Ufuoma McDermott: How excessive drug use damaged my kidney

Ufuoma McDermott, the Nollywood actress, has revealed the cause of her stage four kidney disease. 

In a recent episode of the WithChude podcast, McDermott shared that her kidney disease was caused by prolonged misuse of strong painkillers due to migraines and headaches.

The actress revealed that she had avoided wearing glasses due to concerns about her appearance, leading to chronic headaches. She said to manage the pain, she took strong painkillers, unaware of the long-term consequences.

The 43-year-old said she found out about the cause after she and her brother were both diagnosed with kidney disease, sparking fears that it might be genetic.

“I really wish everyone would understand the importance of health. My brother was diagnosed late on stage 4 of kidney disease and he goes straight into dialysis and has complications. I was diagnosed earlier,” she said.

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

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

In 2017, the actress revealed that she lost her brother to kidney failure.