Active discussions

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Mental health

Mumsnet hasn't checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. If you have medical concerns, please seek medical attention.

Original poster

Doctors & diazepam

40 replies

EmeraldRoulette · 28/04/2026 16:35

Hi
I suppose I'm addressing the people who know me well from this board

I have a horrendous amount of dental work coming up and it's made me really anxious

I asked the doctor if I could have some diazepam for a week or so to help out with it

Of course the answer was no

I don't know how anyone is getting diazepam out of the doctor any more. I've had other people talk to me about this IRL and they've all said it was impossible to get -including someone who suffered three bereavements in a year.

And I think she felt forced into saying it, but the doctor did say that there are so many legal issues attached to it now, no one wants to take responsibility for prescribing it

I don't understand how we got to this point

Anyway, she pulled out the usual crap that doctors have to say, you know about CBT and long-term medication, blah blah blahI understand they have legal obligations to say it

But talking to me like I don't have decades of experience of meds is kind of nuts. I actually had to say to her "please may I speak, Dr".

And at the end of her nonsensical information spiel, I said to her "what do you think patients do when they can't get some diazepam?" (I think in many cases the answer is drink alcohol or abuse other drugs)

And she talked a lot about holistic well-being and blah blah

And I said to her "goodness, aren't you the optimist"

And she said "well I have to be optimistic, I'm not going to tell you that it's hopeless am I?"

Or words for that effect.

I appreciate I'm not in a great mental space right now so it's not normally amusing to me, but I had to find some amusement somewhere. It felt like a strange achievement to have a doctor actually say "no one wants to take the responsibility legally". She could've saved 15 minutes and just said that in the first place.

but honestly, all this distress to me and I suspect to her - just because they won't subscribe short term benzos any more

I'm just posting this because some of you will know what I

How much of the mental health crisis is due to the classic useful pills being unavailable I wonder.

OP posts:
Original poster
EmeraldRoulette · 28/04/2026 18:01

maftaz · 28/04/2026 17:58

On a more serious note, I wonder if your dentist would (or could/should) write a letter informing the GP that in his opinion, and due to your anxiety before and after the procedure (s) that prescribing diazepam for X days would be highly advised. Or something along those lines. One medic to another.

I'm actually dealing with two dentists at the moment due to the complexity of the problems

They are really decent, sympathetic people, but they do not want to go near dealing with the GP. Can't say I blame them. They did both say to me "you will absolutely not get it prescribed for this, GPs don't prescribe it"

OP posts:
Original poster
EmeraldRoulette · 28/04/2026 17:58

i'm more sharing it here because it's so frustrating

And being lectured at by a doctor about coping mechanisms, the value of long-term medication, etc the fact that nobody has a stressfree life... I mean yeah. I know all of these things.

I realise she won't have bothered to look at my record before but do these people really think that decades of treatment was easy to stop? Or that I didn't really think about it?

bizarre. And of course there was the CBT chat and all the other pointless stuff.

It feels like they have a choice of making this less problematic or making it more problematic and they choose the latter.

I would imagine there's probably quite a lot of people like me, who sign off from the doctors because it's causing more problems, quite often it hinders more than it helps

I suppose I've been lucky I haven't had to deal with it for nearly three years though.

OP posts:
maftaz · 28/04/2026 17:58

On a more serious note, I wonder if your dentist would (or could/should) write a letter informing the GP that in his opinion, and due to your anxiety before and after the procedure (s) that prescribing diazepam for X days would be highly advised. Or something along those lines. One medic to another.

maftaz · 28/04/2026 17:54

@EmeraldRoulette Yes, I see what you mean about prescribing for the procedure only.

Not being funny, but lighthearted, maybe you'll have to score some from a dealer at this rate. 😊

Original poster
EmeraldRoulette · 28/04/2026 17:50

@maftaz the dentist can prescribe something for the procedure

Nothing before, nothing after

That's totally fair. I think anything outside of the procedure is the responsibility of the GP.

@Paquitavariation i'm glad you got it 💐

OP posts:
maftaz · 28/04/2026 17:43

Not helping you I know, but I'm not in UK, and my dentist can prescribe antibiotics, pain meds, and diazepam or equivalent, they also use twilight sleep sedation, which although expensive is worth every single penny for difficult dental work.

Can your dentist prescribe for the work you are having done. That's provable and genuine surely?

Paquitavariation · 28/04/2026 17:38

I was prescribed it without any issues last week for some acute anxiety attacks I was having related to an unexpected event. Only given enough for the week though which is what I would expect. Any longer than that I would have thought a different medication to be more appropriate.

I think it probably depends on which GP you speak to.

BuffetTheDietSlayer · 28/04/2026 17:38

EmeraldRoulette · 28/04/2026 17:28

Hello, we cross posted

Tried that, luckily my friend saved me the 90 quid because that was a no.

Show quote history

I know a place that will almost certainly prescribe it, they ask for ID online to check against your address though. You wouldn’t get charged if they refuse.
Feel free to PM if you’d like the name.

Original poster
EmeraldRoulette · 28/04/2026 17:35

@youalright it was a phone call

I've actually never seen my doctor in this area so I can't imagine that making a second appointment to try and push them into it is going to help. And it would be very unfair, I think.

@bignewprinz she did say that they would only give it for physical issues, I was given it when I had a spinal injury as well.

I also wouldn't tell a lie in order to get it

perhaps I'm the idiot here, but I just wouldn't

anyone who has suffered with depression and anxiety will know how awful it is dealing with the doctor, the doctor often makes things even worse than they actually are

So I was actually really desperate in order to call the GP

I'm actually in floods of tears as I type this

wish I'd never bothered with the GP really

OP posts:
youalright · 28/04/2026 17:30

Just see a different gp. I get given diazepam no issues

bignewprinz · 28/04/2026 17:29

I can call my NHS GP (don't even need to go in) and get a week's worth. I have a history of back issues though, and I only ask for it when in spasm. I always end up using any left over to help with my PMDD as well, bloody marvellous stuff.

Original poster
EmeraldRoulette · 28/04/2026 17:28

BuffetTheDietSlayer · 28/04/2026 17:21

You can get it from certain private doctors online. Costs about £90 for the script and shipping.

Hello, we cross posted

Tried that, luckily my friend saved me the 90 quid because that was a no.

OP posts:
Original poster
EmeraldRoulette · 28/04/2026 17:27

@bedfrog thank you for replying

Yeah, it's an ongoing thing - doctors have refused to prescribe it for awhile now

I moved house and before I signed off from my old doctor, they gave me a prescription that I dispensed in the area I live in now

The chemist here was absolutely horrified and questioned me heavily

I kind of knew that was the last prescription I would get, but it is so depressing.

like they would really rather you go through the whole rigmarole and unpleasantness of long-term medication than just to give you something to help you out short term

In the early days, the objection to diazepam was that heroin addicts were abusing it

Then it moved onto the street value and that you could be selling it to anybody

Then it moved onto "too high risk of addiction". All that's going to happen is I'm going to have drink alcohol like it's lockdown again - I'm not a drinker!

I never discussed my mental health issues at work, but I have sat in on a couple of discussions about the desperate measures people take when they can't get hold of diazepam and it's really sad. Workplace are full of people who need a bit of help to manage the situation.

That's actually why I asked the doctor what they think patients do if they can't get it

But in reality, the doctor probably knows that patients resort to all sorts, but if no one will take the legal responsibility, that's the end of it

She could've said that in the first minute of the call and saved us both 15 minutes

Re-private, I actually know someone who has a private doctor he was very confident that the private doctor would prescribe it for me. Until he asked him! Then he discovered that things have changed a lot! but I'm grateful to him because he saved me probably about £90 in a private charge.

I think I was lucky to get it from my old doctor in 2023 to be honest.

I think, if you can find a doctor who isn't up-to-date with all the guidelines and stuff, maybe then you'd get it.

OP posts:
BuffetTheDietSlayer · 28/04/2026 17:21

You can get it from certain private doctors online. Costs about £90 for the script and shipping.

bedfrog · 28/04/2026 17:10

I've used it a few times for travel and the dentist and never had a problem, but it's been a while so maybe things have changed.
I think I'd see a private gp if my usual nhs one refused me. You could try that?

(Have also had years of therapy but I'm autistic so it doesn't really work)