Heath Ledger dead

[David Bowie]

No, I don't think that the antianxiety meds are a cure for anxiety at all. However, what causes my anxiety is OCD, which is another psychiatric condition. Changing my diet, etc, is not going to cahnge my thought process. I had a lot of friends in college who were on antidepressants, and I could never understand why anybody would want to take a psychotropic medication, esp with all the sexual side effects and the tiredness that those pills cause. I also used to think that all psychological problems were cureble by changing youre lifestyle, relaxing etc. However, sometimes disorders become so bad that you are unable to function and make any needed changes. I don't think that medications are a caure (although they seem to be for some.) However, they allow you to feel better so that you can make those lyfestyle changes and progress onward with recovery.

[whottt]

Anyone care to provide me with the stats on the trends of depression?


Are more people getting it now than ever before? or less?

I mean PCT of the general population...




What about suicide rates...are they rising, or declining?


Gimme those answers and then we'll see how much good those meds are doing...




A big part of the reason we live longer now is because we have learned how to do surgery that can extend life expectancy...shit like that...I mean from legitimate physical impairment...


That doesn't mean giving someone a pill for every little ailment they get is a wise thing to do...


If it's proven to cure it, that's one thing...if it's just enabling someone to put off the real problem, while getting them addicted to a drug...that's another thing entirely.




And if you don't think money is a primary factor behind that trend...you are the asshole.

[ShoogarBear]

Eh....I quit drinking cokes and it had a tremendous impact on my mood...I like the result better than freaking Paxil.

Next up...cigs.


If scientology can help people overcome problems without drugs...isn't that a postive?


Since it's basically a form of hypnosis(albeit a dangerous form) I have no doubt it actually can help people overcome issues without drugs.I don't think you can easily dump mild anxiety/mood disorders and major anxiety/depression/psychoses into the same basket.

Nicotine addiction is verifiable biochemical phenomenon. That doesn't mean you need to combat it biochemically, but some people can overcome the craving easier than others. Just because one specific method works for you doesn't mean it will work for others.

The problem with Scientology is they claim THEY have the true answer and other people are selling snake oil, which is usually the first sign of a snake oil salesman. I also seriously doubt Scientologists would care to take on the problem of "curing" schizophrenia (because most of them don't have money; actually I'm surprised Tom Cruise hasn't tried to convert Ron Artest).

Psychiatry doesn't claims to have all the answers, but at least over the last 20-30 years they are trying to use hard scientific evidence to document how effective medications are (or aren't).

[ShoogarBear]

Anyone care to provide me with the stats on the trends of depression?


Are more people getting it now than ever before? or less?

I mean PCT of the general population...




What about suicide rates...are they rising, or declining?


Gimme those answers and then we'll see how much good those meds are doing...




A big part of the reason we live longer now is because we have learned how to do surgery that can extend life expectancy...shit like that...I mean from legitimate physical impairment...


That doesn't mean giving someone a pill for every little ailment they get is a wise thing to do...


If it's proven to cure it, that's one thing...if it's just enabling someone to put off the real problem, while getting them addicted to a drug...that's another thing entirely.




And if you don't think money is a primary factor behind that trend...you are the asshole.Logical fallacy: Incidence rates for diabetes are going up, too. Does that mean insulin doesn't work?

[peewee's lovechild]

i hope they get shot if they do that... no lie! everyone of them shot in the head

This is the second time I agree with Fillmoe.

I'm scared.

Anyway, it just goes to show you how fucked up and full of hate religiosity is.

[whottt]

No, I don't think that the antianxiety meds are a cure for anxiety at all. However, what causes my anxiety is OCD, which is another psychiatric condition.


Yeah...I don't know if I have OCD but I get that way about cigarettes. I got a major cigarette addiction....obsessiive.




Changing my diet, etc, is not going to cahnge my thought process.

You don't think it can help at all...I guess if your diet is good then it probably won't.


I used to drink about 2-3 32oz Dr. Peppers per day...it seriously fucked with my mood...I didn't realize it till I got off them. I don't even want to drink one anymore.



I had a lot of friends in college who were on antidepressants, and I could never understand why anybody would want to take a psychotropic medication, esp with all the sexual side effects and the tiredness that those pills cause. I also used to think that all psychological problems were cureble by changing youre lifestyle, relaxing etc.

I agree with what you said there...and I also agree that you can't cure all psychological problems by a lifestyle change...I mean some people have some seriously fucked up brain chemistry, through no fault of their own, and they do need medicine to deal with it.


But I think a great deal many people are going on the same path as the people with serious conditions, and they don't need to be, and a lot of the time they aren't getting good advice on the best way of dealing with that problem...a lot of times, they are getting a pill.



However, sometimes disorders become so bad that you are unable to function and make any needed changes. I don't think that medications are a caure (although they seem to be for some.) However, they allow you to feel better so that you can make those lyfestyle changes and progress onward with recovery.

I agree with that...especially if the people have conditions exacerbated by the anxiety like high blood pressure...




My stance basically comes from getting prescribed Paxil when I tried to quit smoking and freaked out a couple of years ago...


That shit was insane...I can't believe they give that stuff to people, complete with the warning that you may feel homocidal and kill your family or somthing in the first 48 hours you are on it...or something like that.



They also don't really tell you that you will get these enery jolts if you go off the stuff cold turkey...

I am pissed they put me on that stuff...I wasn't asking for it either.
They just gave me a pill...that I didn't really need.

[peewee's lovechild]

How did whott get two spurs?

[ShoogarBear]

How did whott get two spurs?For running all those game chats enjoyed by Spur fans everywhere.

[ShoogarBear]

My stance basically comes from getting prescribed Paxil when I tried to quit smoking and freaked out a couple of years ago...
That is a problem. I also agree things went way overboard with the ADD diagnosis and prescription of Ritalin a few years back.

The problem is that the diseases are much more difficult to diagnose with precision than say, diabetes or hypertension. And unlike the response to something like an antibiotic, the response (and side-effects) to the medications are equally difficult to predict.

[peewee's lovechild]

For running all those game chats enjoyed by Spur fans everywhere.

That's it??

Fuck, I'm going to start doing that.

[whottt]

I don't think you can easily dump mild anxiety/mood disorders and major anxiety/depression/psychoses into the same basket.

I agreee....


Nicotine addiction is verifiable biochemical phenomenon. That doesn't mean you need to combat it biochemically, but some people can overcome the craving easier than others. Just because one specific method works for you doesn't mean it will work for others.

I agree with that too.





The problem with Scientology is they claim THEY have the true answer and other people are selling snake oil, which is usually the first sign of a snake oil salesman. I also seriously doubt Scientologists would care to take on the problem of "curing" schizophrenia (because most of them don't have money; actually I'm surprised Tom Cruise hasn't tried to convert Ron Artest).

I agree about Scientology being wrong to claim they have all the answers...

I also think that some of what they do is potentially dangerous...

But I also think that some of what they do actually can help cure people...because it is based in hypnosis.





Psychiatry doesn't claims to have all the answers, but at least over the last 20-30 years they are trying to use hard scientific evidence to document how effective medications are (or aren't).


I've got no problems with Psychiatry...I don't agree with the scientology view that it's evil.

At the same time...I do think people are too quick to hand out a pill these days. A potentially addictive and harmful pill.


Awseome stuff when you break out the Doctors knowledge Shoogar, and appreciated :tu


I've been waiting for that :smokin


I will say this though...what happened to me over simple nicotine withdrawl was way more than minor...a great deal of it was my own doing and eating habits...but it was anything but minor. I literally went crazy just by trying to quit smoking cigs...from the anxiety caused by the nicotine withdrawl, how much sugar I was eating, and a lack of sleep.


Lack of sleep is some serious stuff....it can take you places you'd never think you'd go.


They gave me a pill for it...that I didn't really need...they probably knew the cokes were a big part of it(bigger than I would have agreed at that time) but they still gave me the pill anyway...

Why?

Because it was the easiest thing to do?

So I wouldn't sue them for failing to give me medicine(although I wasn't asking for it)?

That's what my problem is...they just gave me that damn pill...the worst drug I have ever taken in my life.

[whottt]

Logical fallacy: Incidence rates for diabetes are going up, too. Does that mean insulin doesn't work?



Ahah!


No...but it means our diet is part of the problem...that's my point.

Are we just getting more diabetes out of the blue? Or is it the foods we now eat?

Foods that hundreds of years ago required to much processing and expense to be commonly available...that now don't and are commonly available?


Basically...we are getting pills to enable us to do things we shouldn't be doing....and the pills aren't really taking away the reasons that we shouldn't be doing these things, just enabling us to do them more easily, and they are giving us side effects.


That's my point..

[whottt]

That is a problem. I also agree things went way overboard with the ADD diagnosis and prescription of Ritalin a few years back.

The problem is that the diseases are much more difficult to diagnose with precision than say, diabetes or hypertension. And unlike the response to something like an antibiotic, the response (and side-effects) to the medications are equally difficult to predict.


But isn't it true now that the first course of treatment is usually a pill...rather than the less dangerous treatments?

And if that is true, do you think that's wise?

[boutons_]

For all you literal Bible-thumpers, your buddy Rev Phelps/Westboro tells y'all how the Bible sees dearly departed Heath:

The Westboro Baptist Church's First Foray Into Celebrity Funeral Protest: Condemning Heath Ledger

Chez Pazienza

Posted January 23, 2008 | 06:33 PM (EST)


Never ones for subtlety, Fred Phelps and his merry band of lunatic minstrels at the Westboro Baptist Church are making sure their opinion of Heath Ledger -- or lack thereof -- won't be misconstrued by even the densest among us. It was pretty much a given that a guy who rose to critical acclaim playing a gay cowboy would draw the hyperbolic wrath of America's most vocal homophobes, but it's nevertheless shocking the speed with which Phelps and company have gingerly begun proclaiming Ledger's demise and, of course, descension into hell.

This morning, Phelps -- "Phelpsy" as I like to call him in those intimate moments -- rushed to circulation a bombastic press release announcing the intention of he and his traveling roadshow to protest at Ledger's funeral. Their message, as far as I can tell, is that God took time out of his busy schedule striking down average folks by the thousands in Kenya to teach America a lesson about the evils of homosexuality by offing the Joker. According to the press release: "God hates the sordid, tacky bucket of slime seasoned with vomit known as Brokeback Mountain, and he hates all persons having anything whatsoever to do with it." http://spurstalk.com/forums/images/smilies/smilol.gif

This is why God was passed over to fill in on Ebert & Roeper while Roger Ebert recovering from surgery -- even Rex Reed isn't as brutal when he doesn't like a movie.

For some time I've held fast to a rather unpopular, if not entirely outlandish opinion: I think Phelps and company are making this crap up. In fact, if it weren't for the fact that they've caused a lot of very real hurt to the families of fallen U.S. soldiers and the victims of assorted other tragedies, I'd probably be one of their biggest fans.

There's simply no way that this level of crazy can be for real.

The antics of the WBC have always been so completely over-the-top, so laugh-out-loud absurd, such a brilliantly ironic indictment of everything its more sophisticated brethren in the Fundamentalist Christian movement stands for that they can't possibly be anything other than Andy Kaufmanesque performance art at its most sublime. http://spurstalk.com/forums/images/smilies/smilol.gif

Watching America's garden variety intolerant jackasses stumble and stammer as if Darryl Revok somehow got inside their brains, trying to find a way to simultaneously shun Phelps's psychopathic hostility without dismissing the belief system behind it -- trying to kill only the messenger, as it were -- is just priceless. (If you're looking for a perfect example of this impossible tap-dance, check out the Phelps write-up in Conservapedia.com, in which he's cast as a tool of the Democrats -- as if the Westboro Baptists are so far to the Right that they've gone all the way around and come back on the Left.)

The reality of course -- and I'd love to believe that proving this is secretly their intention -- is that Crazy Fred and his acolytes are doing nothing more than what the Bible instructs. In an admittedly very sick sense, they're people of faith such as even the most ardent Sunday morning church goers will never be. In the same way that a suicide bomber is really little more than an absolute dogmatist -- a believer who has truly done as his sacred text demands by abandoning all rationality to his god -- Fred Phelps has just taken what the Bible itself says and ran with it.

If you've got an issue with him and his "church," then maybe it's time to evoke the sage words of that great religious philosopher, Ice-T: Don't hate the playa, hate the game.

Because Phelps damn sure isn't the only Fundamentalist Christian who called Heath Ledger a sodomite in the wake of "Brokeback Mountain," he's just the only one willing to take his righteous indignation to the next level.

For the record though, practical joke or not, the Westboro Baptists' first foray into the world of celebrity funeral protest should be interesting. They're going to be far away from their home turf and likely walking right into the San Fernando Valley of Death.

God help them.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chez-pazienza/the-westboro-baptist-chur_b_82956.html

[T Park]

I go to church and I disagree with him.

Step back from Bouton's head exploding.

[ShoogarBear]

But isn't it true now that the first course of treatment is usually a pill...rather than the less dangerous treatments? Yes, and no. Now this is out of my area of expertise, but I think that the medications are probably underprescribed in cases where they might be effective, but in other cases given out where they probably aren't necessary. Prescribing practices are also probably extremely variable: some physicians are much quicker on the trigger than others.

Some of it stems from the fact that psychiatry is even less of a science and more of an art than most other areas of medicine. There are numbers that tell you when your blood pressure or glucoses are too high, and you can know when medications are needed and how to track the effect on those numbers. It much more difficult to do that with everyday psychiatric problems.

[ShoogarBear]

Now, the Westboro Baptist Church is an example of a whole group of crazy people who probably could do with some mass medicating.

[CuckingFunt]

Now, the Westboro Baptist Church is an example of a whole group of crazy people who probably could do with some mass medicating.Since when has arsenic been considered a medication?

[ShoogarBear]

Ahah!


No...but it means our diet is part of the problem...that's my point.

Are we just getting more diabetes out of the blue? Or is it the foods we now eat? What you're pointing our it the difference between treating the symptoms of a disease versus treating its cause. The jump in type 2 diabetes is almost undoubtedly related to diet. But that doesn't mean the same situation exists for mental illnesses.

Take depression. Assuming there is more depression diagnosed now, is that because there is more depression, or because we're more sensitive to diagnosing it now? The latter is definitely true; I don't think anybody knows about the former. (There's some reported evidence that Abraham Lincoln was bipolar.)

It's in the same argumental ballpark as serial killers and child molestation (not that I'm trying to compare them to the depressed). Do you think there's "more" of it now because society is so different, or has it always been there to this extent and we're just more upfront about recognizing it? I think the latter argument is stronger.

[Johnny_Blaze_47]

I think allowing the WBC to spread their hatred allows the rest of us to see that they're so far out there.

[NASpurs]

Don't know if this has been posted already but check this out


http://www.bestweekever.tv/2008/01/23/when-is-a-makeshift-best-buy-tribute-to-heath-ledger-too-soon-the-answer-always/

[DisgruntledLionFan#54,927]

Don't know if this has been posted already but check this out


http://www.bestweekever.tv/2008/01/...-answer-always/

I love America!

[CuckingFunt]

Don't know if this has been posted already but check this out


http://www.bestweekever.tv/2008/01/23/when-is-a-makeshift-best-buy-tribute-to-heath-ledger-too-soon-the-answer-always/

That is capital-k Klassy.

[mrsmaalox]

Since when has arsenic been considered a medication?

I think starting now

[boutons_]

T_pork, my head's fine, thank you. Has your bloated gut exploded, yet?

Another one of your homophobic, conservative heroes being A Big Man with a Big Heart and Dyed Hair:

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/01/23/gibson-mocks-ledger/

[spurs_fan_in_exile]

Turns out the masseuse (however the hell you spell it) called Michelle Tanner before emergency personnel.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080124/ap_en_ot/ledger_s_final_moments

[mrsmaalox]

Turns out the masseuse (however the hell you spell it) called Michelle Tanner before emergency personnel.

The plot thickens!

[monosylab1k]

Don't know if this has been posted already but check this out


http://www.bestweekever.tv/2008/01/23/when-is-a-makeshift-best-buy-tribute-to-heath-ledger-too-soon-the-answer-always/
hey he was born on the same day as me, wow.

and if they really want to profit off the death of heath ledger, why in the hell is "Lords Of Dogtown" put front and center on that display?

[Fillmoe]

im gonna take a trip to westboro bapstist church and take a fat shit in the holy water

[Heath Ledger]

Howdy yall..

[Hemotivo]

hi Heath

[samikeyp]

im gonna take a trip to westboro bapstist church and take a fat shit in the holy water

nah...make it green apple splatters instead!

[degenerate_gambler]

Howdy yall..


how's that dirt nap going?

[CuckingFunt]

im gonna take a trip to westboro bapstist church and take a fat shit in the holy waterWhile I agree with your sentiment, I gotta admit to being genuinely shocked by your outrage considering the deeply, DEEPLY homophobic tone to so many of your posts.

[peewee's lovechild]

Heath will be banging Lindsey Lohan in the afterlife real soon.

[Ignignokt]

While I agree with your sentiment, I gotta admit to being genuinely shocked by your outrage considering the deeply, DEEPLY homophobic tone to so many of your posts.

dramaqueen.

[Evan]

:drunk

[Heath Ledger]

Do not be sad, I am in heaven.

[spursfan09]

I know you are. Now you should just go rest in peace.

[ShoogarBear]

http://images-srv.leonardo.it/progettiweb/electra/blog/nicholson%20joker%20bn3.jpg


Jack Nicholson...also didn't kill himself before premiering as the Joker.


No one is going to kill themselves when they just got done playing the Joker and the move has not even premiered...

It's just not done.Funny you should say that . . .

http://www.imdb.com/news/wenn/2008-01-24

Nicholson Warned Ledger About Joker Role

Jack Nicholson has hinted he warned tragic Heath Ledger against taking on the role of The Joker in the new Batman film. Ledger, 28 - who was declared dead at 3:30pm at his Manhattan apartment on Tuesday - publicly declared himself exhausted and sleep deprived in November following the grueling shoot for The Dark Knight. He also revealed in an interview with the New York Times he'd resorted to taking sleeping pills - an overdose of which is believed to be the cause of his death - in a desperate bid to catch up on rest. And Nicholson, who famously portrayed the menacing Joker in Tim Burton's 1989 movie Batman, implied to the waiting crowd outside plush London restaurant The Wolesley on Tuesday night he spoke to Ledger about his role in The Dark Knight - and warned him about the pitfalls of taking on such a demanding challenge. When asked by the London crowds for his reaction to Ledger's untimely demise, a defeated Nicholson simply replied, "I told him so." Batman Begins prequel The Dark Knight is due to be released in July.

[whottt]

I never said it wasn't a challenging role...that doesn't mean he killed himself. The fact that it is challenging is a reason he wouldn't have...


As for whether or not the role killed him...well, that's entirely possible.


He did however say it was his favorite role ever and the most fun he's ever had playing a character...it's on the youtube interview Shelly posted in this thread.

[Satan]

Do not be sad, I am in heaven.

Wake up and smell the ashes pretty boy.

[Jelly]

I never said it wasn't a challenging role...that doesn't mean he killed himself. The fact that it is challenging is a reason he wouldn't have...


As for whether or not the role killed him...well, that's entirely possible.


He did however say it was his favorite role ever and the most fun he's ever had playing a character...it's on the youtube interview Shelly posted in this thread.

Actors always say stuff like that about whatever role they just finished. I think this is most likely an accidental overdose but I wouldn't rule out suicide and no one else here can either. No one knows what was going on in his head and if he was truly in the grips of a suicidal depression I don't think an upcoming Batman movie would do much to snap him out of it. In fact, it might've just added to his anxiety. Maybe it overwhelmed him. Who knows.

[spursfan09]

When will we know or how will we know if it was accidental or not? I hope he didn't take his own life. :(

[Heath Ledger]

I didnt take my own life... I had a brain anyuuuuurrrism.

[Jelly]

When will we know or how will we know if it was accidental or not? I hope he didn't take his own life. :(

I think they said it would be ten days for the autopsy results. Either way, it's very sad.

(and even though they say he was most likely dead by the time the masseuse got there, I can't believe she (and that idiot Mary Kate Olsen) didn't know that the first call should be to 911 and not some body guards. )

[spursfan09]

I think they said it would be ten days for the autopsy results. Either way, it's very sad.

(and even though they say he was most likely dead by the time the masseuse got there, I can't believe she (and that idiot Mary Kate Olsen) didn't know that the first call should be to 911 and not some body guards. )

Yeah I don't understand why the first call would be to her and not to 911.

[Jelly]

Yeah I don't understand why the first call would be to her and not to 911.

The masseuse said she "didn't know what to do". A five year old knows what to do in that situation. And it isn't call some hollywood actress three times before you call 911. What a bimbo!

[white_angel]

Do not be sad, I am in heaven.

I believe you sweet Heath.

I am a fan of yours since I watch the movie The Patriot and it was devastating to know you are now gone.

For me. you will always stay as sweet as ever.
The actor. with so much love and compassion.
The actor for all seasons.


White_Angel

BTW: When I was typing this and review it.. the word LOVE turned into MOVE.

[spursfan09]

Anybody hear about his drug tape from 2006. It should be released today and they say it will give us an inside view into his world of drugs. I saw clips and you can see him, and hear him talking about his daughter. It's really sad. I never knew he had a drug problem

[ATRAIN]

so when will they know the cause of death?

[florige]

so when will they know the cause of death?



I'm leaning towards Heart Attack.

[peewee's lovechild]

I think Mary Kate Olsen gave him the deadliest of all blow jobs.

[ATRAIN]

I think Mary Kate Olsen gave him the deadliest of all blow jobs.


LOL wow I wonder what that is like

[atxrocker]

Here are the drugs found in Heath Ledger's body:

• Oxycodone -- narcotic/pain killer; trade names: OxyContin, Percodan
• Hydrocodone -- narcotic/pain killer; trade name (combined with acetaminophen): Vicodin
• Diazepam -- anti-anxiety drug; trade name: Valium
• Alprazolam -- anti-anxiety drug; trade name: Xanax
• Doxylamine -- sleep medication; trade name: Unisom
• Temazepam -- sleep medication; trade name: Restoril

The combination of drugs could cause the brain and brain stem to "fall asleep," halting heart and lung function.


http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/Movies/02/06/heath.ledger/index.html

yeah guys... real smart move mixing all those pills

[atxrocker]

i guess i'm having trouble understanding how the term accident is being used here. so if you're a college kid who drinks too much alcohol and dies of alcohol poisoning, is that an accident too? you made the decision to continue drinking but didn't intend for it to kill you. is this a fair comparison?

[spursfan09]

I don't think he meant to kill himself, but how can you not realize what you are doing by taking all those pills? I mean was it all pretty much taken at the same time?

[Fillmoe]

just cause they were found in his system doesn't mean he took them all at the same time....

[peewee's lovechild]

I still think this is all one huge, elaborate scheme to promote TDK.

[johnsmith]

I still think this is all one huge, elaborate scheme to promote TDK.


That would be the coolest thing ever, ever.

[CuckingFunt]

i guess i'm having trouble understanding how the term accident is being used here. so if you're a college kid who drinks too much alcohol and dies of alcohol poisoning, is that an accident too? you made the decision to continue drinking but didn't intend for it to kill you. is this a fair comparison?Firstly:


just cause they were found in his system doesn't mean he took them all at the same time....
Secondly, there are tons of accidents every day that are caused by people being dumbasses and not thinking through the consequences of their own actions, but they're still accidents. Intent is pretty much the key in determining whether or not something was accidental.

[atxrocker]

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e186/atxrocker/45041518.jpg

[J.T.]

i guess i'm having trouble understanding how the term accident is being used here. so if you're a college kid who drinks too much alcohol and dies of alcohol poisoning, is that an accident too? you made the decision to continue drinking but didn't intend for it to kill you. is this a fair comparison?

I haven't read anything on the Ledger death since the news broke last week, but most pills take 3-4 days to pass through the body and be undetectable in your blood. So I could take some xanax right now and die of a coke overdose on Saturday and they'd find xanax and coke in my system. It doesn't mean he took all those at the same time, he could have been mixing the drugs to see if a combination of them could ease his sleeping problems.

It's not that I don't agree with you, I think he was stupid with all the pills he took, but there's no way of really knowing what he did. But six, seven months ago you could check my blood on any given day and probably find traces of alcohol, xanax, cocaine, LSD, and tobacco on any given day. Doesn't mean I did all that shit at the same time.

[Kori Ellis]

Here are the drugs found in Heath Ledger's body:

• Oxycodone -- narcotic/pain killer; trade names: OxyContin, Percodan
• Hydrocodone -- narcotic/pain killer; trade name (combined with acetaminophen): Vicodin
• Diazepam -- anti-anxiety drug; trade name: Valium
• Alprazolam -- anti-anxiety drug; trade name: Xanax
• Doxylamine -- sleep medication; trade name: Unisom
• Temazepam -- sleep medication; trade name: Restoril

The combination of drugs could cause the brain and brain stem to "fall asleep," halting heart and lung function.


http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/Movies/02/06/heath.ledger/index.html

yeah guys... real smart move mixing all those pills

People keep saying in this thread things like "maybe he didn't take them all at the same time." Well, he most likely took them in the general timeframe of each other.

An autopsy isn't the same as a standard blood test that just shows what drugs are in your system. Through tissue samples, they can tell whether he took them in a relatively close proximity to each other.

I've stayed clear of the whole Heath Ledger thread because I knew someone very well who died very similarly at the age of 37 from almost the same combination of drugs ... vicodin, valium, xanax, unisom and something else. He sat down on the edge of his bed one night laid back and died. His heart expanded and he died. Autopsy was inclusive, but I was around him right up to his death and saw how much much and what combination of drugs he was taking.

A lot of people in L.A. that I knew mixed heavy painkillers and anxiety/depression meds. It's scary that they can get so many different pills from "legit" doctors. Sad.

Condolences to the Ledger family.

[boutons_]

BigPharma and the doctors have USA $$eating from the palms of their hands, like trained squirrels. 10s of millions of people, having been sold pills with $60B/year BigPharma marketing, can't imagine life with pills, so for their entire dependent lives, they pump 100s of $Bs into Big Pharma with the docs taking their %age. Pills have replaced tobacco as the big USA money spinner for the corps, now that the tobacco companies have taken their murderous marketing and products to less developed countries and ignorant populations.

Of course, the corps and the docs are completely legally innocent of Ledger's and 1000s/year of other deaths due to drug interactions.

[bigzak25]

that sucks. a beer a joint and a tylenol pm is all the brutha really needed.