MY SIX YEARS OF HELL

Heidi tells how a growing dependence on pills got out of hand and nearly destroyed her family

SHE just wanted something to take the edge off. Just one sleeping tablet a night to help her get some decent rest. Worrying about how to pay the bills and the daily stress of juggling a fulltime job and a young family had been keeping Heidi Bothma awake at night – and it felt wonderful to get eight hours of uninterrupted sleep for what felt like the first time in years.

But one tablet became two, then four, then six – and soon she needed something to help her cope better during the day too.

Before she knew it she was taking 20 pills a day: a combination of sleeping tablets, painkillers, tranquillisers and anxiety medication.

The 35-year-old housewife’s story comes hot on the heels of the revelation that pop star Prince had died from an accidental overdose of a prescription medication (YOU, 16 June). She hopes that opening up about the addiction she managed to hide from her husband and children for six years will help others in a similar situation.

“There are no more pills in the house except for over-the-counter allergy tablets and Panado,” Heidi tells us as she takes a seat in the lounge of her home in Uitenhage in the Eastern Cape.

It’s been a long, difficult road to get to this point.

“At one stage I had pills from four prescriptions. I hid them in places around the house where I knew my husband and children wouldn’t look.

“I’d put the pills – I needed them in the morning, at midday and at night – in small containers and hide them on the highest shelves, behind boxes and in nooks and crannies.”

But those days are gone. Heidi took her last pill almost four years ago – on 31 July 2012, to be precise.

“I messed up six years of my life and lost so much time with my husband and children. I try to make up for it every day.”

HER children, a 14-year-old son and an 11-year-old daughter, used to think she woke up with a constant headache because she had flu. Husband Vikus, a project manager, knew she sometimes took painkillers and sleeping pills but had no By JOANIE BERGH ABOVE and RIGHT: Heidi Bothma is now able to talk openly about her addiction to prescription medication.