Aaron Carter Tested Positive for a Potentially Lethal Combination of Drugs—Including Opiates

Sarah Jacoby
Updated

Over the past few months, rumors about Aaron Carter and his recent weight loss have been swirling—especially after his arrest in July. Some have even insinuated that he has HIV or that he's been taking dangerous drugs. Now, in a new clip from an upcoming episode of The Doctors, it's revealed that Carter had been taking a potentially-deadly combination of drugs—but not the ones you might have thought.

"Aaron very openly submitted to a drug test because he wanted to set the record straight," host Travis Stork, M.D., an emergency medicine physician, says in the clip. The test results came back negative for cocaine and methamphetamine, but were positive for marijuana, benzodiazepines (anti-anxiety medications), and opiates (specifically, hydrocodone).

Dr. Stork says that what "scares" him about these results is that Carter's sister Leslie passed away of an overdose in 2012 after a long battle with opioid addiction, "and you've got a mixture of benzodiazepines with opiates, which is how many people accidentally can die," he says. "These medications can be very, very scary."

Most opiate-related drug overdoses involve more than one drug.

Indeed, it's crucial to remember that over 70 percent of opioid overdoses actually involve a combination drugs that act on the same systems within your body—not just opioids. And it's estimated that over 30 percent of opioid-related overdoses also involve benzodiazepines.

"It's part of the prescription drug epidemic, but it's much less known and reported," Joshua D. Lee, M.D, associate professor in the Department of Population Health at NYU Langone Health, tells SELF. "The two drugs come together in their potential to sedate and cause respiratory depression," Dr. Lee explains. "[Patients] fall asleep, stop breathing, and that's an overdose."

Benzodiazepines are particularly concerning because, like opiates, they can become habit forming and even lead to physical dependence. But both types of drugs are commonly prescribed (especially among patients dealing with similar issues), so it's not uncommon for someone dealing with opiate dependence to also be dealing with a benzodiazepine issue as well. "People that are anxious and in pain and want to feel at ease often find that either opiates or benzodiazepines or the two together is the perfect cocktail," Dr. Lee says.

Treating both types of dependence at once can be challenging.

Unlike with opiate addiction, we don't have medications that help patients taper off benzodiazepines, he continues. Both buprenorphine and methadone may be used as part of opiate addiction treatment because they are similar enough to opioids to ease withdrawal symptoms without providing such intense feelings of euphoria. However, nothing like that exists for benzodiazepines.

Instead, Dr. Lee says that sometimes patients will be asked to switch from shorter-acting medications (e.g. Xanax or Klonipin) to longer-acting ones (e.g. Valium). But, beyond that, the strategy is to taper off and address the underlying anxiety or sleep issue in another way. As one can imagine, Dr. Lee says treating both types of dependence at the same time is a considerable challenge.

Luckily, Carter seems to be in good hands and already making some progress. In the clip he says he's already finding different ways to manage his anxiety without so much medication, including going on meditative fishing trips by himself and going to the beach with his adorable bulldog. But, he says, "it's not going to be easy. I know it's a hard road."

Related:

You May Also Like: 4 Pilates Exercises To Relieve Lower Back Pain