The WWE legend has lost 40 pounds since quitting alcohol.
Hulk Hogan is opening up about being caught in a "vicious cycle" when it came to prescription pills. In an interview with Muscle & Health, the 70-year-old wrestling legend recalled no longer being in pain but still chasing after prescription pills at his pharmacy "like a dog chasing a bone."
Over the course of his illustrious career with the World Wrestling Federation (now World Wrestling Entertainment), the Hulkster endured dozens of major surgeries, including 10 alone on his back. To treat the chronic pain following those surgeries, Hogan said pain medication always came into play. But he soon realized it was leading him down a dark path.
"I had doctors writing me prescription after prescription, and all of a sudden, it became a vicious cycle," he tells the men's health and fitness magazine. "I was hitting the pain pills hard because I’d had to endure twenty-five procedures, including ten to my back, facial operations from being kicked, knee and hip replacements and abdominal and shoulder surgeries."
Hogan, born Terry Bollea and who got engaged to Sky Daily last month, then said about five or six years ago he was in such crazy pain that he "couldn't even function," adding that his back, at one point, required surgery every four months.
"I needed pain meds at that stage, that’s for sure," he admits. "But once things started to wind down, they continued giving me the same meds. It got to a point where I’d recovered from the tenth back surgery, and the pharmacy would call me and say, 'Your prescription’s ready,' and like a dog chasing a bone, I’d go pick it up."
Soon, Hogan says he came to the realization that he didn't need the meds because he was no longer in pain.
"My body hurts from all the wrestling injuries, but I’m not in this excruciating pain that I can’t live with," he explains.
Hogan also says he's now seven months sober. Not an ounce of booze in that time.
"I was at a New Year’s Eve party and saw a bunch of stuff that I didn’t condone or like," he says. "I saw myself in this environment, and I went, 'You know what? I don’t know how I got here, but I’m done.' It was just that one thing."
"I was around people who believed and behaved differently from me, and I just said, 'I’m out,'" he continues. "It feels much better to be so clear-headed. I’m no longer tempted to drink alcohol. I don’t have an addictive personality. I mean, with anything. It can be business or people or alcohol or drugs. When I’m done, I’m done."
Back in July, Hogan revealed to Men's Health that he was prone to drinking 12 beers after a match. He shared that, besides quitting alcohol, changing his eating habits dramatically helped him shed 40 pounds.
"I wasn't aware, I wasn't educated as far as quality of food and how much quantity I should eat," he told Men's Health at the time. "I was just hungry all the time. The pre-match meal was probably three Miller Lites and two Tylenols. That was the pre-match meal. And then afterwards, the post-match meal was probably 12 Miller Lites. That's how it was."
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