How painkiller abuse damaged my kidney – Ufuoma McDermott

• Ufuoma McDermott has spoken on managing her stage 4 kidney disease which she has been taking medication for, for 12 years.
• The actress also revealed that the illness had nothing to with hereditary like she and her family feared, especially after her brother also succumbed to the disease.

Nollywood actress Ufuoma McDermott has opened up about her long-standing struggle with kidney disease, which she linked to prolonged use of painkillers.

In a recent interview with media personality Chude Jideonwo, she urged the public to make health a top priority, sharing insights from her personal journey.

Ufuoma McDermott who has been managing kidney disease for over a decade, explained that her condition stemmed from her habitual use of strong painkillers to cope with persistent migraines and headaches. She said:

“I grew up with migraines, headaches and eyeaches, and I never wore my glasses because they made me look like a geek. I’d take painkillers for my migraine. I took strong painkillers and not the ordinary painkillers because I wanted the pain to go away.”

Over time, the consistent drug use took a toll on her kidneys, leading to the chronic condition.

The actress shared that her family was further impacted when her brother was diagnosed with late-stage kidney disease, requiring immediate dialysis.

This spurred her to seek answers about potential genetic links. However, doctors traced both siblings’ kidney issues to a shared history of long-term painkiller use rather than heredity.

“I really wish everyone would understand the importance of health,” she advised, underscoring the need for public awareness on responsible medication use and regular health check-ups.

In Ufuoma McDermott’s words:

“My brother was diagnosed late on stage 4 of kidney disease and he goes straight into dialysis and has complications.

“I was diagnosed earlier, so I have lived on medication for almost 12 years now. When my brother died, I ran to my cardiologist. My parents were scared, thinking if this is genetic? We had to trace the kidney disease and we learned it was from drug abuse.”