In an interview with Ladies’ Home Journal, singer and American Idol judge Paula Abdul has revealed that she once had such an addiction to painkillers, it nearly killed her.

It seems that during dance routines back in her days as a full-time singer, Paula took a combination of painkillers, including “regular shots of lidocaine” as well as what she describes as “Chinese medicine” to get her through her dance routines.

“I couldn’t cancel my tour. I didn’t want anyone to count me out” she told the magazine, adding, “I tried to keep everything hush-hush.

“I’m an old school professional. Never let them see you sweat.”

However, apparently, Paula suffered “debilitating pain” that caused by a series of accidents that included damaging a disc in her neck…

In 2005, Paula was diagnosed with “reflex sympathetic dystrophy syndrome,” which is a “chronic neurological disorder that causes severe pain” and which caused “teeth-chattering and shingles-like lesions.”

Paula revealed that she subsequently wore a patch that delivered a pain medication “about 80 times more potent than morphine” as well as muscle relaxants which she claims caused her to “act weird.”

It was this weirdness that prompted many fans to think that she was high while on American Idol.

However, she reckons she’s over all that now. “I could have killed myself,” she said, adding, “Withdrawal – it’s the worst thing. I was freezing cold, then sweating hot, then chattering and in so much pain. It was excruciating.”

“At my very core, I did not like existing the way I had been.”

Well Paula, as you know, it aint fiction, just a matter of fact… you take enough dope, you’re gonna act like that.