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?

One thing no one has picked up on

Amazing. I think we should all pick every detail of her posts apart and overthink them.

aeth I found is suspicious too. Who just asks someone for their meds for £100. Absolutely bizarre
My husband came out of the chemists once with his (quite large) bag of medicines, and a bloke asked him if he'd sell any of them!

@Romanov I take one the night before ,1 at the airport and 1 on the plane ...
You fly both ways so that equals 6
I did say the anxiety before hand is normally worse than the actual event.

Absolutely swing!

OP with respect you are coming across like a teeny bit of a spoilt foot-stamping brat.

Why should your GP have to risk his/her licence to practice just so you can go on holiday?

You'll just have to have a couple of drinks, like every other fucker on there!

@Fazackerley it just stood out to me when i came back to the thread and i thought, hmm thats weird

Valium is very chesp: 76p for 28 2mg tablets. The NHS is making money out of those people who pay for their prescription.
the cost of the medicine being 76p, how much for the GP to prescribe them, making sure its safe, and how much for the pharmacists to dispense them etc
That valium might be 76p plus costs, but what about the drugs that cost a lot more, but people still only pay their prescription fee, its about balance and you are paying for a service, not just the materials

in the same way that you can buy raw materials say to make perfume, the bits that you actually get dont really cost £,00s, youre paying for all the other bits, the packaging, transportation, the research, the marketing etc

I'm not anti-diazapam for flying or anxiety, but i think if you want something for a lifestyle choice ( flying, or similar) then you should pay what it costs. Its like travel insurance, you have to have it, but you have to pay more if you have pre existing conditions - which is also not fair. Sadly life isnt fair

I wish we had more money in the NHS, but then i also wish we paid less taxes,.....

I would change GP's. Ask for private prescription. Explain how not having it will impact your life.

Anxiety is not a lifestyle choice.

Mind you, when I said I had to fly twice a year for work, the suggestion was that I looked for another job.

Yes, because that's sensible, giving up an entire career rather than having a few diazepam on the NHS.

Listen to yourselves. Part of Mr hopes you get turned away with no antibiotics in the near future then come on here and moan about it.

Anxiety is not a lifestyle choice.

no, but flying is

Not really if you have family that live abroad or you have to work. Or would you rather people just gave up their jobs or never visited their family?

Very sad judgmental people here.

Sorry if this has been suggested already, but have you tried taking betablockers? I now use them on planes instead of Valium and find it really effective. You will probably find your GP is much happier to prescribe them.

Betablockers work by stopping the physical side effects of anxiety, racing heart etc so prevent panic attacks. I also found that the book “flying with confidence” really helped

An OP arguing with GP's! Start listening.

@lucyhar I have fear of spiders, Dentists and flying, and have Anxiety and panic attacks, and never once been given Diazepam. YAU and have such an entitled attitude that it sickens me. Face you fears like many of us of had too, or cancel your fucking holiday.

You do sound as though you could do with some diazepam Lucy it's true. I'm surprised if you have gone to your GP with panic attacks that they haven't prescribed it, as that's what it's recommended for. It's not recommended for phobias. Unless those phobias bring on a panic attack and can be managed ie a flight, when you know what time it is and can plan for it. I'd imagine much harder to plan for seeing a spider.

@PCPlumsTruncheon wow a RMN advising the OP on a Social Media site to go lie to her GP to obtain drugs banned by the Aviation Authority, and that could cost the GP dearly with her Indemnity Insurance? You could lose your NMC reg for that.

Fazackerley

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

Oh fgs. Where do you get that from? The local NHS cost cutting leaflet??

It was on a leaflet that was posted earlier by someone citing this was why GP's couldn't prescribe this medicine.

In that several other cost cutting issues were cited which is fine as far as it goes but that did not say that Diz has been banned for licensing reasons just the NHS powers that be don't want to afford it.

Now can you cite me a document or refence where some body like the CAA (Civil Aviation Authority) or the FAA in Amercia etc has stated that this drug is either no longer to be prescribed or passengers or are to be disuaded from its use.

It would appear to me that if a GP were to prescribe it they would be in bother with thier local prescribing people owing to the cost of it rather any medical or aviation reason or dictate why it should not be prescribed.

It from reading may other posters examples does not seem to have a ban as such if this were the case then why would that document state paitents should get a private prescription.

Cost cutting rather than a genuine ban on its use.

So you cannot do a job that doesn't involve flying at all? No jobs out there at all? Your job is your choice, no You shouldn't have to give it up if there are options (like diazapam) but bollocks is it a life or death situation

They used to say certain things were ok / good for you, but new research shows that they're not, maybe the new guidance is that it's not good for you? I don't know, I'm not a scientist

@FireFlyFleur I actually have a ongoing anxiety disorder not just a little phobia of spiders

drugs banned by the Aviation Authority

where have you got that from?

I'm hiding this thread now, are people on mumsnet always this stupid??

I am a practice manager.

This thread perfectly encapsulates the dilemma that my GPs face daily. At a macro-level, there is usually a consensus that the NHS is either under-funded or actually sloshing in cash that is badly managed. There is usually a consensus that "unnecessary" procedures shouldn't be funded by the NHS.
At a micro-level, the whole thing changes round. As soon as it gets personal, one person's "unnecessary" becomes another person's need. One person's entitlement is another persons lifeline.

That's the issue - we want it all from the NHS for ourselves but want the NHS to be "saved" as long as it is someone else who has to do without to save the cash.

I often deal with aggressive complaints about the "GP not giving me what I want". When the conversation with a GP becomes oppositional, everyone is onto a loser from the start. What someone may medically need may not be what they actually want. Try negotiating that one in a 10 minute appt as part of a 18 patient session.
For me, the bottom line is that each individual prescriber is legally accountable for their decisions. Each doctor has to assess the patient, check the medical evidence base, check the national and local prescribing policies, work out any exceptions and be able to fully justify those decisions up to decades later. Good clinicians will try their best to help you understand why they are making decisions but won't be drawn into making decisions that they cant defend.

And then I get a huge level of abuse too when I present the findings of the investigation that shows the guidance has been followed.

drugs banned by the Aviation Authority

grin where have you got that from?

I'm hiding this thread now, are people on mumsnet always this stupid??

It's a a question that I'm asking. It is a genuine question.

Has this drug or for that matter any other similar sediative drug been the subject of a ban or recommenadation not to be used by any compent authority like the CAA in the UK or been subect to any requiremt of the the Air Navigation Order/s in the UK whichj cover most all aspects of commercail flying in the UK relating to safety issues. For that matter has any recommendation been made by the AAIB either?

I'm just trying to ascertain if the ban on Diza prescribing is made as a cost cutting measure by bodies such as NICE or is there any probition on its use made by a compent aviation jurisdiction such as the CAA or similar body concered with aviation regulation or safety.

@Fazackerley PLEASE tell us that the reason you need to fly for work is because you're a pilot .

I nominate this thread for Classics.

Loads of people who are not pilots have to fly for work, Tequila. We live in a good ol' global economy. It's amazing.

I'm hiding this thread now, are people on mumsnet always this stupid??

Yes!