To take someone else's diazepam?

[chumbler]

So dp is scared of flying. His moher has taken diazepam to help with her anxiety with flying and has offered some him some of her tablets. I think he should get them prescribed by a doc, dp thinks it's no big deal. Wouldn't the Dr do checks on dp to make sure it's Sade for him? Could he get in trouble flying without a prescription? Or am I BU?

Slightly off point but try Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. Cured my long-held fear of flying in 4 sessions.

I know, but doesn't help that mil keeps offering them to him

total are you giving tips on the best way to take a controlled drug that's been prescribed for someone else?

Really?

Op, I think some of the posters here are ott. A couple of tablets are not going to hurt. I've used other people's before, it's no biggie. But if your dh can get diazepam from the docs, he should.

thats my dd was prescribed a very low dose of diazepam. She had a violent reaction and instead of calming her down it had the opposite effect.

Apparently quite rare but it happens. Two on this thread alone!

The talk about airport security is nonsense!
Unless he's flying through UAE in which case he would possibly need a prescription or letter from GP but then only if unlucky enough to be searched.

As a nurse I'll take anything and buy a many drugs in other countries that you can't buy here OTC. They are in my luggage and not prescribed.

However I do agree with other posters that if it's something your dh hadn't taken before then he should discuss it with his gp and get them prescribed initially

It's a controlled drug as others have said. I work in substance misuse services.
I'd tell bother your husband and mil you won't accompany him on a flight if this goes ahead.

both

I'd also question the competence of your mother in law s GP if she is able to stockpile the drug.

Diazepam is a controlled drug, you mum would be breaking the law.

Some people react really really badly to even low dosages of diazepam.

So YANBU

Just tell your DH to go to the Dr and get some himself and to try them before he goes. First time i took diazepam i had the mother of all panic attacks with hallucinations, it wasn't funny.

Now I take it frequently, if i my anxiety is bad but i thought the devil was waiting in the street for me the first time.

Hell, yeah. I take my dad's. I've given others some of mine.

Well maybe let your mil know that if lands on a stop over in Bangkok he could be arrested for having illegal drugs in his possession. The penalty for that is a longish stay in the Bangkok Hilton(when they see if they can get you to pay a huge amount of money to get out), followed by a short moment or three in frompnt of a firing squad.

That should give her something to think about. The foreign office sometimes repatriates the body, or it might be done with his travel insurance- not sure about convicted felons though.

Fwiw, travelling through Bangkok, Dubai Singapore or hong Kong is very dangerous if you have illegal drugs, or even chewing gum. I was stopped because I had 6 solpadine (codine and paracetamol) tablets, which are OTC in the uk but strictly on prescription in the Far East.

He must have a prescription for it in his own name and recently as well. Also why the heck is he taking seriously addictive drugs like popping smarties.....

Why not try cognitive behavioural therapy. Or kalms as a pp suggested.

Diazepam, as others have said, is a controlled drug. That means it is illegal to supply even a small amount of it. The reason it is controlled is that it is highly addictive, no one is going to get addicted from taking one dose now and again to counteract a fear of flying.

However, drugs like diazepam can in some people have a stimulating rather than a relaxing effect. I've been one of 5 people having to restrain a bloke who had been given a drug from the same family, at a small dose, as he was anxious about a medical procedure. He was spitting in peoples faces, didn't know where he was and was trying to harm himself, having been completely fine before taking the drug.

Diazepam and other drugs in the same family can also slow your breathing down. Different people are more or less sensitive to it, I've had to admit people to intensive care who have been given a small amount of diazepam (5 or 10mg) to stop a seizure and have then stopped breathing and needed to be put on a ventilator for a few hours til the drug wore off. Mixing it with alcohol (which he may well do if on a long flight that he is nervous about) makes you more likely to stop breathing.

So he is basically thinking of making his mother break the law, risking a conviction for supplying a class C drug and also meaning the GP will not be willing to prescribe her diazepam any more, then taking a drug which may be safe for him, on the other hand may risk him having a reaction that means he can't fly as he is being restrained by the airport police as he is delusional and hallucinating, or may risk him stopping breathing during the flight.

Quite apart from anything else, he will get a similar effect as a low dose of diazepam by having an alcoholic drink or 2 before getting on the plane. This is perfectly legal, he can predict the effects if he has drunk alcohol in the past, won't make him stop breathing, he can be supplied with more on the plane once the first 'dose' has worn off, and a nice cold pint or a glass of wine or a G&T is much more enjoyable than swallowing a pill!

They sell chewing gum in Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand etc, it's not illegal to take it through an airport in SE Asia at all! Drugs are another matter entirely however....

Hi all - as stated at the top of the General Health topic, Mumsnet has not checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. If you have any medical concerns we suggest you consult your GP.

There's no way I'd go to an airport and take a flight, on my own, whilst on diazepam

Diazepam is a controlled drug and highly addictive, he'd be a knob to take it without medical supervision

The only thing that would worry me would be him getting stopped in the airport having someone elses prescription drugs and if he is on other drugs.
( though I'm not sure what they react with? Ive taken them with sleeping pillls, ad and hayfever tablets).
I've never had to do any sort of test either for them.
Some countries certain drugs are controlled even drugs you can buy over the counter like codeine so you need a prescription to show.( though they don't always check!)
Yes they are addictive but If he's only taking the odd one or two for flying he's not going to get addicted.
I have them for spasms.
I had to take them 3 times a day for 2 weeks when i had a clot and i still weren't addicted.
Not everybody does.
I have 2 and 5mg for emergency spasms, But i only take them when i am in agony. I could take them now if i wanted but i don't.

This thread is hilarious. MIL will be a drug dealer, DH an addict who gets thrown into an Asian jail

But i second not taking a huge dose just incase he does have a bad reaction if he won't go the doctors or doesn't get a prescription.
He has my sympathy, i'm terrified of flying!!!!!

I agree iPaid - I was starting to think it was just me . . . he's probably talking about 2mg isn't he?

I don't see anything hilarious in supplying a controlled drug to someone else.

Prob 5mg. 2mg is nothing.

first, why has he booked a long flight if he has fear of flying? It is NEVER essential to fly.

second, drugs have wildly different effects on different people and it may do nothing, may make him high as a kite, may do all sorts of things. It is controlled for a reason.

tell him to address the fear (which can't be that bad if he's booked this trip) with more sensible measures; fear of flying course, CBT etc. And if they don't work - don't go.

yes i think maybe the bangkok hilton is an over exaggeration and addiction is highly unlikely. Negligible even.

BUT

It doesn't change the fact that it is illegal HERE never mind anywhere else to give other people your own meds. Especially a controlled drug.

It doesn't change the fact that, however unlikely, the dh could have an adverse reaction to it.

Just get him to go to his doctor get his own prescription and try it before he goes.

simples.