All Things Heath Ledger - Thread No. 2

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jilly said:
That's correct. Walking pneumonia as I recall. My daughter has this right now and she's on penicillun.
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I hope that your daughter recovers soon! I had walking pneumonia, and it took months for me to regain strength and health. The doctor kept switching up antibiotics to get one that would work. After that, I have gone to the doctor right away when I get sick with a cough and mucus. It is my understanding that you first get acute broncitis which turns into acute sinusitus which turns into walking pneumonia...or, at least, that's what happened to me. :( I kept thinking that my body would heal itself. It never did. Thank goodness for antibiotics!
 
dbmthur-Thanks for that quote. I wonder if they were able to percentage the drugs in his system, I know that can be requested from a toxicologist in some instances.
 
Wow. The combination of these drugs would kill any of us.
The Xanax, Valium and Resoril are all sedatives, and taken together could put someone into a comatose state!
This is so so sad.
I believe Heath was dealing with much despair and sadness. I'm not saying he meant to kill himself, I just believe he wanted to numb himself of the hurting, whatever that may be.
So very sad. A beautiful young man with so much and he didn't even realize it.
 
Dark Knight said:
The AP writer corrected herself, but didn't mention Vicodin by name:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080206/ap_on_en_mo/heath_ledger
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Thanks for the link. Yikes! He took a lot of medication. I guess celebrities can find doctors (think Anna Nicole Smith) who will presribe a variety of medicine. I know that my doctor wouldn't give me any of these drugs...well, maybe, a 10-day supply for Ambien...but that's about it... :o

The article says that Heath died from a comination of prescription drugs. The ME would not state what levels were in his body. I don't know why, though.

The drugs were...the painkiller OxyContin, the anti-anxiety drugs Valium and Xanax, and the sleep aids Restoril and Unisom.
 
jilly said:
That's correct. Walking pneumonia as I recall. My daughter has this right now and she's on penicillun.
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jilly, I am sorry to hear your daughter is ill. :blowkiss:

I'm glad she has you to make sure she takes all of her antibiotics, and gets plenty of rest and fluids.

You take care of you, jilly!
 
believe09 said:
It is no wonder of course that he passed...the guy must have been desperate for relief. I wonder if they were prescribed by the same physician??
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Who knows what's true, but I did hear someplace that he had seen a doctor in another country before returning to New York.
 
The NYPD found five medications in Ledger's apartment after his death, including anti-anxiety medications alprazolam (Xanax), diazepam (Valium) and Lorazepam (Ativan). The sleeping medication zopiclone (Lunesta) and the sedative temazepam (Restoril) -- which is used by people with "debilitating insomnia" -- were also found. Doxylamine is an antihistamine used in the short-term treatment of insomnia.


www.tmz.com
 
nanandjim said:
I hope that your daughter recovers soon! I had walking pneumonia, and it took months for me to regain strength and health. The doctor kept switchining up antibiotics to get one that would work. After that, I have gone to the doctor right away when I get sick with a cough and mucus. It is my understanding that you first get acute broncitis which turns into acute sinisitus which turns into walking pneumonia...or, at least, that's what happened to me. :( I kept thinking that my body would heal itself. It never did. Thank goodness for antibiotics!
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Thanks Nan. That's exactly what happened to her. She seems to be improving but she continues to burn the candle at both ends with college and work. Too busy to rest.:doh:
 
I think he was just completely physically and emotionally drained. He hadn't been sleeping and needed to sleep. Alot of times when you haven't had enough sleep you do things that you wouldn't normally do. He could have forgotten what he had taken and when, and ended up taking more. Or maybe something wasn't working so he thought something else would. Whatever the case, he was an awesome actor and will be greatly missed! I know he was one of my favorites!
 
sweetmop said:
Wow. The combination of these drugs would kill any of us.
The Xanax, Valium and Resoril are all sedatives, and taken together could put someone into a comatose state!
This is so so sad.
I believe Heath was dealing with much despair and sadness. I'm not saying he meant to kill himself, I just believe he wanted to numb himself of the hurting, whatever that may be.
So very sad. A beautiful young man with so much and he didn't even realize it.
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I agree plus trying to get some sleep. He was jetting all over the world in the last couple of months. With all that jet lag and then he ends up in London filming at night time. Walking pneumonia on top of it - his body was so run down.
 
I don't understand something when someone is taking multiple prescriptions. Don't doctors check with their patients when asking them what types of meds they are currently taking (if they are writing a new prescription) just in case there are drugs that shouldn't be taken if you are on a particular other prescription? Or do the patients just not tell them what else they are taking?
 
Oxycodone is different from hydrocodone, though they are both narcotic painkillers and opiates. Hydrocodone (Vicodin, Lortab, etc..) is a little less potent than oxycodone (percocet, Oxycontin). Also - 3+ anti-anxiety meds. This is all excessive, IMHO. It may well have been prescribed - I don't doubt that Heath Ledger could have gotten a script for anything he wanted - but that's a lot of different types of opiates and benzos for one person to be taking.

I think Heath had addiction issues and those, coupled with his compromised health, led to an accidental OD.
 
kk's mom said:
I don't understand something when someone is taking multiple prescriptions. Don't doctors check with their patients when asking them what types of meds they are currently taking (if they are writing a new prescription) just in case there are drugs that shouldn't be taken if you are on a particular other prescription? Or do the patients just not tell them what else they are taking?
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You would think with the pharms all linked this would have shown up when the script was filled, at the very least. On the other hand, I had a friend injure herself in Scotland while on vacation. She was given muscle relaxants and pain killers for a few days by a doctor at a clinic. There were no questions at the pharm there that she recalls. I don't think they are linked to our networks, anyhow. It's like the burden is on the patient to keep it all organized.
 
panglossian said:
You would think with the pharms all linked this would have shown up when the script was filled, at the very least. On the other hand, I had a friend injure herself in Scotland while on vacation. She was given muscle relaxants and pain killers for a few days by a doctor at a clinic. There were no questions at the pharm there that she recalls. I don't think they are linked to our networks, anyhow. It's like the burden is on the patient to keep it all organized.
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Wow, scary! I always try to remember to at least tell the pharmacist, "I'm on this med, can I take this (new med) with it?". Something like that. Yikes, I'm always afraid if I take Tylenol or Advil with a antibiotic, it's going to cause some horrible reaction..............I feel bad for Heath. I wonder with the fact that he had been so tired, that he just didn't think when combining all of these drugs.....poor guy....
 
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