Rick Ross Reveals Codeine Caused His Recurring Seizures

The rapper admits to drug abuse in his new memoir, Hurricanes.

Rick Ross has opened up about his health issues.

In a recent interview with PEOPLE, the rapper explains how his March 2018 hospitalization was a wake-up call and revealed that his string of seizures was a result of poor health decisions and drug use.

“It was the codeine,” he said. Ross admitted to using the prescription opioid cough medication recreationally. In his new memoir, Hurricanes, he describes drinking cough syrup to cope with stress.

“That mixed with the things I was drinking, the other drugs I was doing, and on top of not resting," he said in the interview. "[I don’t think] one particular thing would have killed me. But everything combined?”

READ: Stream Rick Ross' 10th Studio Album 'Port of Miami 2,' Featuring Drake, Nipsey Hussle, & More

Ross also debunked reports on his condition, explaining that he did not suffer a heart attack and he was never placed on an ECMO machine to support the function of his heart and lungs.

After refusing to follow doctors' orders in the past, he says he's back on track now.

“I cut the sodas out and I drink a lot more water,” he says. “That, adding in some vegetables and I get a lot more rest.”