Did they make me gay?
After taking painkillers, Scott Purdy, 23, from Lincolnshire, now fancies men...
I’ve always considered myself to be quite the ladies’ man – a hot– blooded heterosexual. Even after breaking my foot, I’d managed to secure a date with one of the nurses who treated me.
Back in 2012, I’d been mucking about with a pedal go-kart, racing down a hill, when the brakes failed and I collided into a tree.
Doctors repaired my broken bones with pins and metal plates, but I was left in constant agonising pain.
But that didn’t stop me from charming the ladies.
After dating the nurse for a few weeks, I changed girlfriends as often as I did painkillers!
By early this year, I’d been with Sarah King, 23, for about six months.
This time, it was serious.
But the pain from my injury years before was still a problem.
Before I think about having kids, I need to get this sorted, I thought. So I went to my GP.
He prescribed me with a different painkiller – called Pregabalin.
I started taking the pills every day, and the pain started to subside.
Finally, something works, I thought, relieved. But soon, other things started to change, too…
One night, Sarah snuggled up to me in bed.
Usually, I’d jump at the chance for a wild night, but this time, I just wasn’t feeling it.
‘Not tonight,’ I grumbled, rolling over. But it was the same for the next few nights… This is not like me, I thought. So, one evening when Sarah was out, I logged on to a porn website, hoping to revive my libido.
But, sadly,
the women in the video just weren’t doing it for me. Then I caught a glimpse of a man in another scene… Now he’s dishy,i
thought. Curious, I clicked on a link for gay porn.
And, strangely enough, the men in the videos seemed to be exactly what I needed.
Instantly, I was back to my old self – my libido had been revived!
Afterwards, I tried to figure out why my lust for women had changed to a need for men…
The only thing that I’d done differently was take Pregabalin.
It must be those painkillers,i thought, intrigued. So I stopped taking them. And soon, my sex life with Sarah was back in full swing.
But that meant that my pain returned, too.
After a few weeks, I couldn’t put up with the constant pain anymore, so I went back to taking Pregabalin.
Painkillers couldn’t possibly make me gay, I reasoned. It must have just been a one-off. But, after being back on the pills for a few days, I was back to fancying blokes!
It was true, then – painkillers had made me gay.
I knew it wasn’t fair on Sarah, so I decided to do the right thing. ‘I’m sorry,’ I told her. ‘I think I’m gay.’ Poor Sarah was heartbroken, but she was understanding.
After all, it was the painkillers that had turned me off her.
Once I was confident enough, I posted a message on Facebook, and came out to my family and friends.
I didn’t go into the reasons behind it, because most people I tried to explain it to just thought I was talking rubbish.
Even my dad said that he’d thought I was gay all along.
I may have experimented a bit when I was a teenager, but I was definitely straight.
But now, my sexuality had taken a complete turn!
I just want to warn other people who have been prescribed Pregabalin for pain.
People need to know what this medication can do.
I’ve decided to keep taking it, because it makes me feel happy about my sexuality. It’s so liberating. The medication has made me so open and not bothered about what people think or say.
Painkillers transformed me from a ladies’ man to a gay man – and, to be honest, I couldn’t be happier.
There was a change in me