The actress and former Fox News commentator was at one point taking "18 to 20 pills" of prescription pain medication every day.
After initially being prescribed Vicodin for a painful cyst, Stacey Dash become so addicted to the drug she was spending between $5,000 and $10,000 a month to support her habit. Not only was it draining her financially, but in a recent appearance on The Dr. Oz Show she admitted it led to a health crisis that nearly killed her.
"My kidneys were so infected that my blood was septic and my organs were shutting down, so I got rushed to the hospital and I had to have a full blood transfusion, and I was there for three weeks. And by the grace and mercy of God, I lived."
The 54-year-old Christian actress, who starred in the 1990s sitcom Clueless, eventually checked into a rehab facility in Utah and she has now been clean for five years. She told Dr. Mehmet Oz that she is sharing her story so others will know "there is no shame in being an addict. There is no shame in getting help." She also called on non-addicts to demonstrate "more compassion and empathy" toward those fighting addiction.
Drugs were a common sight for the New York City native in childhood and she first tried them at the tender age of eight. In fact, both of her parents were drug users and her mother introduced her to cocaine when Dash was a teenager, so her life's journey has been a difficult one.
But Christian Film Blog has long admired her for her courage, including the decision Dash made in her 20s to give birth to her son instead of going through with an abortion as originally planned, which we reported on here. And her Christian faith, despite all the challenges, is clearly something she leans on.
"I thank the Lord for being able to say that I have grown more over the last five years than I have in my entire life."
Dash adds that she is "so blessed to be surrounded by people who have loved and supported" her in her trials. And she bears no grudges toward her parents, saying that in the time of her sobriety she has come to realize that they did love her: "they were doing the best they could and they were just sick. They were addicted."