By . Amanda Williams . PUBLISHED: . 11:47 EST, 24 February 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 11:56 EST, 24 February 2013 . A school girl who was in so much pain she became hooked on 12 painkillers-a-day has made an amazing recovery. Louiselle Morris, from Cardiff, was just 13 when she went for a routine visit to her doctor for what she thought was a common cold. But instead she was diagnosed with crippling scoliosis - an extreme curving of the spine  - and was given a morphine-like drug for the pain. Louiselle Morris from Cardiff (pictured now 20), who became addicted to painkillers to cope with a debilitating condition has made a remarkable recovery . By the time she was 14 she was relying on twelve painkillers a day. Thanks to an intense course of physiotherapy, Miss Morris, now 20, has learnt to deal with the aches without medication. She said: 'I was already a hormonal 14-year-old.I just did not want to go outside. I was a self conscious teenager. I wondered what people were saying about my back and I thought I was ugly. 'My school attendance was erratic and I couldn't walk more than 500 metres. Since the physiotherapy I can go to university and to work without being in too much pain. 'I can now manage a day without feeling like I've been hit by a sledgehammer.' An x-ray of Louiselle Morris showing the extreme curving of the spine. She was diagnosed with crippling scoliosis . She was told that if the scoliosis was left untreated it could lead to fatal heart and lung problems. Her spine was a 48 degree curve and there was a risk that her rib cage could shift and move her internal organs. The only treatment for the chronic condition was a high risk operation where two metal rods would be stuck into her spine and then fused solid. But her condition was borderline and doctors refused to operate because she was in too much pain. Within months she was suffering from chronic pain and could not walk more than fifty metres or go to school without collapsing. Her mother Susan Morris said: 'Three months after she was diagnosed, Louiselle had changed. She had gone from being a typical, active teenage girl to living life as an 80-year-old woman, confined to the four walls of her bedroom.' She would try walking around, lying on her back and on her front, but nothing helped. Doctors prescribed Louiselle tramadol, a strong painkiller, to cope. The drug is similar to morphine and is only used as a short term answer to chronic pain. She was so reliant on painkillers that she was taking four tramadol and eight paracetamol every day. Mrs Morris, 49, said: 'She was in a terrible state, it was horrendous. 'She lost so much confidence and I was desperate. I tried everything to get her off the medication. 'To see her in so much pain was so scary. I would have driven to the end of the world to try and help her.' Her daughter added: 'I was sleeping and I just didn't see a way out of it. I couldn't see how the situation was going to resolve itself. 'I was just trying to cope with the here and now and that was the only way I could at that time.' Her mother said she had reached breaking point when she found a clinic that could help. She said: 'I remember speaking to Scoliosis SOS who understood everything I was saying. They knew how I felt as a parent and how traumatic it could be for the child involved.' They drove six hours to the clinic with Louiselle doubled over in pain on the back seat of the car. She had a consultation and was put on an intensive exercise therapy course four days later, which consisted of six hours of exercises each day for four weeks. She was taught what the condition means, the effects it has on the body and was prescribed an individual physiotherapy treatment. She said: 'I was going through withdrawal because I had been taking so many tablets. It was one of the worst pains you can imagine. 'My whole body felt like it was turning in on me, it was absolutely horrendous. 'I was throwing up violently for about a week and had nausea and muscular cramps.' But by the end of the second week of therapy, she was off the painkillers. Mrs Morris said: 'Tramadol is so highly addictive and the person taking it has to want to stop, or else you haven't got a hope in hell. She became so reliant on painkillers that she was taking four tramadol and eight paracetamol every day (stock image) Louiselle with her mother Susan. Her mother said she had reached breaking point when she found a clinic that could help . 'Scoliosis SOS' whole body approach to treating scoliosis and dealing with associated pain was that light at the end of the tunnel. It was a means to so many ends. 'We got her down to one tramadol a day. Stopping her take the last one was such a battle but she realised how important it was to stop. She said to me, 'right it's going to go in the bin'.' She spent up to six hours a day at the clinic stretching and strengthening her muscles with intensive exercises. She said: 'The exercise therapy changed my life. I have no idea where I would have been if my mum had not found the centre when she did. 'I could not do anything and my whole life was just slipping away from me.' Her pain had been caused by an imbalance of the muscles and after her muscles had been strengthened and stretched, she said it had almost disappeared. She said: 'The clinic has given me the confidence to believe in myself. I feel like I am in control again and scoliosis no longer rules my life.' Miss Morris returns to the London clinic every couple of months for a two-hour session to review her progress and keep her on track. Instead of numbing the pain the drugs, Louiselle will now exercise or take a hot bath to ease her aching back. She said her pain has gone from excruciating to an occasional ache. She is studying psychology at Cardiff Metropolitan University and wants to help other young girls. She said: 'I have loved every second of university and I really do put my happiness down to these exercises. 'My mum has stood by me and fought so hard to help me. She has been fantastic. I don't feel like a hunchback anymore. I am normal and I can finally look forward to my future.'
Louiselle Morris, from Cardiff, was in so much pain she moved like an '80 year old woman'
She was diagnosed with crippling .
scoliosis - an extreme curving of the spine - and was given a .
morphine-like drug for the pain .
But she became 'hooked' on the drugs - taking four tramadol and eight paracetamol every day .
By . Amanda Williams . PUBLISHED: . 11:47 EST, 24 February 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 11:56 EST, 24 February 2013 . A school girl who was in so much pain she became hooked on 12 painkillers-a-day has made an amazing recovery. Louiselle Morris, from Cardiff, was just 13 when she went for a routine visit to her doctor for what she thought was a common cold. But instead she was diagnosed with crippling scoliosis - an extreme curving of the spine  - and was given a morphine-like drug for the pain. Louiselle Morris from Cardiff (pictured now 20), who became addicted to painkillers to cope with a debilitating condition has made a remarkable recovery . By the time she was 14 she was relying on twelve painkillers a day. Thanks to an intense course of physiotherapy, Miss Morris, now 20, has learnt to deal with the aches without medication. She said: 'I was already a hormonal 14-year-old.I just did not want to go outside. I was a self conscious teenager. I wondered what people were saying about my back and I thought I was ugly. 'My school attendance was erratic and I couldn't walk more than 500 metres. Since the physiotherapy I can go to university and to work without being in too much pain. 'I can now manage a day without feeling like I've been hit by a sledgehammer.' An x-ray of Louiselle Morris showing the extreme curving of the spine. She was diagnosed with crippling scoliosis . She was told that if the scoliosis was left untreated it could lead to fatal heart and lung problems. Her spine was a 48 degree curve and there was a risk that her rib cage could shift and move her internal organs. The only treatment for the chronic condition was a high risk operation where two metal rods would be stuck into her spine and then fused solid. But her condition was borderline and doctors refused to operate because she was in too much pain. Within months she was suffering from chronic pain and could not walk more than fifty metres or go to school without collapsing. Her mother Susan Morris said: 'Three months after she was diagnosed, Louiselle had changed. She had gone from being a typical, active teenage girl to living life as an 80-year-old woman, confined to the four walls of her bedroom.' She would try walking around, lying on her back and on her front, but nothing helped. Doctors prescribed Louiselle tramadol, a strong painkiller, to cope. The drug is similar to morphine and is only used as a short term answer to chronic pain. She was so reliant on painkillers that she was taking four tramadol and eight paracetamol every day. Mrs Morris, 49, said: 'She was in a terrible state, it was horrendous. 'She lost so much confidence and I was desperate. I tried everything to get her off the medication. 'To see her in so much pain was so scary. I would have driven to the end of the world to try and help her.' Her daughter added: 'I was sleeping and I just didn't see a way out of it. I couldn't see how the situation was going to resolve itself. 'I was just trying to cope with the here and now and that was the only way I could at that time.' Her mother said she had reached breaking point when she found a clinic that could help. She said: 'I remember speaking to Scoliosis SOS who understood everything I was saying. They knew how I felt as a parent and how traumatic it could be for the child involved.' They drove six hours to the clinic with Louiselle doubled over in pain on the back seat of the car. She had a consultation and was put on an intensive exercise therapy course four days later, which consisted of six hours of exercises each day for four weeks. She was taught what the condition means, the effects it has on the body and was prescribed an individual physiotherapy treatment. She said: 'I was going through withdrawal because I had been taking so many tablets. It was one of the worst pains you can imagine. 'My whole body felt like it was turning in on me, it was absolutely horrendous. 'I was throwing up violently for about a week and had nausea and muscular cramps.' But by the end of the second week of therapy, she was off the painkillers. Mrs Morris said: 'Tramadol is so highly addictive and the person taking it has to want to stop, or else you haven't got a hope in hell. She became so reliant on painkillers that she was taking four tramadol and eight paracetamol every day (stock image) Louiselle with her mother Susan. Her mother said she had reached breaking point when she found a clinic that could help . 'Scoliosis SOS' whole body approach to treating scoliosis and dealing with associated pain was that light at the end of the tunnel. It was a means to so many ends. 'We got her down to one tramadol a day. Stopping her take the last one was such a battle but she realised how important it was to stop. She said to me, 'right it's going to go in the bin'.' She spent up to six hours a day at the clinic stretching and strengthening her muscles with intensive exercises. She said: 'The exercise therapy changed my life. I have no idea where I would have been if my mum had not found the centre when she did. 'I could not do anything and my whole life was just slipping away from me.' Her pain had been caused by an imbalance of the muscles and after her muscles had been strengthened and stretched, she said it had almost disappeared. She said: 'The clinic has given me the confidence to believe in myself. I feel like I am in control again and scoliosis no longer rules my life.' Miss Morris returns to the London clinic every couple of months for a two-hour session to review her progress and keep her on track. Instead of numbing the pain the drugs, Louiselle will now exercise or take a hot bath to ease her aching back. She said her pain has gone from excruciating to an occasional ache. She is studying psychology at Cardiff Metropolitan University and wants to help other young girls. She said: 'I have loved every second of university and I really do put my happiness down to these exercises. 'My mum has stood by me and fought so hard to help me. She has been fantastic. I don't feel like a hunchback anymore. I am normal and I can finally look forward to my future.'
pain she became hooked on 12 painkillers-a-day with crippling scoliosis - an extreme curving of the spine  - and was given a morphine-like drug for the pain. Louiselle Morris from Cardiff curving of the spine. She was diagnosed with four tramadol and eight paracetamol every day. she was taking four tramadol and eight