Shawn Johnson Rejects Pain Meds After Third Birth Due to Past Addiction
By Movieguide® Contributor
Former Olympic gold medalist Shawn Johnson East revealed that she turned down narcotic pain meds following the birth of her third child for fear of awakening an old addiction.
East revealed that her third birth was her hardest yet due to scar tissue and soreness. Her son, Barrett Madison, was born on Dec. 12 via cesarean section.
“Feeling great now,” East shared during an Instagram Q&A. “I also refused all pain meds haha (they make me SO sick and frankly after being addicted to adderall it just scares me so I don’t even mess with it).”
“Long story short, during my comeback in 2010 I was prescribed adderall to ‘curb my appetite and give me more energy’ by a not good doctor,” she shared.
“Fast forward 7 years of being heavily addicted to it and having it control me, when I finally freed myself of it, I swore anything even remotely addictive I’d stay away from,” East continued. “It affected every part of my life and changed who I was. I never want to feel out of control like that again.”
East previously explained that she turned to Adderall to deal with body image issues following the Olympics.
“I started taking weight-loss pills, I started taking ephedrine, I started taking Adderall,” she shared. “I started doing anything and everything that I possibly could to lose weight and to look like I did at the Olympics.”
However, her first pregnancy helped her beat her addiction and overcome her body image struggles.
“There was something that switched when I got pregnant, where it was no longer about me or my body or the vanity or the calories, or what I looked liked or what I weighed,” East explained. “I could’ve cared less, it was about protecting my baby.”
East and her husband, Andrew East, now share three children: daughter Drew, 4, and sons Jett, 2, and newborn Barrett.
“Life is so good and we are feeling really blessed to have a third healthy baby join our family,” the couple shared in their newsletter following Barrett’s birth.
While the couple loves taking on parenting together, East revealed that they don’t plan on having any more children because of the toll pregnancy has taken on her body.
However, they are very open to continuing to grow their family through adoption.
Movieguide® previously reported:
Former Olympian Shawn Johnson East revealed that she is open to growing her family through adoption in the future.
“I have not taken more kids off the table. I have just said to Andrew that I feel like my body is done with pregnancy,” Johnson East said during an Instagram Q&A. “I’ve been so blessed and lucky, but three full-term pregnancies, three c-sections, three BIG babies has taken its toll on my body specifically, and I want to be as healthy and active for my kids as possible.”
“So I now put adoption on the table,” she explained.
Johnson East and her husband Andrew share two kids: daughter Drew Hazel, 4, and son Jett James, 2. They are currently expecting their third.
Though Johnson East is a former gold medal Olympian, the couple plans on supporting their children’s passions rather than forcing them down a certain path.
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