Dax Shepard says he relapsed after 16 years of sobriety

Sept. 25 (UPI) -- Dax Shepard is going public about his relapse in sobriety.

The 45-year-old actor said on Friday's episode of his podcast, Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard, that he is seven days sober after abusing prescription pills. The episode was recorded Monday.

Shepard, who celebrated his 16th year of sobriety Sept. 1, said he started using painkillers in 2012 during his father's cancer treatments. Shepard was prescribed Vicodin at the time after injuring himself in a motorcycle crash.

Shepard went to visit his dad without his Vicodin prescription but ended up taking Percocet with his father.

"You know, we had so little in common and so much [expletive] friction," he said of his dad. "But the No. 1 thing we had in common was we were both [expletive] addicts and we had never used anything together. And we sat there stoned and looked at the lake. And in that moment, I felt elation and I was just happy."

Shepard told his wife, actress Kristen Bell, about taking the pills but moved on after the incident.

"She's like, 'You clearly need to call someone in AA ... but I would say ... keep it moving. You don't need to redefine. You didn't lose eight years [of sobriety].' Which was so comforting," Shepard said.

Shepard started abusing pills again after injuring himself in a series of motorcycle crashes.

"That cycle happens maybe three or for more times," he said. "I feel shady, but I don't feel like this is a problem. I didn't desire more when the thing was over."

Shepard said he started "getting shadier and shadier" after injuring himself this year. He was "lying to other people" and taking up to eight 30 milligram Vicodin pills a day.

Shepard was still using on the anniversary of his sobriety. He told Bell and his podcast host, Monica Padman, about his addiction this month but didn't fully come clean until a later AA meeting.

"It turned into the most incredible, like, 90 minutes I've ever experience, where there was just so much love and so much understanding and kindness and unconditional love," he said.

Shepard said on his podcast in August that he broke several bones and will require surgery after a motorcycle crash. He said at the time that he felt "guilty" about causing people concern.

Shepard and Bell married in October 2013. The couple have two daughters, Lincoln, 7, and Delta, 5.