Letters to the Editor
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KitchenGirl...
Thank you.
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on taking prescription meds
It's not exactly rocket science. The doctor tells you what to avoid while you take them. When you get the bottle, there are many pretty stickers and warnings, at least on the ones I take. They warn against everything from taking alcohol to driving until you are used to the med. Unless you are lazy or illiterate, there's no excuse for not paying attention and following them to the letter. When you don't, when you think you're the great exception, that's when accidents happen. Also, you can read the little package insert that comes in the pharmacy bag or read the extended list of warnings just by logging on to the Internet. You can read articles to educate yourself about your meds, and you can get feedback from people who have taken them, both online and off. Some do more research when purchasing a car or a power tool.
I just don't buy that all drug overdoses are the fault of the big bad pharmaceutical company. They may not warn you of everything, but it's your fault if you don't pay attention to the info. they do provide. You shouldn't just mindlessly pop whatever someone prescribes for you. It's called being an educated consumer.
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Drug interactions
Drug instructions are pretty clear; drug *interactions* are tough to spot, they're not always listed on the package insert, and the print is so freaking tiny that even if they're there, they're impossible to read. I'm not talking about "may cause drowsiness" with antihistamines, but "will cause internal bleeding" with coumadin and prozac.
Additionally, if you get medications from multiple physicians (i.e. a GP and a specialist) they might not know what other meds you're on. If they ask you to fill out a form, they might not read it or enter it into their electronic system (which is designed to catch drug/drug interactions) until *after* they've written you a prescription for a new drug.
Also, and fundamentally, when they say that a drug "caused adverse reactions in 1% of test patients" consider that *you* might be in that 1%. Body chemistry is mostly predictable, but not 100%. Some people just react very badly to drugs or drug combinations.
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Kitchengirl
Thanks again.
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Ledger's "Spiral" Not Covered by TMZ
I've seen three Ledger movies: "Ten Things I Hate About You," "Monster's Ball" and "Brokeback Mountain." I thought he was good in all of them. I, too, was surprised to hear of his death.
I find it especially sad that his death has played right into the "death watches" that have been promoted ever since the death of Ann Nicole Smith on sites such as TMZ and EOnline. Just a couple of days ago, there was a rumor that the AP was preparing an obituary of Britney Spears. I don't remember if they actually fessed up to it, but one representative said that predicting death was a hard game to play. As an example, he asked who would have anticipated John Denver dying before Keith Richards?
So a news flash comes on the news. A young star is dead. Oh, was it Britney, Lohan, Winehouse? No, it was Heath Ledger! Really? He wasn't even in the betting pool! So, yes, the media is batting 0 in predicting Democratic primary winners and death.
The one aspect to Ledger's story that hits on a personal level is his apparent desperation to cure his insomnia. I can relate. For the past two years I have tried nightcaps, long soaks in the tub, reading, melatonin, and finally a prescription for Ambien. But the co-pay was too much, so I opted for melatonin, which seems to be working for the time being and is very affordable.
I'm really hoping the poor guy didn't do anything reckless and take too many of his prescription pills, but then again, I understand the utter frustration of not being able to sleep, not even for an hour.
And like Forrest Gump, that's all I have to say about that until the toxicology report is made public.
So rest in peace, Heath Ledger, Suzanne Pleshette, Brian Renfro, the thousands dying in the Congo, and many others dying unknown, and relatively unmourned.
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Sometimes people make mistakes when they're sick.
Unless you are lazy or illiterate, there's no excuse for not paying attention and following them to the letter
His family says he's been really sick, and we know he hadn't been sleeping well from his own statements. When people are sick and tired, believe it or not sometimes they make mistakes.
Whoda thunk it?
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Agreed........
.........the last sequence of 'Brokeback Mountain", with Ennis' now grownup daughter coming to tell him of her upcoming marriage, is truly remarkable - both funny and heartbreaking. One of the best ever. When I come across the end of the movie on HBO I always take a moment to sit down and watch it again. Powerful,..... and the score...............
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He was different
I think what has hit me the hardest about Ledger's death is the loss of potential. From the performances I have seen from him, and the reviews he was getting for Dark Knight *before* his death put a spotlight on that role, I just know he had so much more to offer us down the road.
What lifted him above mediocrity for me was the range of characters he had already played at his young age. I can think of no male actor more talented in the under 30 crowd with the exception of Jake Gyllenhaal, and it is without question their performances in Brokeback Mountain that set them above the rest. When other actors their age are doing mostly romantic comedies, potty-humor tripe or action flicks - usually safe and predictable roles - Ledger and Gyllenhaal chose roles that made them work hard to convince us. Ledger crossed decades in his turn as Ennis Del Mar and was as believable as a middle-aged closeted gay man as he was as a high school hottie in "10 Things..."
I mourn the loss of not only a talented actor and loving father, but also the loss of the compelling characters he would have undoubtably shared with me in the years to come.
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Here, in Australia...
...the media never stops reporting on him, and dissecting him from head to toe. At the end of each news program, mind you, there's a brief, respectful tribute to Heath, which is touching actually, as if everyone here (although no one ever says so aloud) feel they've lost someone special. He was one of us, after all--an Aussie. There's none of the induced hysteria that accompanied Steve Irwin's passing (which is a relief). Heath Ledger was quiet, intense, and shy not flashy and exuberant like Irwin; he pursued acting the way others go into medicine: he took it very seriously, and worked at it (it was never a frivolous activity for him--a game; but neither was he pretentious about his profession, the way say Russell Crowe can be: the latter behaves as if acting were on the same level as Einstein discovering the theory of Relativity. It's obvious fame has gone to Crowe's head. The same, however, cannot be said for Heath, who was pretty level headed). No; I don't believe he killed himself or that his death is due to his being a "troubled soul". What sentimental bullshit, really. I think the more he couldn't sleep, or rest, the more he relied on other methods to achieve that state for him. The massage was probably another tool for reaching a relaxed, drowsy state along with his vast armamentarium of legit pharmacopoeia. (Some antihistamines, which were reported to have been in his possession, can also cause drowsiness and have been known to be used to aid sleep). Why he collapsed and lost his life is something only a postmortem undertaken by a pathologist can ascertain. He is said to have been having respiratory problems (pneumonia?)in which case Ambien (or Stilnox, as they're known in Australia) can actually depress breathing if your lungs are affected in any way. Or they can produce extreme sedation in some instances due to drug interference. Whatever the case, we all know that a vicious circle can develop when taking them as tolerance to them occurs and they lose their effectiveness, which in turn prompts the insomniac to take more of them. Besides, they don't really make you 'sleep' (that is, assume the natural patterns of sleep); they sedate and tranquilize, giving you a hangover effect the next day. My chihuahua, who suffered from hepatic encephalopathy (liver damage), was given these to sedate her and make her sleep as she was going round and round in circles, bumping into walls, and twitching uncontrollably. All they did is make her stumble, as she could hardly stand up but that didn't stop her from trying to walk in circles; she just did it in a drunk and drowsy manner as I tried to hold her up so she wouldn't fall; it just fucked her up more, and I just refused to give her any and she was better for it. What I'm trying to say is that whatever made Heath's head race or buzz and him unable to relax enough to fall asleep it wasn't going to be helped by taking sleeping tablets. Hollywood's ungodly working hours I'm sure didn't help. Whether in the end they killed him I don't know. But I do know that sleeping pills cause far more problems with our levels of concentration than not sleeping ever does and should never be seen as a quick fix solution. We live in a culture that regards pills as a panacea and remedy for all ills. I'm not talking about acute illnesses. I'm referring to the way every discomfort, angst and anxiety one has are nowadays medicate as if the human condition itself were a malady! Insomnia is not a disease in itself (it may signal an underlying disease, in which case it should be investigated and not bombarded with pills). It's you body's way of saying you're stressed and overdoing it and to slow down. Whether that has to do with what happened to Heath Ledger I can't say. But you don't just drop dead from nothing.