A MOTHER-of-three died after accidentally taking an overdose of anti-depressants and painkillers, an inquest has heard.

Sandra Elizabeth Dixon, 47, died at her home in Pontypool on Thursday, March 22.

Speaking at an inquest into her death held at Newport Coroners Court yesterday, Thursday, her husband David Dixon told the inquest his wife suffered from a range of conditions including chronic back pain, diabetes, high blood pressure, depression and anxiety, and also had learning disabilities, and was prescribed more than 30 different medications.

“On a couple of occasions she had overdosed because she had forgotten she had already taken her medication,” he said.

Mr Dixon told the inquest, the night before his wife, who had three children from a previous marriage, died she had been feeling anxious because he was due to go into hospital for a knee operation, and had gone into their bedroom to do some colouring, which she used to relieve anxiety.

He later went to bed, leaving her still colouring on the bedroom floor but, when he woke up the following morning, found her lying on the floor, not breathing and without a pulse.

When police arrived at the scene they found Mrs Dixon’s pill box, where her medication was separated out in daily doses, was completely empty, but no signs of suspicious circumstances.

A post-mortem found levels of anti-depressant Venlafaxine and painkiller Gabapentin in her bloodstream which were “higher than therapeutic doses”. Her cause of death was recorded as cardio-respiratory failure along with bronchopneumonia, fatty liver and multi-drug toxicity, and hypertension and diabetes mellitus.

Recording a verdict of misadventure, senior coroner for Gwent Wendy James said: “It is quite clear she had been anxious, and in that anxious state she had then taken more than she should have of her medications.

“But there is no suggestion she did that with the intention of taking her own life.”