Photo:Tarek El Moussa/ Instagram
Tarek El Moussa/ Instagram
Tarek El Moussaopens up about the impact his steroid addiction had on his family in his new book,Flip Your Life: How to Find Opportunity in Distress—in Real Estate, Business, and Life.
In the memoir, theFlip or Flopalum, 42, writes about being prescribed anabolic testosterone in the aftermath of beating cancer twice and undergoing back surgery. “I told [the doctor] about my history with cancer. Then she explained that my exhaustion was obviously a consequence of my testicular cancer,” he writes.
These “terrifying lows” he experienced started taking a toll on his then-wife,Christina Hall, 40, and their two children,Taylor and Brayden, now 13 and 8 respectively.
“I would come home and be so strung out, so raw, that I couldn’t even talk to Christina; I couldn’t talk to Taylor or play with Brayden,” he writes.
El Moussa continues: “I would walk upstairs and close the door. I would sit in front of my computer, thinking about nothing. More often than not, I’d sit there simply staring at the wall. I was a terrible husband, father, friend, and son.”
He adds that his addiction played a significant role in the downfall of his marriage to Hall. The pair officiallyannounced their splitin Dec. 2016 following ahighly publicized gun incidentthat occurred seven months prior in May.
Heidi Gutman-Guillaume
El Moussa camped out on their boat after the altercation and he decided to quit the testosterone he’d been taking regularly “cold turkey” in the hope that he could win Christina and his family back.
However, quitting the steroid so abruptly led to a dangerous ”biochemical shock,” he writes, which made his mental state even worse.
Cover art for El Moussa’s book ‘Flip Your Life’ out Feb. 6.
“I lived at the rehab center for two months, and during that time—away from the glare of the spotlights—I talked to several therapists,” he writes. “Every day consisted of regular support sessions and counseling.”
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The Flipping El Moussasstar continues: “It would be hard to put into words how grateful I am for the many, many kindnesses—and frankly, the tough love—that I experienced there, from that first phone call to Dr. Drew to the many counseling sessions at the center. When I left, I still had a ton of work to do. But those two months gave me enough to keep fighting for my life.”
Flip Your Life: How to Find Opportunity in Distress — in Real Estate, Business and Lifeis out now.
source: people.com
