The Situation: Addiction Much Worse Than Anyone Knew About

Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino is battling an addiction to prescription pills -- including to the powerful oral opioids Dilaudid -- that is much worse than anyone anticipated, RadarOnline.com is exclusively reporting.

As we first reported, The Situation voluntarily checked himself into rehab at the famous Cirque Lodge for several weeks, but while he's admitted to excessive use of Xanax and Ambien, he didn't mention any other drugs upon admission.

"Mike was taking unbelievable amounts of Dilaudid along with Xanax and Ambien. Mike was taking about 20-30 pills a day which easily could have killed him. Mike is very lucky that he didn't overdose and die, because the amount of prescription drugs was that high and deadly. It was very easy for Mike to get the prescription drugs, and he got them from more than one doctor. It's very likely that his physicians were unaware that he was taking all three of the prescription drugs. Mike would also drink alcohol while he was taking the pills which obviously could have had a horrible outcome for him. Everyone around him is hopeful he will stay sober once he leaves Cirque Lodge," an insider tells us.

Dilaudid is used to treat severe pain, and can be extremely addictive. "Someone with Mike's past addiction issues should never have been given Dilaudid because it can trigger a full relapse, which it obviously did in this scenario. It was just a staggering amount of prescription pills that he was taking," the source says.

The Situation had "become dependent on prescription pills to counter-act other his hard partying lifestyle, which included illegal substances. Mike was in a vicious cycle of not sleeping because of the illegal substances that he was taking, so he began using prescription pills to help him sleep. Mike would refer to the prescriptions pills as 'downers.' The good news is that he was the one that wanted to get help and checked into rehab. Hopefully with the proper treatment, Mike will be able to lead a sober life," the pal tells us.

Sorrentino is planning on returning to film the sixth season of The Jersey Shore this summer.

[Source 1] [Source 2]