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.”
Perry opens up more about the 2018 incident in his upcoming memoir, “Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing.” The book is now available for pre-order and releases on Nov. 1.
