Doctor won't give me diazepam ..aibu?

[lucyhar]

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?

What about a travel sickness tablet that makes you drowsy. At least you would feel relaxed. You can take a dose the night before and too it up before you go.

Someone did once offer me £100 for a tramadol because they saw me taking one. I declined obviously.

And probably because they were a cop.

No one who is familiar with the drug trade would ever take up an offer to sell a tramadol tab for £100 anyway. That offer is so rookie it's funny.

@Mintychoc1
I agree with your comments.

aeth I found is suspicious too. Who just asks someone for their meds for £100. Absolutely bizarre

Mirtazapine is 3rd line.

Anything that can be used to cut product or synthasised is always of 1st line interest to manufacturers and dealers. It's the up and coming thing as it's being more often prescribed and can be traded for gear quite readily. Most prescribed drugs have street value.

Had this problem in hospitals too.
One hospital gave it to my OH for muscle spasms, when transferred to another hospital for further testing they refused.

@lucyhar yay! So pleased you got them, have a lovely holiday and a great (chilled) flight.

Reading all this with interest as funnily enough my GP literally just prescribed me Valium yesterday for a flight I have coming up.
Last took it four years ago - the last time I managed to get on a plane (we’ve driven all over Europe in between, I have a very understanding husband!).
GP apparently hates flying too and completely understands, especially as I’m not flying with my children so no one to look after.

Okay, so I have a question for these GPs with a lazy and incompetent work colleague who is still doling out benzodiazepines like sweeties to older people. Are you reporting your colleagues for this breach of prescribing guidelines? Are you calling in the addicted patients for help on how to wean them off the benzodiazepines?

Do those travel clinics still exist? Know they were into inoculations etc but may be willing to prescribe for you as you want them for travel. Did the new Doc say why you weren't getting them?

My last comment on this thread to Taimaa - the first step is to discuss their prescribing in house and come to a group consensus how to manage this prescribing policy in further. If a GP refuses to change their practice which is deemed dangerous then the appropriate channels should be followed such as disciplinary action, PAG or GMC.

Yes we do call the addicted patients in to wean off, sometimes it can take years especially as many are reluctant to come off. It takes time, skill and understanding.

I can only obviously speak for my own practice.

Best wishes to you all.

Sincerely
A Genuine GP. x

good news lucyhar well done

This may have already been suggested but rescue remedy is actually really good, I still believe it was what finally got me through my driving test.

Unfit to fly on 2 mg? Unless the individual has a specific adverse psychotic reaction to diazepam - which OP clearly does not, then this is a joke!
2mg is a VERY low dose.

Good to know, Lost. I have a friend in her 60s who may be soon facing this.

OP, do try Kalms/valerian root. I find it very effective.

To the OP that said usually addicts don't have home addresses etc... This could not be further from the truth. You would be astounded as I was. People you know, neighbours in beautiful houses driving lovely big cars all addicted to benzos & codeine. People can be very manipulative when trying to obtain these drugs & sometimes downright nasty if they don't get what they want/need. They arrive beautifully coiffed & end up swearing like navvies if refused. What's the right thing for the GP to do? Just give them what they need to get rid of them & save the abuse or try & help get them off it. They can't win.

Not saying this is your scenario OP just giving it from another perspective.

Way up thread a PP quoted the online BNF as proof that diazepam is fine for flying.
If they had read the contraindications section they'd have seen that it is contraindicated in phobic states.
It also says this in the cautions:
A paradoxical increase in hostility and aggression may be reported by patients taking benzodiazepines. The effects range from talkativeness and excitement to aggressive and antisocial acts. Adjustment of the dose (up or down) sometimes attenuates the impulses. Increased anxiety and perceptual disorders are other paradoxical effects.

I don't prescribe it for flying, nor meds prescribed solely to be used abroad (eg just in case antibiotics) either. Repeat prescriptions are issued as usual.

Your doctor is doing you a favour by not prescribing for you, just find another way to deal with it or don’t fly. I used to have it and there came a point when I moved countries and it wasn’t so easy to get a prescription for it, so I learnt to live without it and I’m really glad about that. And I used about the same amount as you but as seizure prevention when I was tired, stressed or hormonal, I used about 12 a year. It’s extrenely toxic to our bodies and even small amounts can cause permanent changes to our brains. Be glad and find a way to be kind to your body in a way that makes you stronger, not weaker.

What about Xanax?I usually need about 5 a year.

If you are taking prescribed meds for fear of flying (or any phobia) do declare it to your travel insurance company so it doesn’t invalidate your policy BUT beware it will increase your premium! If an insurance company recognises it as a real thing and a risk then why don’t some doctors take it seriously?

Some of the comments in this thread about mental health issues are astonishing. If someone had a physical condition that made it difficult for them to fly would you think it was unreasonable for the NHS to provide treatment that would help them to go? GP medical treatment is not just about life and death situations. The OP isn’t talking about rocking up at A&E and demanding help with her situation specific anxiety.

My niece is receiving treatment at the moment for severe acne which causes her great distress when she goes out. She doesn’t need the treatment though on that basis.

And this :

"Plus, indemnity insurance doesn't cover me to treat patients abroad, which diazepam taken on a return journey would be."

.... Is completely bizarre. I go abroad every year and take two nhs prescribed medications to manage ongoing health conditions. My GP is more than aware that I go away on holiday because we chat about it. She is a relatively young Dr and at no point has she raised any concern about ‘treating patients abroad.’

Oh and just to verify some of the above points.
We can't treat patients on our own lists privately. It breaches the GMS contract (GP contract). We could treat others privately but I suspect indemnity would be significantly higher to set up a private practice.
I wouldn't prescribe anything privately that I didn't believe to be the right thing. Prescribing something off-licence with good evidence behind it (eg amitriptyline for neuropathic pain or ciprifloxacin eye drops for ears) is entirely different from prescribing something specifically contraindicated.
Almost every one of us has been on the end of a vexatious complaint. If you've had one go up to GMC level then no matter how right and innocent you know you were, you make absolutely sure that your prescribing and record keeping is above reproach. We have our whole careers and family livelihoods to care for and I'm not willing to jeopardise that. Call me selfish but I do a good job every working day and most of my patients would be devastated if anything happened to me. I care, and I want to be around for the majority long-term.

Just pay to see a private GP

Diazepam is now longer licensed for anxiety when flying. That's the reason.