NICOLE RICHIE - RICHIE POPPED PAINKILLER FOR MENSTRUAL CRAMPS

RICHIE POPPED PAINKILLER FOR MENSTRUAL CRAMPS

LATEST: NICOLE RICHIE has revealed she took prescription painkiller Vicodin before her recent arrest because she was suffering from a bout of bad menstrual cramps. The 25-year-old confessed to taking Vicodin and smoking marijuana to cops who pulled her over after she was spotted driving the wrong way on a Burbank, California freeway on Monday (11DEC06). But the socialite insists she had a very good reason for taking Vicodin - she has been telling friends she only "occasionally" takes the drug once a month at the star of her menstruation cycle. Friends say Richie is devastated by media reports that she's addicted to the drug. Vicodin is an opiate and Richie's involvement with the medication has been a cause for concern because she was once hooked on heroin. Former addicts who dabble in other drugs are reportedly more prone to relapse, which has her friends and family worried. But one close friend of Richie's insists that the star has changed her ways since completing drug rehab in 2003, telling publication Us Weekly saying, "She knows she made a mistake, but overall she's in a better place. She has come a long way since her heroin days."