Heath Ledger Dead: Sleeping Aid to Blame?

I, like many millions of other Heath Ledger fans, was absolutely stunned when I saw the news of his sudden death scroll across the bottom of my TV screen on E! Network yesterday. Immediately running to my computer, I found a banner on MSN.com that said it was breaking news and the story was developing. Now less than 24 hours after the initial public announcement, we are given information that sleeping aid medications could be to blame.

Ledger admitted that he was taking prescription Ambien pills. According to an article from the Daily Telegraph, Ambien has been under fire the last year for causing horrible side effects. Patients have reported gaining weight after unknowingly engaging in midnight snacking after taking the medicine. That is not the worst of it though, as it has also been reported that patients have done things such as having sex, painting their doors, or even jumping off balconies while on the medication.

While I myself have not actually taken the medication, my mother-in-law who passed away in May 2007 due to combined drug toxicity took the medication. If she did not get the full 8 hours of sleep suggested by the prescription and the prescribing doctor, she woke up in a paranoid daze, and claimed to be living her life in a dream state.

She compulsively insisted that she had to have wind chimes on the door so she would wake if someone opened it. She lived in constant fear of doing something in her sleep or something being done to her in her sleep that she would be unable to recollect due to the use of the medication. Soon she refused to take the medication and resumed the insomnia that came along with the depression she experienced, because she could not take the worry anymore.

One of the side effects of the medication as noted by Drugs.com is depression. I find it odd that a patient suffering from bi-polar disorder and immense depression would be prescribed a medication with this side effect, but it seem that Ledger also had anti-anxiety medication with the sleeping aid medicine bottles that were found in the apartment.

According to another news report on his death, Ledger said the medication only worked for an hour before he woke again, with his mind still racing.

This tragic sudden death is hard for Hollywood, the fans, and most certainly the family and close friends of Ledger. I hope that some good can come out of it though, proving that these sleeping pills are dangerous, and I believe they should be removed from the market all together.