Prescription to kill?

I just completed an interesting article in "Newsweek." The publication has obtained the name of all the prescription medications found in the loft bedroom of late actor, Heath Ledger.....it's not good. The list includes Zopiclone, Diazepam, Lormetazepam, Temazepam, Alprazolam (Xanax) and Donormyl-doxylamine. Everything is speculation until toxicology reports come back, but no individual should have had the arsenal of sleep aides and anti - anxiety meds that Ledger had at his disposal.

I have a hands on history with all of the medications listed above and I can assure you that anything ending in "lam or pam" is not your friend. Benzodiazapens (most of the meds listed above, I'll call them benzos) are tricky little medications and highly addictive.

Every interview seems to indicate the actor was having trouble sleeping. He made remarks of only getting two hours of sleep a night and could not stop his mind from thinking (or turning it off.) All of this sounds familiar and the end result well may be just a terrible accident.

When an individual is "rapid - cycling" and cannot sleep or wind down, benzos are the first line of defense for most doctors. When you feel relief after taking the meds it's easy to get hooked. There is a certain euphoria one feels after the medication takes effect: you can breathe again, your chest feels normal and your head clears paving the way to calm. Sounds good? Wrong. The drugs are simply putting you in a depressed state to disengage your speeding engine of a brain.

These medications are what I call "band - aid" drugs masking symptoms of a much larger problem. Sure, one may feel good now, but soon will grow impatient as they begin to develop a tolerance and "the happy place" becomes more elusive only prompting the patient to increase the dosage. If relief still doesn't come fast enough, the patient may turn to another drug take it as well or take more of the original drug. See where I'm going with this. I know, I've been there.

It was not uncommon for me that once relaxed, I'd take more of the drug in an effort to keep me calm. I hope you never have to feel the chest - pounding heartbeat, 20 thoughts racing through your head, "I'm going crazy" kind of feelings I did, but if you would you'll take anything to make it stop. That's how awful it feels.

Benzos are by far the most over prescribed medications out there. We all have stress in our everyday lives it's in coping that one must find a solution. The solution is not in a pill, but in a life - style change. Have a "heart to heart" with your doc before going down the benzo path. If you are a drinker, mixing these drugs with any alcohol is out of the question. No exceptions.

From all indications, Ledger may have taken just the right amount, the right mixture to get him asleep, but tragically to the threshold to which there was no waking up.