“Sister Wives” alumnus Christine Brown developed an “absolutely catastrophic” addiction with oxycodone after the injury and subsequent surgery.
Brown, 53, detailed her past dependence on opioids in her new memoir, Sister’s Wife: A Memoir of Finding Faith, Family and Freedom.
“Just before Maddie and Caleb got married (2016), I blew my knees away. I tore my ACL and meniscus and had to undergo surgery.
“‘What do I need to do?” I asked. “No,” he said.
Christine explained that she had “never had oxycodone taken before” because she had taken ibuprofen or aspirin due to pain.
“The real pain indicates something is wrong. Take what hides the problem and you generally avoid it because you don’t intend to solve the problem,” she wrote.
“In the surgery, I had already fixed the problem and it hurts so I took my medication.”
The former reality star felt “head to toe pain” and “I had the flu,” so “I took oxycodone and all of my symptoms disappeared.”
She admitted that painkillers gave her the “best and best” she ever felt.
She told people that she “addressed her addiction” because it was “absolutely devastating” and “very difficult.”
The former TLC’s personality was “a month,” but she lamented that “it lasted at least six effects.”
“I didn’t feel normal. I wasn’t OK for a long time. So when I finished and felt better, I just felt better,” she said of her decision to move on from the chapter.
“And by writing the book, I realized that it was something I hadn’t returned to and that I had revisited.
According to Christine, “Oxy is extremely addictive if you don’t need it.”
“If you need it and you have a lot of pain, there’s nothing more,” she admitted, “But it seems best to stay away from things because I can easily become addicted to things.”
As for why she didn’t talk about her addiction when she was riding “Sister’s Wife,” Christine said to do so that she was “just not in a place.”
“It was very personal and embarrassing. I didn’t know if I wanted people to know about me,” she confessed.
Christine announced that she will leave Kodi, a multi-figure who shares six children in November 2021 after 25 years of marriage.
She married David Woolley in October 2023.
If you or someone you know is affected by the issues raised in this story, call the Department of Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP.