Nigerian actress Ufuoma McDermott is opening up about her battle with chronic kidney disease, and in talking about her disease, reveals how regular painkiller use can quickly turn into drug abuse. She opens up in an interview with Chude about how painkillers here and there for headaches and migraines, have led her now to a battle with serious kidney disease.
Here’s what Ufuoma had to say;
UFUOMA MCDERMOTT: I really really pray that God gives each and every one of us the understanding that health has to be top of mind. I really really pray that everybody would understand it because once your health is in question, you see that big dream you’re dreaming? The funds for that dream, you will give doctor and you will give happily. You will give it to doctor and you will borrow more and give, yes.
I’ve lived on medications for almost 12 years now and because my brother died of the same chronic kidney diseases, I asked my doctor if this is genetic, and the doctor said you need to understand how certain ailments work.
We first of all had to go and trace the fact that my chronic kidney disease started from drug abuse. So, I’d always grown up having migraines, having headaches, having eye aches. If I had eye problem, I no dey gree wear glasses because I thought glasses were for geeks. Do you understand? There’s too many nonsense that we take for granted. I really really pray that everybody has that epiphany to understand how important health is.
I’d have my glasses and I wouldn’t wear them because I didn’t think I looked cool with glasses when I need to wear glasses. And then I’d have a migraine and then after I have a migraine, I’m taking painkillers and I don’t take ordinary painkillers, I take strong painkillers because I wanted the pain to go now now. At a point I had painkillers in my wallet. If you just ask, I’ll give you. Now, I’ve become a free ambassador.
If you tell me you have a headache, I’ll say have you slept? Have you pooped? Have you eaten? Have you taken water? I will ask you questions: have you been in an environment where there’s a bad smell that offended your senses? I will ask you, you will think I’m a doctor. I’ve become a free ambassador, because I realized what drug abuse did to me.
The doctor said to me, you were exposed to certain behaviors and this is your brother who grew up in the same household with you. He was exposed to the same thing. It doesn’t mean that it’s genetics. It doesn’t mean that because this happened to him, it will happen to you.
The only reason both of you are having the exact same similar experiences is because you were exposed to the same things. You have a headache, you take a strong painkiller. At a point, when I was in secondary school, in boarding school, when my mom buys provisions, she’d buy my painkillers preempting the migraines. And it was second nature, I put one in my school bag, one in the locker.
It had to be everywhere that I could reach easily, but I didn’t know that that was me abusing drugs. I didn’t know.
