To think the doctor shouldn't refuse me my medication?

[lisaboob]

Hi,I've been a long time sufferer of anxiety for over 10 years.
A lot better now but still really anxious before a big event or a event that's out of my comfort zone.
My doctor prescribed me diazepam 2 years ago (28 tablets ) and they've just ran out.
Went to GP today and said no ..and offered me anti depressants.
I refused and left with nothing.
I use half a tablet before a big event etc hence why they lasted 2 years
Now I have things coming up this year and I'm going to have to cancel now.
Aibu to think this isn't ok?

You were having diazepam once a week on average. Over two years! I can see why the doctor didn’t prescribe any more.

Oh over two years not one - every fortnight then.

I felt safe knowing I had it for emergency's

I agree that it was a placebo. If he had said "OK" and given you, what he said, was a generic form of Diazapam which was just a sugar pill, you would have had the same feeling of safety.

Its not the tablet you need but the feeling of security that having it gives you.

That is like saying that someone with asthma should be given placebo inhalers because they just need the security of knowing it’s there. Until they can’t breathe ...

But someone with asthma wouldn’t just be given oral steroids once a month they would be given a long term care plan in order to control the condition properly.

Reactive treatment plans are rarely the best plan of action. Much better to be proactive to reduce the problem in the first place.

User, it's nothing like a placebo inhaler!

Christ just buy it online or from your friendly neighbourhood dealer. The ones who sell pharmaceuticals instead of street drugs are usually quite nice.

You don’t ever go the GP and ask for benzos by name, it’s a quick way to leave the surgery with nothing. I take one every three weeks or so and have done for years. Can sometimes go 6 mths without taking one. I’m not addicted at all! My DM has had a script for so long she has boxes and boxes of the stuff stashed in her house. That’s someone who is addicted to benzos!

They're a crutch you don't need. Throw off your oppressors and learn you can cope just fine. Hard. But worth it.

I think all the carefully thought out adviceon this thread is just going to be wasted on the OP, sadly. She's clearly not remotely interested in anything other than the drugs she wants and is not going to listen to anything that contradicts that.

Agreed TheOnly. Multiple doctors have explained the rationale but it's not good enough.

A drug supposed to be for crisis, which OP is having at the very whiff of what might be a stressful event is not the safe and proper consumption that her and some people on this thread seem to think.

I have seen this sort of thing though in the older generation of patients I have, I suspect it's from how valium was prescribed back then so not their fault. They're very insistent on having access to sedatives and don't see them as a huge deal at all.

You have anxiety at events much like most people do! If you only need them at events and your so bad how do you get through the rest of the time!

@lexiconmistress, you clearly lack understanding of anxiety. Many people take over the counter drug for psychological reasons. Howxmamy people take paracetamol for very mild pain as soon as they feel it as a preventive measure and knowing they've taken it is helping them psychologically? It is much more psychological dependence than physical. Same with people who take vitamin C as soon as they feel a cold coming etc...

General anxiety can definitely be helped with cbt, meditation etc... Some event specific anxiety can also sometimes be helped with it, but many won't. It's be s'use just like the paracetamol taken at the very start of a headache because it reassures the person that it will stop them getting a very bad one although they are likely not to and might have got rid of it by just getting some fresh air, people who rely on valium for a specif event do so to prevent them from the fear of being terrified by the event.

In an ideal world, there would be no preventative medicine at all and we would all learn to live with out worries and fears, however, we live in a different society where people have a glass of wine at night to relax in case they will still feel stressed and won't get a good night sleep. People take heartburn pills before eating a big meal just in case.

Valium is no different when it is taken very occasionally for that same reasons, however, it is be s'use of the high risk of dependence for SOME people that many doctors prefer not to prescribe to anyone.

The thing that I find strange is the drug that clearly helps a lot of people is so badly thought of.
If it was as bad as people make out surely it would be banned?
I would rather take that over a b/b or A/D any day.
Never had a side effect from diazepam ..the other two made me ill.

I bet most of the people here who are spouting that diazepam is the anti christ etc have never experienced anxiety that effected them

Well then you would bet wrong.

To be as nice as possible.

If you haven't been clinically diagnosed with anxiety then you probably haven't got it. If you had been diagnosed with anxiety that is now 90% of time fine, then you just have normal nerves before an event as you said.

If you did have enough anxiety to warrant wanting to take a sedation pill, you would have accepted the antidepressants or CBT alternative.

I'm a long time sufferers of general and health anxiety. I was offered antidepressants but could take them from shear fear if having a reaction. I begged my doctor to refer me to a therapist.

Everybody get nervous before doing something out of the ordinary. People with anxiety get nervous about leaving the house.

Try a lavender bath the night before. Its calming.

Also, diazepam and all its family are a drug used for when you visit the dentist or need a procedure that can help you relax, it's in no way meant for a mental health illness.

I have bipolar and GAD so like Surzy said, you're wrong. Honestly OP just ring your GP back and ask to see them. Work with them. Your anxiety isn't controlled if you need to take a sedative before an event you think might be stressful.

*Sirzy sorry

I'm having a laparoscopy soon and was hoping for them to take before that.

That really would not have been a good idea. Medication given before operations especially ones not carried out under General Anaesthetic use drugs very similar to diazepam for sedative reasons and your operation could well be cancelled if you have taken diazepam already.

Diazepam is a prescription drug, how do people buy it online unless your on the dark web?

"If it was as bad as people make out surely it would be banned?"

Well as you're finding it is severely restricted so for most people it's as good as banned and with good reason. Your fixation on needing this one drug is sounding more and more like dependency. Just because it's small amounts doesn't mean it's not a form of addiction. It's just compartmentalised, attached to a particular situation, like always smoking at a party. The issue only arises when suddenly you can't have it.

Yousicktwistedfruit

Can’t your father take a regular anti epileptic drug like Epilim! Or, are you saying he only has a seizure once in a blue moon for which he had an aura and took diazepam? In that case, I imagine he could ask for clobazam 10mg tablets instead?

It’s the same family, but less addictive and used widely in epilepsy. It can make you sleepy, and used every day, tolerance does develop - but used occasionally as an emergency or preventative medication, it’s very effective at stopping seizures in the short term! I find hysteria about benzodiazepines odd in the context of epilepsy, when clobazam, buccal midazolam, rectal diazepam and lorazepam are all firstline emergency drugs!