“Anything even remotely addictive, I'd stay away": Olympic gold medalist Shawn Johnson on Adderall addiction and giving birth without pain meds

Olympic gold medalist and three-time World Champion Shawn Johnson recently shared details of giving birth to her newborn son, Barrett “Bear” Madison East. She revealed that she opted not to take any narcotic pain meds for her C-section, given her history of addiction to Adderall.

Johnson welcomed her third child with her husband Andrew East on 12 December. The couple are also parents to a four-year-old daughter Drew Hazel, and two-year-old son Jett James.

Shawn Johnson had previously opened up about her addiction issues with Adderall, a medicine typically used to treat ADHD, in a video shared on Access Hollywood's YouTube channel in 2020. There, she discussed that she struggled with body image issues and resorted to pills in order to return to her Olympic weight.

Now, the American has given an insight into her mental strength after sharing details of Barrett’s birth on her Instagram story. Posting a picture alongside the baby, she wrote:

“Ok... long story short during my comeback in 2010 I was prescribed adderall to "curb my appetite and give me more energy" by a not good doctor. Fast forward 7 years of being heavily addicted to it and having it control me, when I finally freed myself of it I swore anything even remotely addictive I'd stay away from.”

The American mentioned that her decision stemmed from the desire to never feel out of control like she did during her addiction.

“It affected every part of my life and changed who I was. I never want to feel out of control like that again. So.... Tylenol and Motrin for me :)”

Watch her Instagram story below:

Via Shawn Johnson's Instagram story

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A brief look at Shawn Johnson's gymnastics career

Shawn Johnson first rose to fame in 2007 at the Stuttgart Artistic Gymnastics World Championships. There, she took three Golds, finishing first in the floor exercise, all-around, and team events.

Johnson continued her stellar run at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, stepping onto the podium a total of four times. She clinched gold in the balance beam, and won silver in the team, all-around, and floor-exercise events.

The 31-year-old also has a whopping seven Pan-American medals to her name, five of which are gold. She retired from the sport of gymnastics in June 2012 after recurrent injury issues with her left knee.

Post her retirement, Johnson made multiple television appearances and was even inducted into the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 2013. Six years later, she was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame.

As of now, Johnson lives with her husband and three kids in Nashville, Tennessee, and is a popular social media influencer with