"American Idol" judge Paula Abdul has come clean with her struggle to kick painkillers in a Ladies' Home Journal interview.

In the June issue of the magazine, Abdul said that her withdrawl was the "worst thing." She told the magazine that she checked into La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, Calif., last Thanksgiving to beat her habit.

"I was freezing cold, then sweating hot, then chattering and in so much pain, it was excruciating," Abdul told the magazine. "But at my very core, I did not like existing the way I had been."

Abdul said that her painkiller habit stemmed from her years as a dancer and a back injury at 17. She was also diagnosed with reflex sympathetic dystrophy syndrome -- a chronic condition that causes debilitating pain -- in 2005.

Abdul told Ladies' Home Journal that after 15 surgeries, yoga and spiritual workshops, she feels 96 percent better.