Leah Messer opened up about her struggle with drugs during a new interview with the Knockin’ Down Doorz podcast, admitting the lows she hit when she was in the throes of addiction years ago.
Although the Teen Mom 2 star talked about her prescription pill addiction in her book, Hope, Grace & Faith, this interview marks the first time Leah revealed she used heroin during this time.
Leah— whose addiction started after her traumatic delivery of her youngest daughter, Addie and eventually saw her become hooked on opioids— talked about using the street drug when she couldn’t get pills.
“I actually tried heroin once. ..my personal experience is I didn’t feel anything from it,” she said. “I think it was divine intervention. It was when you can’t find pain medication, there was the heroin. [It’s] cheaper, and an easier form. I was actually with my dad when I had done it.”
Leah said her father, Gary Messer, is still addicted to prescription drugs and, although she grew up being angry about his drug use, she found herself doing the same thing.
“I thought I could avoid [becoming addicted],” she said. “I didn’t feel dependent on the medication I was taking at the time, until it was too late and I became suicidal.”
Leah– who previously talked about a suicidal moment she had that was caught on tape– said she needed the drugs so badly that she was doing dangerous things.
“I was buying it off the streets, I was doing very illegal activities. It was a spiral downhill from there,” she said, later adding, “I was taking ridiculous amounts of prescription medication.”
“I remember it leading into smoking the pills, it led me to try heroin…”
As The Ashley told you back in 2015, the ‘Teen Mom’ producers played an active role in getting Leah into treatment. She eventually went to rehab in Arizona, a trip she credits with helping to save her life.
“I was in the public eye and I had to keep up with this persona, or this image and [in treatment] I had to let all of that go,” she said.
“[‘Teen Mom’ producer] Larry [Musnik] specifically was the biggest support system I had,” she said.
“I was in a really, really tough custody battle [with Corey Simms] and being able to own that I was struggling with addiction was impossible. I was being hair follicle drug-tested. I was going to lose custody of my children. That was even more shameful for me. That’s my entire world. If I lose them, I felt like I didn’t have anything to live for.
“And the Executive Producer was like, ‘Leah. The best thing for them is for you to go to the treatment facility and get the help that you need and deserve. That was the support system I had.”
To listen to Leah’s entire interview with the Knockin’ Down Doorz podcast, click here!
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32 Responses
I think she is inspiring, while she may not be being completely transparent about that period in her life, she should be given props on climbing out of that rabbit hole. If I had not been a viewer those years I would never had thought Leah would have ever been a heavy drug user. It’s good to destigmatize drug addiction, these people need help not ostracism.
*people not THESE people, my bad
I think some people are just never going to be happy. I don’t care what she chose not to talk about at the time and what she might still be keeping to herself. Just because she puts parts of her life on tv doesn’t make me feel like I’m entitled to know about her entire life. She can still have deeply personal things that she doesn’t want to talk about or needs more time. I’m just glad that she’s gotten better and is finally in a good place.
Good for her for opening up about her addiction, and for getting help. But I don’t believe for a second she only tried H once.
I think it’s safe to say we all knew she was on some heavy stuff during that “put the dye on the baby’s head” time period, no matter how much she thought she was fooling people with all of her lies to cover up her drug abuse…I honestly commend her for being so honest about everything she has gone through. Leah has had a really rough life, and I hope she keeps up with her progress and her sobriety. I know people still side eye her sometimes, but you cant knock her for actually trying. You can tell she’s doing the best she can, and is putting in the effort.
In my opinion, not enough people bring the subject of addiction to light and really talk open and honestly about it! I’m proud of Leah! She went through some shit that led her to the worst points in her life and I commend her for talking about then honestly!! It’s not an easy thing to do! This is something that so many people struggle with on a daily basis and it’s hard for them to admit it bc of all the judgmental people out there! So what if she didn’t admit it right away?! She is now and, by doing so, may be helping someone out there to open up too!! What some people do not realize is this is life threatening and addicts don’t want to do the things they do but they’re not in the right frame of mind during their addiction to make the right choices!! There’s no way to know what an addict goes through on a daily basis unless you’ve lived it! I’m so glad Leah is sharing her truth to give others hope!!!
Born to party, that’s how I live.
stay lit, and pull tubes
Finally the truth is out there that my screen name was never just for laughs!
Opiates are not meth.
But but but, she and her mom,swore down she was not addicted to drugs?????
Messer coven of liars.
MONKEY
For those that dont know or remember, that was her “safe word” her mom yelled during a reunion”
Was using heroin in her memoir??! No.
I love how open and honest she is about her addiction and i hope she knows many people are super proud of her, i don’t understand why people would shame her at all for admitting this
Because
1) She lied about it constantly like we were all morons even though she was clearly out of her mind on drugs in many scenes on tv.
2) She put her daughters in danger many many times. Not to mention anyone else on the road while she was behind the wheel.
3) She tried to make Corey out to be the bad guy “trying to take my girls away from their mom” & continually trashed him when he was only trying to prevent his daughters from the danger & neglect of living with a drug addict.
Exactly. It is kind of disappointing to read how proud everyone is of her when she did all that you said. I am happy for her that she turned her life around. But before she did she lied and put her children lives in danger with her lies and drug use. And before convincing her to get help MTV TM2 was complicit in her lying. I think they even helped her pass a drug test when Corey was trying to get custody. They must have switched the sample. I will never forget the look of shock on Leah’s face when the drug test came back negative. And she drugged Corey’s name through the mud labelling him as the bad parent for trying to get custody of the girls when he looking out for their best interests.
Denial is part of the addiction. Lying to cover it up and to prevent consequences is part of the addiction. Minimizing and rationalizing what you’re doing and the risks you’re taking is part of the addiction. The brain literally changes biochemically to support denial and risk taking, and to prevent to rational clear thinking. Obviously addicted people do incredibly stupid things like put themselves and others at danger when they’re either trying to 1) keep living some semblance of their normal life like driving their kids to school and/or 2) actively pursuing drugs when they’re in withdrawal or 3) high out of their minds. Their brains do not function properly anymore. Their risk taking increases many many times over and they do things that they never would have done if they weren’t addicted. So I “understand” why she did those things, even if I don’t condone them.
But mainly, we can’t go back and change the past. She did those things and eventually she got help and now she doesn’t do those things anymore. If she never talked about it, never got out of denial, never sought help, she would still be doing those things now. But she’s not. That’s a good thing. And it’s a rare thing. Many people spend years in active addiction before getting help. And even after they get help they may relapse over and over again for the rest of their life. She isn’t using or putting anyone in danger anymore and she’s not lying.
Of course it would be better if she had never become addicted to drugs in the first place, but I think we should also remember thatshe was prescribed super strong medication over and over again by a doctor even though those meds have a high risk of addiction. Especially for people who have a family history of addiction, like she does. Especially for people who don’t have a lot going for them or a huge social support system to keep them accountable, like Leah. It’s telling that her greatest support system when getting clean was a producer, not her mom or sister, or dad, or friends, or doctors. She was surrounded by people who use and abuse street and prescription drugs. She lives in West Virginia, they have some of the highest rates of prescription pill abuse anywhere. And yet she got better and has stayed sober. That is rare. And it is admirable.
Totally agree with you. I find it especially sad when people become drug addicts because of medication physicians prescribed them. Jenelle’s addiction was self inflicted because she’s a nut case and bad person, Leah was more unintentional if that makes sense. Yes, what she did in the past was messed up, but there’s nothing she can do about that…what she can do now is what she is doing, and that’s holding herself accountable for her mess ups in the past, and doing better.
@amy
well put
I love Leah and just want to protect her at all costs. She’s not perfect and I love how she doesn’t claim to be. I think her whole life is about her girls and I hope she finds that one person that will love her and care for her and help her with the girls and love them just as much as they love her. Her girls always seem happy and cared for and they are empathetic too <3.
I’m so incredibly proud of Leah. I am 48 but have a young daughter so she grew up watching teen Mom and I watched with her (it was our thing) I too had a pill addiction started from several severe back surgeries I have now been sober 4 yrs so I can totally relate to everything she had said and been thru. Thank you for sharing these very important topics. I too carry narcan everywhere just incase Im in a position to save just one life.
Heather Sauvola, I’m in a similar situation how do you cope with the pain without the meds ?
I know this wasn’t addressed to me but have you tried a chiropractor? Also try salonpas pads. It usually helps with my back pain.
I know some people don’t care for Leah, but I’m happy for her that she was able to pull herself out of that spiral. It’s not something many people are able to do successfully, and I definitely commend her for going down a much happier path. All the best to her and her family.
Soooo why wasn’t this in her memoir?!!
…because she didn’t write it
Almost all “celebrities” use ghost writers. They sit down with them and give them a quick run down of the basic points of their life and the ghost writer does some additional research and writes it all up for the “celebrity” to slap their name on it.
I feel that most of what Leah puts out there is pretty ridiculous and just for publicity, but here she’s being open and honest and I commend her. I feel like she is one of the few people in the franchise that is a genuinely nice person and doesn’t feel holier than though because she got famous from her loins at the age of 16.