Written by Kara Morris
HealthDay reporter
THURSDAY, Oct. 20, 2022 (HealthDay News) — Just a few years ago, “Friends” actor Matthew Perry nearly died of an opioid overdose that nearly destroyed and nearly killed his colon.
Now, he is sedate and wants to tell his story.
Berry wrote his memoir, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Things, which will be published on November 1.
“I wanted to share when I was safe from delving into the dark side of everything again,” Perry told the magazine. People. “I had to wait until I was safely sober – and away from an active illness of alcoholism and addiction – to write everything down. The main thing was that I was absolutely sure it would help people.”
Perry said he’s gone to rehab 15 times, but he wouldn’t say how long he’s been sober.
“It’s important, but if you lose your sobriety, it doesn’t mean you lose all that time and education,” he says. “Your sober appointment changes, but that all changes. You know everything you knew before, as long as you are able to fight the way back without dying, you will learn a lot.”
Berry talks about how his addiction to alcohol just started when he was 24 and was starred on the TV show Friends. Perry, now 53, played Chandler Bing on the show.
“I could have dealt with it, sort of. But when I was 34, I was really in a lot of trouble,” he admits. “But there were years I was sober during that time. Season nine was the year I was sober all the way through. And guess which season I got nominated for Best Actor? I was like, ‘This should tell me something.'” “”
Among his lowest levels during his “friends” years was when he was taking 55 Vicodin a day and weighing just 128 pounds.
“I didn’t know how to stop,” Berry says. “If the police came to my house and said, ‘If you drink tonight, we’ll take you to jail, I’ll start packing. I couldn’t stop because the disease and addiction got worse. So it gets worse as you get older.'”
His co-stars were aware of his circumstances and patiently supported him.
“It’s like penguins. Penguins, in nature, when one of them is sick, or when one of them is badly injured, the other penguins surround him and support him. They run around so this penguin can walk on his own. That kind of throws at me.” .
A few years ago, at the age of 49, Berry nearly died of his addiction. His colon burst from overuse of opioids, which left him spending two weeks in a coma, five months in the hospital and using a colostomy bag for nine months.
Berry told PEOPLE, “Doctors tell my family that I have a 2% chance of living. I’ve been put in something called an ECMO, which does all the breathing for your heart and lungs. That’s called Peace, Mary. Nobody survives that.”
Berry said he is now in good health and that the scars on his stomach remind him of his journey toward sobriety.
“I’m healthy now,” Berry said before joking, “I shouldn’t go to the gym much more, because I don’t want to be able to just play superheroes. But no, I’m a healthy guy now.”
Berry said his therapist suggested that when he considers taking Oxycontin, he considers the possibility of having a colostomy bag for the rest of his life.
“And I opened a small window and crawled through and didn’t want to use Oxycontin anymore,” Berry said.
Perry, the only survivor of five who put an ECMO device in his hospital the night his long stay began, is determined to help others struggling with addiction.
“I say in the book that if I really die, it will shock people, but it will not surprise anyone. And that is too scary to live with. So I hope that people will deal with it, and know that this disease attacks everyone. It does not matter if you are successful or unsuccessful, the disease Does not care.
He learned “It all starts with sobriety. Because if you don’t have sobriety, you lose everything you put in front of it, so my sobriety is right there,” he says. “I am a very grateful man. I am grateful to be alive, that’s for sure. It gives me the possibility to do anything.”
more information
The US Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration can help people with addiction.
Source: People magazine
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