AIBU to share anti anxiety pills with sister

[scuzy]

my sister has been refused help or any prescrition to help her deal with sleeplessness and anxiety from her doctor.

i had suffered from depression (currently weaning off at the moment) but have some axicalm which is basically valium that i offered her.

she has a 3 yr old and a 5 month old. the baby is colicky and lactose intollerant and is in and out of hospital every couple of weeks. her husband works all hours he can and is therefore not at home. they have financial worries and lives in an area where they know no one. she is at home at the time, no neighbour or friend to help mind kids while she gets a nap or anything. i live 4 hours away from her.

i feel so helpless to my sister and offered to post her these to take the edge off her anxiety.

AIBU?

right no luck with that guy advised same thing A&E have to ring someone else now and see if they got a letter of referral from her gp and try my case there.

Suzy does your sis have access to email? Get her to email a letter giving permission for you to speak to this person I was my Grandmothers advocate after she suffered dementia and it saved so much hassle [we can only speak to x etc], this will not give them permission to break her confidentiality but will allow you speak the truth for her.
Mary fab idea esp if she is rural where people feel isolated there might be someone who even just calls for a cup of tea

Hi, Scuzy. Firstly, DO NOT, under no circumstance, give Valium, the addiction potential is very high, and research shows that, while it help anxiety, it does make you MORE depressed, unless you also take Anti-D's.

I would start by labelling it as Postnatal Depression- in my experience, this is currently a "sexy" diagnosis, and lot more resources/ help available. See if the midwife/ local delivery suite knows if there are any specialist midwifes or clinics. The Health Visitor should have a screening form that can be completed.

Approach the local mental health team directly (ring them), or via A+E -go to A+E and say "PND, baby at risk(even if not true), want to see MH team NOW".Exagerate. Make it worse then it is and then add some- you'll probably hit about the right amount, anyway- depressed people tend to downplay.

Sadly, referrals from GPs often get put at the bottom of the pile + not regarded as urgent. In mental health especially, unless you stamp your feet and scream the loudest, you often wait ages.

Help with child care etc will take the pressure off, but is not likely to help the depression/anxiety.

www.hse.ie/eng/services/Find_a_Service/LHO/ local area contacts

oh folks i'd be afraid to say that i think the kids are in danger. they are not. she is a brilliant mum i'm just afraid that she wont be able to keep this strong mum act up for much longer.

no answer on other number i was given. this country is a joke!!

Please do not give your sister Valium. It is highly addictive and can cause adverse reactions in some people.

Additionally if your sister is breastfeeding it will affect the baby. That is why she needs a thorough assessment before being prescribed anything.

she is not bf and have decided i am not going to give her anthing.

Maryz thank you so much for your support.

and everyone else for your kind and the kick me up d arse i need posts

Nobody should buy drugs off the internet. It is stupid, dangerous and not reliable.
The sister of a friend is DEAD because she got some sort of anti psychotics from a website. She wasn't psychotic, but googled her symptoms and decided she was.

Rips I am sorry that happened but no one here suggested that.

YABU to share your precribed medicine/pills with anyone.

YANBU to want to help though :(

*prescribed

Sorry to post and run, but someone did suggest it. I am not suggesting for a moment that you would do that, someone may though.
Very best of luck to you and your DS.

well finally got throung to the community nurse who was able to tell me there is no referral for her and that she should get on to her GP. and also that the GP was bullshitting when he said that he couldnt prescribe anything without her being assessed first. just waiting on my sis now to get home from yet another hospital visit with her lo and tell her to get on to her GP and take no shit.

Uh. No, you're being completely mental. Unless you are also a medical practitioner with her medical history in front of you, you don't know if your meds might be dangerous for her! Also if she's breastfeeding then they could harm the baby. It's not on for her GP to dismiss her situation with no help, but it's not going to be any help if she or her baby ends up sick(er) in hospital because of taking incompatible drugs, is it? If it's just sleep that she needs to sort out, can she buy some otc antihistamines (are sometimes prescribed for sleep problems, as they cause drowsiness and relaxation as a side effect- they're often given to children with sleep problems actually, so likely to be safer than valium)? I've had ones (for allergy) that are ok with breastfeeding and she can ask the chemist if they're compatible with any other meds or conditions she's on. Also, have you thought about going over to stay and help, or if another family member can do that, or if she has Homestart in her area who could go round and help out a bit? Poor thing must be horribly stressed but dodgy meds aren't going to solve it.

scuzy, ur not being mental, ur being a really caring sister and I applaud you for that

you know not to send ur sister these pills, thats not the answer, she needs to get her own, hopefully from a gp who gets off his arse and helps her, failing that a gp who knows he'd better get a grip and helps her

good luck, let us know how u get on xx

wibbly, have u actually read this thread or did you just read the op then rush to post going by that alone?

Hi - I really sympathise for you and your sister as I have been through the same thing. After each of my 3 DC I suffered terrible insomnia in the early weeks which in turn lead to anxiety. Great friends offered to help and took baby and other children out to give me some time to rest and sleep but I just ended up pacing the house. It was impossible to relax.

While I had a great GP and was also able to go to the out of hours emergency doc for some sleeping pills when I was at my worst, there is one other thing that REALLY helped and that was progressive relaxation exercises.

I was a bit sceptical when this was suggested to me cos I just wanted DRUGS (!) but I have to say that once I got into the habit of doing these exercises for 20 min each day, to my surprise, my sleep and anxiety improved enormously.

You can download these exercises (person talking you through how to do it) free from itunes. I use podcasts by Inner Health Studio.

It may not sound like much but did/does make a big difference to me and it is something your sister can do while she is waiting for someone to prescribe her some medication (which I do think she sounds like she needs).

I'm so glad you have decided not to give her your meds. As well as the effect on her well being benzos are controlled Class C drugs and there are hefty penalties for supplying them to someone else. Nowadays you can also be prosecuted for possession without a prescription.