Heath Ledger Dead

[John Reynolds]

im surprised it wasnt aids after all that funny business up that mountain

Yes, because as actors they insisted on not just simulating sex in that pup tent but actually having sex. Jake insisted on a bonus due to the 'position' of his character's role in the film, though, while Heath insisted on mutliple retakes. Go figure.

It's depressing watching so many people invoke Brokeback in a negative way concerning a talented 28yo actor's death. And the Westboro nutcases are supposedly going to attempt to picket his funeral and have already issued statements that he's burning in hell. Very nice.

 

[NVNDA]

Very Sad. But he was in the process of filming a Terry Gilliam movie... so anything goes with his bad luck.

Just really shocking to think he is dead. From the outside it appeared he had everything going for him...

 

[zed]

Heath insisted on mutliple retakes. Go figure.

did he now, the perfectionist
ild wish he'ld spent more time working on removing his ozzie accent in the film (same advice to russel crowe, nicole kidman et al (btw both won oscars for ozzie accented roles, go figure ))

But he was in the process of filming a Terry Gilliam movie

bummer

 

[Ty]

Accidental reactions to some other medicine is a posibility. But if he was seen 3 hours prior, I don't know how quickly pneumonia takes to kill. But I imagine he wasn't seen with late stage symptoms or it would have raised alarms and the police would have commented on it, instead of simply saying he was seen alive 3 hours prior and assuming suicide.

It is likely that he showed no serious symptoms yesterday either. Again we'd need an expert on this but I don't think pneumonia goes deadly suddenly in 2-3 hours with little symptoms preceding it.

Also the pills are said to be sleeping pills not something else. Again why else take these mid day?

Another thing why would he be surrounded by pills? You normally don't see that when people take it normally.

For the pneumonia scenario to make sense given the evidence, we have to imagine he was taking sleeping pills for some other reason, and died while opening the bottle thus dropping it and leaving the pills around.

I'm guessing that the pneumonia made it somewhat difficult to breathe. Then you add in other depressants and volia, the body stops breathing on its own.

 

[Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.]

Accidental overdose:

Heath Ledger's cause of death has been ruled as an accidental overdose by the NYC medical examiner. The office issued this statement:

"Mr. Heath Ledger died as the result of acute intoxication by the combined effects of oxycodone, hydrocodone, diazepam, temazepam, alprazolam, and doxylamine. We have concluded that the manner of death is accident, resulting from the abuse of prescription medications."

Taking all those painkillers and sleeping pills together wouldn't seem like the best idea in the world.

 

[ShaidarHaran]

How do you "accidentally" overdose on 6 different kinds of medication?

 

[Mize]

I don't think he overdosed on all six - just a deadly combination of six. Valium, Xanax, two pain killers, two types of sleeping pills. Shit. At least he was in no pain.

 

[suryad]

That is sos sad when people have to turn to drugs to get their little bit of peace. All he wanted to do was just get some shuteye.

 

[Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.]

How do you "accidentally" overdose on 6 different kinds of medication?

Drugs can interact with each other and cause unwanted side effects, different people can react differently to the same drug, he might have taken a dosage, then forgotten he took it and take it again, etc. It's possible he was on one drug for his sleeping, and then got sick and got put on a different drug for the pneumonia without being told he should stop taking the first one, etc.

There's all sorts of ways things can go wrong when mixing this many medications unless you're very careful indeed. I'm sure any competent doctor wouldn't have had him on all these drugs at once.

 

[ShaidarHaran]

Drugs can interact with each other and cause unwanted side effects, different people can react differently to the same drug, he might have taken a dosage, then forgotten he took it and take it again, etc. It's possible he was on one drug for his sleeping, and then got sick and got put on a different drug for the pneumonia without being told he should stop taking the first one, etc.

There's all sorts of ways things can go wrong when mixing this many medications unless you're very careful indeed. I'm sure any competent doctor wouldn't have had him on all these drugs at once.

I get that. My point is: how do you "accidentally" take 6 different medications at once?

 

[Npl]

I get that. My point is: how do you "accidentally" take 6 different medications at once?

keep your pills between Jelly Beans?

 

[Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.]

I get that. My point is: how do you "accidentally" take 6 different medications at once?

He probably took them over a period of a couple of days. They were prescription medications, so he was (at one time or another) told he should be taking them by his doctor(s), but probably not all together. When you're not sleeping, exhausted, sick and jetlagged (as Ledger evidently was), you make mistakes, lose track of time, what you've taken and when you've taken it, and make errors of judgement about what you should be taking at all.

It's quite possible that he was taking "safe" dosages (there was no indication in the autopsy that he had excess of these drugs singly in his system), but all together they killed him, especially if he was sick with pneumonia.

There is actually a medical term for drugs that are safe when taken separately, but when taken together cause harm, I think it's "drug synergy". There are so many things that can affect how a drug works and metabolises inside a person, but other drugs can be one of the big affecting factors.

For instance, there are two main types of sleeping pills (IIRC sedatives and hypnotics). Those to get you to go to sleep, and those to keep you asleep. You're not really supposed to take both together, and they can have a half-life in the body of over 100 hours (eg diazipam). Side effects could make your forgetful so you take too many, and wake up feeling just as bad as if you hadn't slept at all, so you take more of them, etc. If you're taking them together, you've got double the dosage working on the same mechanisms of your body, then you're taking more of them because you're not being careful enough to track your usage, then they are leaving you feeling exhausted and irritated as if you haven't slept at all regardless of the medications you took.

A person gets off-kilter and screws up. Takes too many pills in the space of a few days, mixes medications they shouldn't mix, gets pneumonia that makes them weaker than they normally would be, and one day never wakes up.

 

[digitalwanderer]

My wife (a pharmacist) busted out laughing when she read what he was on, most pharmacists would have mentioned to him not to take them all together.

She wasn't evil laughing, more like total disbelief.

 

[vazel]

I'm glad it wasn't him being a wussy with suicide. No matter the pressure he must've felt, with the girls he's had and his money and fame others would kill for so I found it pathetic and ungrateful when I read it was suicide.

 

[MulciberXP]

...

 

[Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.]

It would be pretty unfair calling him a "wussy" because he committed suicide. It's impossible to know for sure, but I doubt anyone is in their right mind if they actually succeed in killing themselves.

Anyway, I should probably let a buddy of mine see this article, if he hasn't already. He has anxiety and insomnia. Last week he took 2 different sleep pills and an anti-anxiety just to get to sleep. Maybe he should start thinking about a more holistic approach.

If you are taking long term meds, you should make sure your doctor knows about what else you are taking when he prescribes something (especially if you see a doctor from a number of doctors at the same practice, ie you don't always see the same doctor).

You should also get the meds regularly reviewed. Better options may become available, or other drugs may interact.

You should also make sure you read up the leaflets and understand what your meds are supposed to do, how you are to take them, and what side effects you may get or may need to get tested for.

For instance, I'm currently taking some antibiotics for an eye infection. It puts pressure on my liver function, and I'm supposed to get that checked if I was still taking it after several months. I'm not supposed to take any iron-supplements or vitamin tablets with iron because they put additional pressure on the liver. That also means I shouldn't take anything with paracetamol, or even go too overboard with protein or red meat. If I didn't know this and took the wrong cold/flu medications when sick, or my liver function wasn't good, I could do myself some serious damage. Yet how many people even bother to read those leaflets in the medication?

Fact is, every drug has possible side effects, some of them pretty awful if you're unlucky. Open up any drug formulary, and the list of side-effects can be as long as the entry for the drug itself. Start mixing multiple drugs, and problems can ensue, so you need to be aware.

 

[Mariner]

I wonder, does this entitle Ledger to a Darwin Award nomination? Taking multiple tranquilisers, painkillers and sleeping pills seems to be the height of stupidity to me.

Saying that, I've heard the stories about the various Doctors employed by the studios who hand out pills like they're going out of fashion. Faced with that, I'm sure some people don't think twice about popping uppers/downers/whatever when they think they need them.

 

[suryad]

I think the poor guy just wanted to sleep real bad...deep sleep...the one that refreshes you. He attempted to just knock himself out thats all. I dont believe it was his intention to commit suicide. Most unfortunate indeed.