‘Sister Wives’ star Christine Brown divulges ‘absolutely devastating’ oxycodone addiction

“Sister Wives” alum Christine Brown developed an “absolutely devastating” addiction to oxycodone following an injury and subsequent surgery.

Brown, 53, detailed her past reliance on the opioid in her new memoir, “Sister Wife: A Memoir of Faith, Family and Finding Freedom.”

“Just before Maddie and Caleb got married [in 2016], I blew out my knee. I tore my ACL and my meniscus, and I had to have surgery. [My husband at the time] Kody [Brown] brought me home from the hospital and then prepared to leave,” she wrote, according to People.

“‘What do I need to do?’ I asked, wondering about meds and aftercare. ‘I don’t know,’ he said. ‘They didn’t give you any instructions?’ ‘No,’ he said. But he had gotten my prescription for pain pills filled, and he handed me the bag.”

Christine explained that she “had never taken oxycodone before,” as she’d only ever taken ibuprofen or aspirin for pain.

“Real pain indicates that something’s wrong, and if I take something that masks the problem, I’m not going to fix the problem, so I generally avoid it,” she penned.

“With the surgery, I had already fixed the problem, and it hurt, so I took my meds.”

The former reality star recalled feeling like she “had the flu” while also being “achy from head to toe,” so she “took an oxycodone, and all the symptoms went away.”

She admitted the painkiller gave her “the best high” she’d ever felt, as she believed she was “on top of the world” and “could accomplish everything!”

She told People she “dealt with [her addiction] privately” because it was “absolutely devastating” and “very difficult.”

Though the ex-TLC personality was “on it for a month,” she lamented that “the effects of it lasted at least six.”

“I didn’t feel normal. I didn’t feel OK for so long. So once I was done and I felt better, I just felt good to feel better,” she said of her decision to move on from that chapter.

“And I realized that with writing the book, that’s something I didn’t go back and revisit was the addiction to oxycodone.”

According to Christine, “Oxy is a terrible, addictive thing if you don’t need it.”

“If you need it and you’re in a lot of pain, there’s nothing better than that,” she acknowledged, “but since I can get addicted to things easily, it seems it’s just best to stay away from that kind of thing.”

As for why she didn’t talk about her addiction when she was on “Sister Wives,” Christine said she “just wasn’t in a place” to do that.

“It was so personal, and it was embarrassing, and I didn’t know if I wanted people to know that about me,” she confessed.

Christine announced she was leaving Kody, a polygamist with whom she shares six children, in November 2021 after 25 years of marriage.

She went on to marry David Woolley in October 2023.

If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration helpline at 1-800-662-HELP.