Heath Ledger's cause of death released

**DoveFeatheredRaven** · February 6th, 2008, 05:16 PM

oxycodone, hydrocodone, diazepam

I have been prescribed these when I had knee surgery or by my dentist after oral surgery or a tooth pull. They really didn't do a thing for me. I never felt like they were effective for pain. Wonder why he had them? Were they prescribed or illegal?

I mean, hell, I have to sign forms to buy Advil Cold and Sinus at the pharmacy in Target. How could he have gotten all of that legally?! Aren't there pharmacy databases for those drugs?

**CherryDarling** · February 6th, 2008, 05:17 PM

So Heath was a pillhead a la Anna Nicole. Sad. RIP.

**Shuisfan1234** · February 6th, 2008, 05:18 PM

Originally Posted by queenb3577

Oxycodone is generic name for percocet. Not Oxycontin..Hydrocodone is the generic name for Vicodin.

Oxycodone is the generic name for Oxycontin. Trust me. I was prescibed them for a period, and I had the generics and the real ones. Percocet is nothing. Vicodion and Norco is 10 times stronger then those.

DitaPage* · February 6th, 2008, 05:19 PM

Well junkies end up needing drugs to function, sounds like he had his hands on everything.

**cheray** · February 6th, 2008, 05:24 PM

Originally Posted by Voodoo Child

Oxycodone - Oxycodone is in a group of drugs called narcotic pain relievers. Prescribed for chronic pain. It is similar to morphine. - Habit forming Opiate

Hydrocodone - Marketed as Vicodin and used to relieve moderate to severe pain. It is an opiate and can be used as an anti-cough agent. It is about six times as strong as codeine and comparable to morphine in potency. Habit forming Opiate

Diazepam - (Valium) Diazepam is used to relieve anxiety, nervousness, and tension associated with anxiety disorders. - Habit forming. Benzo

Temazpam - Short term insomnia treatment . Helps you to fall asleep and stay asleep during the night. Habit forming Benzo

Alprazolam - (Xanax) Treats anxiety and panic attacks and depression. This medication can cause birth defects in unborn babies. Avoid using other medications to make you sleepy whilst on Alprazolam. Habit forming Benzo

Doxylamine - (hydrocodone)an antihistamine, causes drowsiness as a side effect and is used in the short-term treatment of insomnia. Is known to be habit forming.

Wow that is a lot of benzos being mixed and it appears that he was doubling up on most of them i.e the doxylamine which is the same as hydrocodone. There is so much info out there about these drugs/their effects and mixing them up etc. HTML]How he couldn't sleep on all of those downers is a bloody wonder?[ [/HTML] He had to have been doctor shopping because most of these drugs have exactly the same effect and doubling up is what most likely would of caused an overdose.
Also if he tried to stop any of them abruptly, that would of caused all sorts of unplesant withdrawals.

And I am sorry but his Father's statement saying that there was no excess is just rubbish. People are not silly. It was definately excess that killed him.

Oh he got to sleep all right.

**Voodoo Child** · February 6th, 2008, 05:25 PM

Yeah in the end he sure did.

**Bellatheball** · February 6th, 2008, 05:28 PM

Originally Posted by Shuisfan1234

Oxycodone is the generic name for Oxycontin. Trust me. I was prescibed them for a period, and I had the generics and the real ones. Percocet is nothing. Vicodion and Norco is 10 times stronger then those.

Actually, Percocet (oxycodone/APAP) and OxyContin both have oxycodone in them. However, OxyContin is the sustained release formula and tends to be much more addictive...not always, but usually.

Hydrocodone/APAP is the generic version of Vicodin or Lortab or Norco. It's not necessarily true that one is stronger than the other. It completely depends on the strength your doctor prescribes for you. Also, in general, Vicodin is thought to be a rung down from Percoet on the narcotic ladder. However, everyone's physiology is different and one may work better for you than the other. To say that one or the other is ten times stronger isn't correct, not in the usual doses.

**Sarzy** · February 6th, 2008, 05:35 PM

I'm so glad most people on here don't have the deluded idea that he was never a junkie. On another site I visit everyone is saying these results prove he wasn't a druggie and that he obviously needed all the drugs for various medical conditions. Argh!

DitaPage* · February 6th, 2008, 06:06 PM

I don't think he was any more of a junkie than most of Hollywood; unfortunately he couldn't handle it. People use drugs for years and it doesn't harm them - not in an obvious way. But its still likely that he knew exactly what he was doing. But if he wasn't in the right frame of mind, he probably just shoved them down hoping to be knocked out. Who knows. His father is abit stupid though for saying 'these medications are dangerous, even in low dosages'. It wasn't a LOW dosage.

And the rolled up twenty dollar note BESIDE the body, ugh, what does that tell everyone?

**AliceInWonderland** · February 6th, 2008, 06:26 PM

Originally Posted by CherryDarling

So Heath was a pillhead a la Anna Nicole. Sad. RIP.

yep exactly, but even that trainwreck had 11 years on him!

*DIVA! · February 6th, 2008, 06:43 PM

Originally Posted by sputnik

maybe it's just me but the drug usage doesn't really make me think less of him or find his death any less sad.

Nope it's me also...
Maybe I am a bit naive, but I don't think he was a serious pill head like Anna!

**DoveFeatheredRaven** · February 6th, 2008, 06:53 PM

Originally Posted by SSDiva

Nope it's me also...
Maybe I am a bit naive, but I don't think he was a serious pill head like Anna!

That or he had people around him who didn't base a television show on a "high" him. Anna just didn't have good people around her to protect her projected image. He just didn't have anyone keeping an eye on him.

**Hazeleyed_Honey** · February 6th, 2008, 07:01 PM

How does him using all these pills prove he was a junkie?Well he maybe was a junkie in the past, but it does mean at the time of death he was an illegal drugs junkie. Well, it seems like he was a prescribed pills junkie.

I just think he was really overworked, tired, and worn out and out of frustration, he found that nothing was treating his insomnia, anxiety, and pneumonia, so he took all of that. Simple as that.

If it was coke or heroin in his system, they would have mentioned it for sure.

**DoveFeatheredRaven** · February 6th, 2008, 07:06 PM

I would think having all those pills does prove he was a junkie. Most people don't mix all of those or have access to all of those.

**Hazeleyed_Honey** · February 6th, 2008, 07:14 PM

Originally Posted by DoveFeatheredRaven

I would think having all those pills does prove he was a junkie. Most people don't mix all of those or have access to all of those.

Ok, I agree it can be said at the time of his death he was a prescribed pills addict. That is for sure.

Most people would not mix that crazy amount of pills, but some do, and unfortunately, it leads to their death. You can still be a prescribed pill junkie, and cave in to accidental overdose, without having had a history of using illegal drugs. As in Heath's case, he was probably an illegal drug user for some time, but at the time of his death, I do not think he was. I do think he was addicted to prescribed pills though, which led to his tragic accidental death.