A 23-year-old man from the U.K. claims the painkillers he was prescribed after a go-karting accident earlier this year have turned him gay forever.
Once upon a time, Scott Purdy says he was a “hot-blooded heterosexual” who enjoyed the company of many different women. That is until he started taking painkiller Pregabalin, also known as Lyrica.
“I noticed my libido for women had gone and I was wanting male attention,” he claims in an interview with the Daily Record.
Related: Newspaper blames “fat” women for turning men into “disgusting” gay couples
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Scott began taking the drug after breaking his foot earlier this year. He now believes it caused him to completely lose his desire for women, dump his girlfriend, and begin pursuing relationships with men.
“I was with a girlfriend I had been with for around six months,” he recalls. “A couple of weeks after I started taking it I turned around and said I didn’t find her physically attractive anymore.”
“I said to her, ‘I don’t really know what’s happening to me and I told her I like men and I just can’t be with you.’ She was relatively understanding, as understanding as you could possibly be.”
Scott claims he had “never been interested in men” prior to taking the drug, although he admits, “When I was younger I was a little bit curious but…”
Pregabalin is typically used to treat epilepsy, pain associated with the brain, and generalized anxiety disorder. Its side effects include loss of libido and mood swings.
“I stopped taking it for a few weeks and that desire for men just left,” Scott says.
He’s back on the drug now and, he says, he’s “very happy.”
“I want to keep on taking it because it makes me feel happy about my sexuality. It’s made me feel very open. It’s liberating. Pregabalin is also used to control paranoia and anxiety. It’s made me so open and not bothered what people think or say.”
After declaring himself official gay, Scott created a Plenty of Fish account, where he says he is enjoying chatting with a man in London.
“It’s really what I’m craving right now,” he says. “I want to be with him right now.”
thisisnotreal
As another article stated about this story, the guys family including his father and grandmother always assumed he was gay from the time he was a little kid and had no issue with it. The father felt that because the drug lowers anxiety that maybe for the first time in his life this guy was able to in some small way accept his homosexuality. Maybe I’m the only one who feels this way, but i can’t help feeling for the guy. If he is still struggling to accept himself and love himself as he is and he needs to tell himself that a drug made him gay instead of just letting go and accepting that he always was, then that’s fine with me. Everyone figures out their truth in their own way and in their own time frame.
Donston
As I mentioned, while of course drugs can have some effect on your psychology I doubt any type of drug can truly completely morph your orientation. And any guy who legit believes he’s straight is not gonna continue to take a drug to “stay gay”. He’s a more than likely homoromantic dude with some dimensions in his sexuality but is probably gay-leaning. He may contend with extreme levels of anxiety when he’s with men sexually and romantically (which is very common) as well as some self-doubt, self-resentment and perhaps some internalized homophobia. And the drugs may help to ease those things to some degree.
Donston
These pills do have a direct effect on people’s psychology. So, maybe he’s not completely cookoo. And traumatic events (including non-sexual traumatic events) can have an affect on someone’s instincts and sense of self. But as usual with stories like these there are likely some pieces to the puzzle that he’s not disclosing.
Finally, The Daily Record is a seedy, over the top tabloid through and through with a history of anti-gay rhetoric. So, every aspect of this “story” should be looked at with a side-eye. And I’m not sure it’s responsible of you guys to post it like it’s legit news from a legit source.
Vince
This is actually being widely reported.
Donston
Yeah, I looked up the other articles. Don’t know why they chose an overt tabloid with an anti-gay history as their only source.
Based on all the other articles it seems like he’s always been a very same-sex leaning dude who simply contended with anxiety and ego issues when he was with guys, a general obsession with heteronormalcy and some overall convolution. None of that is at all unusual. And now he’s trying desperately to convince it’s all due to the pills.
lcandela123
There is no way that taking a painkiller shrunk this man’s amygdala and rewired his brain, converting him from straight to gay.
Vince
Did Queerty find the right picture because if that’s 23 then I’m 18 then.
tnguy222
With the addition of drugs and alcohol, some people age at a ratio of 1:5 years after 20.
Thus, 23 becomes 35.
*sigh*
We do it to ourselves….
Donston
Queerty typically uses stock photos. So, you never know if the photo is actually who the article is about.
Donston
But yes, that’s the actual dude.
CastleSF
There is little blessing in looking a lot younger than your age after you pass 45. Most men don’t take you seriously at work. If you are being honest with your age in a dating setting, younger men tell you you don’t look mature enough and older men write you off for being too old for them.
Aromaeus
drugs, alcohol and white people just age horribly in general.
tham
Yeah, the same thing happens with beer too.
Can’t tell you how many times I was hangin g with a “straight” friend and BOOM, 6 beers later and a dark corner…he ain’t my “straight” friend no more.
CastleSF
How does a drunk guy acting gay negate the fact that he is still straight? The sexual orientation is not about what a guy does in bed or in a dark alley but to whom he is romantically attracted.
chris33133
@tham: ROFL
CastleSF
Why is so hard for you to understand that some guys are just straight even if they are acting gay when under the influence? They want to marry a woman, have kids and lead a normal family life eventually but they don’t want to do it with a man.
Donston
Actually, orientation is mostly seen now as a combo of romance and sexuality, not just one or the other. It’s not based on behavior or lifestyle at all. So, wanting to have a traditional family and kids and not be seen as “gay” does not equate to being “straight” if you don’t have substantial and sustained romantic love, romantic passion, sexual passion and sexual satisfaction towards the opposite gender. You’re just choosing to live a certain lifestyle or a convenient identity but that doesn’t equate to “straight”. While merely having sex with someone doesn’t automatically place that person within your orientation either if there’s little to no passion, desire, romantic instincts and satisfaction.
Orientation and “lifestyle” can often be very complicated stuff. Some remain obsessed with simplifying things and obsessed with “labels” for the sake of sociology or fantasy. However, holding on to what someone does while being absolutely wasted is a mistake. Yes, some drugs can loosen inhibitions and lessen anxietities and make it easier for people to embrace their foremost instincts and desires. But sometimes people are just drunk, sloppy, horny fools.
CastleSF
Thank you for your insight Donston. It starts to make more sense to me now.
Donston
It can be difficult stuff to grasp, because everything gets a updated definition every couple years. Hell, “bisexual” has about 30 different meanings depending on who you ask. Most people aren’t disgusted with the idea of sexually engaging with more than one gender. Most people aren’t completely, thoroughly 100% conventionally straight or gay no matter their identity or lifestyle. Many people have a ton of different aspects, instincts and contradictions within their orientation. Some people have a difficult time completely getting a hold of those aspects and gaining comfort with them. Many gay and gay-leaning contend with internalized homophobia or obsession with heteronormalcy. While drugs and alcohol of course can affect behaviors and sense of self. And many people contend with some hardcore psychological issues that affects their sense of self or behaviors, like this Scott dude.
So, the psychology and socialogy of orientation, sense of gender and identity and the way it all continues to evolve can be overwhelming stuff to understand through and through.
DCguy
In other words, the pills lowered his inhibitions, he got caught and now is so self hating he’s claiming he’s straight and it was just the pills fault.
It’s the modern day equivalent of “Whoa, bro….I was so drunk……”
Donston
I think you guys sometimes underestimate how “complicated” the mind can become and how contradictory sexuality and instincts can be. As someone who is a homo-romantic gay-leaning pansexual that sometimes can get more easily aroused by women “confusion”, self-indentity, self-doubt, self-resentment, etc. are all things I greatly contended with. I have also contended with some extreme anxiety, especially in my early relationships with guys, and depression and a bit of internalized homophobia. I could have probably used those damn pills back then. The struggle to self understand, self-accept, gain self-comfort and a stable, sane ego is quite real for many. Some sympathy is needed here. Yes, he’s “blaming” the pills, which is idiotic. But I don’t think this scenario is nearly as simple as you describe.
DCguy
Except this isn’t about you. It’s about a guy claiming he was 100% hetero and now he is gay and it’s ALL because of this painkiller he took.
If you are not claiming the medication did it to him, then what you are discussing is a different topic.
Donston
He actually admitted that he had some same-sex attractions in the past and tried to indulge them but didn’t feel comfortable.
The dude obviously has some general issues. They’re likely more complicated than your basic description of things, especially since he likes the idea of being gay and a “gay lifestyle”. This isn’t some fratboy going around saying he got drunk and fcked a dude. The pills obviously makes himself feel better about himself, gives clarity, eases his anixiety and gives him the comfort and confidence to be with a dude, even if a lot of it is a placebo effect.
It’s actually a kinda fascinating story, despite the guy likely not being completely forthright about his past and what’s going on in his head. It may also help to give some insight into why “queers” are more likely to become addicts or frequent drug users and more likely to contend with suppressive anxiety and warped egos and help us to genuinely help on that front instead of connecting every issue with how bad the “cis hetero world” is.
youarekiddingme
@Donston, Really? Are you going to do a psychological “workup” on this guy based on this short article? BTW, The drug (Lyrica) is not a “Painkiller” in the classic sense of the word anyway. It’s a Schedule 5 Drug and was originally intended as an anti-convulsant drug.
Don’t “reflect” your condition onto some guy’s post that was reprinted on Queerty’s Website. This guy is BLAMING an anti-convulsant drug for converting him into a homosexual. Utter garbage!
Yea, the mind is complicated. This guy needs to pull his head out and see a mental health professional—right away!
WindsorOntario
Another story about misuse/questionable side effects of pain medication that was likely not used as prescribed. I really don’t care about this person. Let’s talk about the rest of us who were on opiate pain medication for years leading productive lives and enjoying that.
Then these middle school kids got into grandmas medicine cabinet, started taking her pain meds and wound up dead years later not from pain meds but from heroin laced with fentanyl. Thanks a lot. Now nobody gets anything.
This whole panic has ruined my quality of life and that of many others whose doctors have completely overreacted and bought into this paranoia that will probably never go away.
radiooutmike
Lyrica is not a pain-killer. It’s more like an off-label anti-depressant.
So, yes, he could take this drug for his ‘over-active’ nerves and start to feel better about himself. Leading to a realization.
As far as how straight he was? Who knows. I thought I was ‘straight’ from the age of 12 until 47. I wanted a wife and family. But I also knew I had homosexual leanings, that I could not put into perspective for my life.
DCguy
Then you didn’t think you were straight. You wanted to be straight and decided to live a straight lifestyle while still “knowing” you had other interests.
gaym50ish
I know some guys I would like to give those pills to.