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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Doctor won't give me diazepam ..aibu?

855 replies

lucyhar · 31/01/2019 12:45

I've been getting diazepam off my doctor for around 4 years now for when I have to travel by plane.
I normally get 7 tablets a year.
My doctor has retired now and I'm travelling to Australia in may to see my aunt and uncle.
I've just got out of the doctors (new doc) and he refused any.
Now I understand people get addictive but I get 7 tablets a year!
I have a massive fear of flying,I've tried CBT,hypnotherapy,kalms,I did a fear of flying course and nothing.
Before I was prescribed diazepam I didn't go on holiday for 7 years.
They gave me my life back (without being dramatic)
Aibu to speak to the practice manager?

OP posts:
PCPlumsTruncheon · 31/01/2019 16:26

OP you’ve had a really hard time on here. Since DS2 was born 10 years ago, I get episodes of intense anxiety about every 2 months which lasts for 3-4 days. I’m not actually ‘worrying’ about anything - it’s a deeply unpleasant physical feeling like my stomach is being gnawed by rats. I have been prescribed Lorazepam for this. I have never used it for more than 4 consecutive days and go months without touching it.
CBT doesn’t help.
I’m a mental health nurse so I know benzos are addictive. They are also extremely effective. They have become demonised because they used to be dished out like Smarties and millions of people became addicted. They are however brilliant in cases exactly like yours ie for short term use in a specific situation when the risk of increased tolerance and addiction is virtually zero.
In your situation, I would go private and say that you want them for phobia of dentists.
Good luck

brokenhead · 31/01/2019 16:26

Why don't you have anti emetics then

But they might not prescribe it for you
They might give something else
Like Tamazepam...

Do none of your friends have any for you?

I understand your frustration btw but it's just not worth anyone getting in trouble (even if the risk is tiny)
Why would you want to get sued? The culture of suing in the world these days is disgusting

Fazackerley · 31/01/2019 16:26

My gp prescribed it to me for flying literally two weeks ago. Find another gp.

Fazackerley · 31/01/2019 16:27

A gp will jot get sued

Fucking hell mumsnet is a weird place, full of absolute bullshit.

Fazackerley · 31/01/2019 16:27

*not

Twotabbycats · 31/01/2019 16:30

lucyhar I hope you can get some privately. You might be able to get a larger quantity so you have some in reserve for the future.

I live abroad and am prescribed a benzodiazepine with no problem.

Don't forget you will need to declare it when you enter Australia. It's not a problem if you have a prescription but it's a controlled substance so has to be declared at customs.

Thesnobbymiddleclassone · 31/01/2019 16:31

If you need drugs to get on a plane then you shouldn't really be flying.

Fazackerley · 31/01/2019 16:33

If you need drugs to get on a plane then you shouldn't really be flying

Wholly appropriate user name there!

Boredboredboredboredbored · 31/01/2019 16:33

Op I get you. Diazepam is the only thing that stops me from being land locked! I hadn't flown for ten years. Got prescribed some last year and did 6 flights. It's charged my world!

teenytinypontypine · 31/01/2019 16:34

*lucyhar

What if one of these people who was taking diazepam for back spasms boarded a plane then?
They tripped and fell could they then sue the GP?*

Well, they could try. But the GP would be in a defensible position because it was prescribed for a medical problem and is established for use in that circumstance. If it was prescribed for fear of flying, that is a use against guidance and therefore not a defensible position for the GP.

lucyhar · 31/01/2019 16:34

@Thesnobbymiddleclassone why not?
People who take medication to leave the house..should they not leave the house then?
People who take beta blockers to go to a job interview ..should they not work?

OP posts:
Boredboredboredboredbored · 31/01/2019 16:34
  • Changed
lucyhar · 31/01/2019 16:35

@Boredboredboredboredbored honestly it was like I got my life back.
Could go away with friends etc
I was so fed up of anxiety ruling my life

OP posts:
hazell42 · 31/01/2019 16:35

Just order them off the internet I order medication (not diazepam) regularly and have never had issues.

lucyhar · 31/01/2019 16:35

@teenytinypontypine thanks for your advice
Appreciated

OP posts:
Passing4Human · 31/01/2019 16:37

Thesnobbymiddleclassone Thu 31-Jan-19 16:31:47
If you need drugs to get on a plane then you shouldn't really be flying.

You holding a gin and tonic writing that like all the other passengers?

Grace212 · 31/01/2019 16:41

OP - disclaimer - haven't read whole thread

I feel for you. My GP has retired and before she left she warned me that diazepam was going to be harder to get - I take more than you! - and said "there's a definite move against drugs that actually work" lol.

Re phenergan, tried it once, never again - def try anything out before you get on the plane.

can't believe someone suggested zopi but suspect doc wouldn't give that either - potentially tripping on a plane doesn't sound good.

try another doctor, probably. I've had years of A&D and I get the impression that certain drugs fall in and out of favour so hopefully this one will come back round again.

AuntieOxident · 31/01/2019 16:41

I’m very claustrophobic and find that diazepam helps me a lot when flying.
I had a panic attack on a plane once which terrified me, (and was quite different to ‘getting worked up’ about flying) and since then my GP has prescribed a very small amount of diazepam every year for flying and I am extremely apprehensive to read here that they might no longer do so.
It doesn’t knock me out, it just makes me feel slightly out of it, noisy and crowded airports no longer make me panicky, but i’m not at all woozy as I might be after two or three vodkas.

In fact I am hugely reassured just knowing I’ve got some with me. I can even go through the Channel Tunnel if I have some on me — something I couldn’t even contemplate before.
The tube is still a problem for me (I don’t take it for traveling on the tube btw! ) since I had a very distressing experience on it a few years ago but if I am with someone and it’s outside the rush hour i’m not too bad.
So it seems that some people like the OP and I have a few tabs every year, we know how it affects us and how to use it and most importantly that it works for us . So we’re very concerned that we may not be able to have it any longer.
What is unreasonable about that? I don’t see the need for all the self righteous posturing about it. And yes, if my GP won’t prescribe it in the NHS I will certainly take the private route. I can afford it, others may not be able to.

Anonanonanariston · 31/01/2019 16:44

Yanbu. I also have a phobia of flying and get a similar amount of diazepam from my doctor per year. I would change GP if mine ever refused me.

aethelgifu · 31/01/2019 16:45

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ReflectentMonatomism · 31/01/2019 16:46

If it was prescribed for fear of flying, that is a use against guidance and therefore not a defensible position for the GP.

How many cases have there been of GPs being sued for the consequences of taking 2mg of a benzodiazepine or some similar low dose of a generally well-tolerated sedative drug, losing the case, and the MDU or equivalent taking the nuclear option and refusing to pay on the grounds of the precise details of the basis for the prescription?

I mean, given the fear of this that GPs are apparently living under, it must have happened at least once.

Because I call bullshit. I don't believe such cases have happened. I don't believe "I took 2mg of a sedative and tripped on the way onto the plane" would result in a successful court case (because there's nothing special about plane steps which isn't true of any other steps, and plenty of people are taking prescription pain killers and sedatives without living in bungalows) and I absolutely don't believe that the MDU would attempt to get out of payment. Every day there are many, many people travelling on planes under the influence of drugs of a similar strength, because they are standard prescription drugs.

It's not off-label prescribing, the CAA aren't a statutory body for the purposes of drug usage and a search of the MDU website for every imaginable keyword shows no cases, "cautionary tales" or guidance. I think this is GPs making up things to worry about.

I get that it may not be effective medication, or may have undesirable side-effects, and that's a medical judgement doctors are perfectly entitled to make (although the propensity of GPs to engage in n=1 anecdote means some evidence would be nice). But "I'd otherwise prescribe you that but won't because I risk being sued and the MDU refusing to defend me?" Nah.

aethelgifu · 31/01/2019 16:48

can't believe someone suggested zopi but suspect doc wouldn't give that either - potentially tripping on a plane doesn't sound good.

I agree! Zopi totally zonks me. I take it for a week about twice a year (Christmas and the anniversary of a serious bereavement) and it's the only thing that gets me to sleep but man, I wouldn't touch it on a flight.

Zops are easy enough to get via online pharma/GP service, though.

Sleephead1 · 31/01/2019 16:48

I work in a surgery just admin but we see lots of patients asking for it along with sleeping tablets they nearly all get refused. ( we send the request to the doctor then have to let the patient know ) I am obviously not medically qualified so don't know why but I have noticed it a lot now so I guess they are under pressure not to prescribe

Grace212 · 31/01/2019 16:48

before someone misunderstands, my reference to zopi and tripping was drug tripping, not tripping over steps etc. Grin

can't be arse to look on phone but wonder what current prescribing guidelines are for Diazepam and if they have officially been changed or if OP just got a GP who is personally unhappy to prescribe it for this. I don't travel so don't really know about it for that.

Romanov · 31/01/2019 16:51

Also not everyone can pull out £70/£90 just like that.

you can add that to the cost of your holiday, like travel insurance