Brittany Murphy Death Could be Tied to Drug Overdose

the supermarket checkout rags say that she was depressed and her husband is hiding something. :idk:
 
myTelstar said:
the supermarket checkout rags say that she was depressed and her husband is hiding something. :idk:
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Of course he's hiding something.

I remember when she died and he came out and made a huge press statement that he did not want her cut up in an autopsy at all. 8)

Even if it was not a drug OD and it was say a heart defect I think he'd want to know this.
 
I can easyly see why he wouldn't what the love of his life chopped up and her organs examined.
Id say its probably a common wish.
 
static_mind said:
I can easyly see why he wouldn't what the love of his life chopped up and her organs examined.
Id say its probably a common wish.
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OK I grew up with one parent who once did autopsies and worked in medicine so I'm a bit biased for them.

While I can't donate blood (it's the whole BS sex with men thing, I don't have anything but if I were heterosexual I could theoretically have all the high risk sex I wanted and still donate blood which is rather insane), I am all for organ donations as long as they go to people who really do need them and not rich celebrities who pay money and undercut everyone else who will wind up dying.

It just strikes me as rather odd, most people do not always feel this way about embalming a corpse for a funeral or doing a cremation to the person's body after they are dead.

Then again there are people who simply want to be buried in the earth, with just a simple shroud or nothing at all.
 
so is the implication that possibly it is foul-play on the boyfriend's part??? Or he just don't want her name sullied further by drug abuse confirmation? :idk:
 
He's a bit of a shady character. I'm sure he doesn't want any heat. Besides, I'll bet he knows what killed her, so the curiosity factor simply isn't there.
 
charmcity.exile said:
He's a bit of a shady character. I'm sure he doesn't want any heat. Besides, I'll bet he knows what killed her, so the curiosity factor simply isn't there.
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I think I got you now...confirming illegal actions on her part gonna draw attention to him.

Either way, I kind of have to agree, put her in the ground, move on...the tabloids already tired of the story anyway I bet.
 
nothing new has yet been discovered as far as BM's death. Toxicology reports and such will not be ready for another month or so.

She seemed like a really frail person. My guess is not drug OD but a combination of things like stress, ill health, misused meds and some underlying medical condition which topped her off.
 
jspun said:
She has DM (diabetes). She was mentioned as experiencing changes in LOC, a major symptom in hypoglycemia. The corticosteroid (solumedral or whatever it was) she was on raises blood sugar. Stoping abruptly or tapering too fast might cause hypoglycemia. When people are hypoglycemic, the adrenals release epinephrine to compensate for the low blood sugar which among other things, causes tachycardia, makes people jumpy/anxious, and mobilizes glycogen stores from the liver. Beta blockers, like inderal blunt this effect and mask early warning signs of hypoglycemia. Poor intake/ diet management can lead to hypoglycemia. Last, but not least, alot of the opiate pain meds have tylenol which causes liver damage in doses above 4 grams a day. The liver is a major storage area for glycogen which is converted to glucose when blood glucose drops to maintain blood levels. A shot-out liver doesn't hold alot of glycogen (as people on this board with advanced hep C can attest to). Hypoglycemia, (BS<70) especially with the prodromal symptoms blunted by beta blockers can evolve fast into serious hypoglycemia (BS<60). BS in 30s would not surprise me- and this is a serious emergency requiring prompt glucose replacement. Maybe sublingual sugar, glucose gel, or sublingual glucose tabs was all she needed to stabalize her. This is all speculation of course, but I think it's a possible scenario.
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This incident should be used, not as a lesson of the dangers of Rx opiates/benzos but as further evidence of the pragmaticism and neccessity of Harm Reduction
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Paging Doctor House? I think you have presented a very plausible scenario consistent with the event of Brittany passing out in the shower at the time of her death. Brittany Murphy was known to suffer from type II diabetes. I did not put two and two together and realize, as you did, that beta blockers and benzodiazepines, even at therapeutic doses, could theoretically "cancel out" the experiential symptoms of hypoglycemia which would otherwise provide warning to a person afflicted that glucose was needed right away to avoid diabetic coma/death. Is it known what her blood sugar level was at time of death and immediately preceding? Could this change post-mortem? This may indeed be an, if not the, immediate cause.

Or, of course, it could have been that evil Vicodin and Ativan. Everyone knows that a celebrity can basically get whatever they want scripted to them, the same as anyone else, but with more and more discreet channels. We didn't need MJ, Anna Nicole, Brittany's, or anyone else's death to know that. Many doctors (at least until recently, though I am sure some exist yet) who treat celebrities prescribe medication to a celebrity's alias. Celebrities check into hotels under assumed names all the time too. It's a matter of wanting to avoid winding up in the tabloids and away from the paparazzi more than anything else, IMO.

Lastly Brittany's husband/next of kin is of the Jewish faith (and I need a source yet for this too, perhaps someone can confirm); is it true that the Jewish faith/custom proscribes avoidance of autopsying the body whenever possible in addition to prompt burial after death? I don't find anything suspicious about following one's religious practice during the process of bereavement.
 
The Jewish people do not believe in autopsies and the body is buried the following day after the death without embalming unless the next day is a Saturday (their Sabbath) and in that case it would take place on the Sunday.

The thing I found suspicious about her husband is that he hired a lawyer the day that she died??
 
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If she had DMII, shouldn't she have been on something for glycemic control?

Ativan? can u please tell me how that could of killed her? I am taking ativan right now
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It's risky to combine a GABA agonist with an opiate. One of my near-fatal ODs was due to mixing vodka and heroin.
 
Lifeandtimes said:
Ativan? can u please tell me how that could of killed her? I am taking ativan right now
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I'm sorry - I was being very sarcastic in my post and was referring to the fact that the media tends to demonize drugs unfairly that many people take for legitimate reasons.

Provided you are validly prescribed Ativan for a medical condition diagnosed by your doctor (I am not a doctor, I am just participating in this discussion) and you are taking it as directed (that is, not taking more than prescribed/abusing it/mixing it with other drugs/alcohol, etc.) it is a drug that has been found to be safe at therapeutic levels.

I don't think it's likely that the combination of Ativan and Vicodin killed Brittany Murphy. Referring back to jspun's post, a class of drug called "beta-blockers" can relieve the physical symptoms of anxiety/panic reactions through a different mechanism of action from a benzodiazepine (of which Ativan is one). The two combined together in someone who is hypoglycemic could theoretically mask the perceptible symptoms of a person's blood sugar dropping below the critical level needed for survival. But that is speculation as to Brittany Murphy's situation.

I hope this clears up any misunderstanding!

If you have a more specific question about your use of Ativan, it is best to ask your doctor - but if you'd like to ask on Bluelight, the proper place would probably be in Basic Drug Discussion or The Dark Side.
 
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