GP refused me Valium for a long flight

[MinesaBottle]

DH and I are flying to Australia next week for a family funeral. I don’t cope well with flying at all, and for the last few years I’ve gone to the GP and been prescribed a few 2mg Valium for the flights (we’ve already been to NZ this year - another funeral) and last year (dsd’s wedding). Which is a way of saying I’ve taken it on long flights before with no issues. I don’t drink alcohol on flights either.

I went to the GP today to ask for some Valium or similar and she flat out refused! She said she won’t prescribe Valium for flights because ‘you won’t move around and you’ll be at risk of DVT’. How much did she think I’d take?! I’ve flown on it before and always been conscious (I can’t sleep on planes anyway) and moved around; I always get an aisle seat so I can get up. She prescribed propranolol instead; I’ve never had it and it only calms physical symptoms of anxiety, not mental ones (is what she said). I’m also worried it might interact with paroxetine; she said not but didn’t actually look it up!

Weirdly I was in tears when I got in—I think because of the disruption to my usual routine when flying. I feel like she was judging me too. But regardless, should I see a private GP (there’s one near work) and see if they would prescribe five or six Valium or similar? I need the mental calming too. I have ADHD and my thoughts race at the best of times, never mind on a long flight heading to a funeral!

Weirdly I had the opposite last year. I asked the GP for propranolol to help me stay calm for a big presentation and the GP insisted on giving me Valium instead.

Now I like Valium and have taken it for travel and medical procedures but it certainly wasn't appropriate when I needed to be sharp for a presentation. I was so pissed off that this GP just wouldn't listen to me.

I use propranolol for anxiety attacks and find it quite effective in calming my body and it very much helps me think straight

I’m definitely not an addict, I can assure you! I don’t even like it much but it helps. Yes, I’ve done three long flights recently but unfortunately that’s what you get when you marry someone from the other side of the world, with elderly parents. There’s no way I can miss the funeral. The rest of the family even postponed so we had time to get there.

I can just about manage a short flight but when you’re talking 12+ hours I get anxious at all kinds of things. Maybe it’s being stuck in the plane for that long, I don’t know. My mind races at the best of times but goes haywire on long flights; the slightest intrusive thought and it’s off to the races, in a bad way.

I took them for years had post natal depression. They really helped.

Oh, c'mon, 2mg of Valium in one person for a flight for a funeral does not an addict make!

Tbh, for the comment about chemists who'll dispense it, it's true in some places in Europe and much more so in some parts of the world, but the OP is here.

Not sure you can just pop a propranolol they are meant to be taken over a long time?

she said not but didn’t actually look it up!

Funnily enough, I don't tend to look stuff up either, when laypeople ask me a professional question that I know the answer to because - y'know - ITS MY JOB.

However ... to bypass the immediate refusal, & give you comfort, as you have access to a private doc, for goodness sake go & get yourself a small amount of Valium. I suspect just having them available will give you confidence as you are familiar with how they work & trust the effects.

So long as you're not actally stockpiling the feckers, why shouldn't you access a little help for a horrible long haul flight? Anxiety's a bitch - good luck with the travel.

Perhaps she didn't look it up because she already knows that they don't interact; which they don't. They are both pretty commonly prescribed drugs so she has probably had hundreds of patients on both. Paroxetine is a commonly used antidepressant and propanolol a commonly used drug for anxiety. They are prescribed together regularly. I'm not sure why you seem annoyed by her not looking them up?

Also - and I mean this with respect - but she doesn't really need to explain why she doesn't like prescribing valium; whether it's due to personal preference or due to adhering to guidelines. She has given you something to help you but if you would prefer to have valium then you could always try your luck with a private GP. To be honest, I would always go private for something like that.

All the best with the flight. EasyJet do a 'nervous flier' course which has fantastic success apparently. Maybe something to look into if you do a lot of flying.

I’ve a prescription for Valium (well the off brand one) with a dire warning that they’re very much ‘In case of emergency break glass’ pills.

Mine are for back spasms though. They can and do prescribe them still but with great caution.

Wanting her to look it up is more for my own peace of mind really. Part of my anxiety is that I worry about drugs interacting with my antidepressants. I know it’s not logical but there we are.

I didn’t suggest the OP was an addict. I said that doctor shopping is a behaviour displayed by addicts. I didn’t say the OP is doing that either.

My GP always gives me 20mg each way. Perfect

That’s what I thought too @brighteyeowl17. I’ve been on propranolol for years for anxiety, but I take a fixed daily dose not as and when.

Get them privately. An Aussie friend of mine just took them for a long haul flight. She didn’t mention any difficulty getting them.
2mg is nothing. Addict? Lol

Get some phenergan from the pharmacy. Have used it travelling. Will at least make you drowsy.

Op. If you can get Valium privately or whatever go and get some. It's important to feel confident and if you know that sorts you then get some. However, a propananol one hour before flight will work- I think you take them 12 hourly. You've got no physical sensations of panic so you just need to sort your head out and for me a couple glasses of wine will sorts that right out. And I'm terrified of the whole thing. Before I was confident of the one tablet one hour before I used to take one also the night before because I was so nervous. Don't need to now I am confident one before the flight works.

I’ll give the private GP a go. There’s no way I’d be able to get another appointment with another doctor at my surgery before the flight anyway.

Going private is not 'doctor shopping' .

When people say go privately what does that mean in practice? How do you find a private GP?

What isitxmasyet says. And I'd add that 2mg is a placebo dose in terms of affecting your anxiety. Any benefit you feel is in the mind, and you will probably find Valerian or similar just as effective.

Unfortunately, even 2mg of diazepam is not a placebo in terms of side-effects, as isitxmasyet describes. Just because you took it without a problem in the past doesn't mean you won't have side-effects this time.

Can you get it from a private GP? Probably. But ask yourself why the NHS GP - who has nothing to gain from refusing wouldn't give it to you - when a private GP might. Who is most likely to have your best interests at heart?

Here is the guidance on why Valium should not be prescribed, posted by an aviation doctor on a previous thread on this topic:

1) the use of any sort of CNS depressant during a flight will put the passenger at significant risk of not being able to act in a manor which could save their life in the event of a safety critical scenario (& there will be no-one else to do it for them - cabin crew are there to guide them & not do it for them); 2) the use of any sort of CNS depressant has potential to increase the risk of DVT - these drugs can induce non-REM sleep which tends to be of a type where the person does not move in their sleep, and therefore increases the possibility of sitting without moving for more than 4 hrs (the amount of time which has been shown to increase the risk of developing DVT whether in an aeroplane or elsewhere); 3) A paradoxical increase in aggression may be reported by patients taking benzodiazepines (see BNF) & therefore has potential to put other occupants of the aircraft at risk; 4) benzodiazepines are contraindicated in phobic states (see BNF); 5) for some countries it is illegal to import these drugs and so the passenger will need to use a different strategy for the homeward bound journey and / or any subsequent legs of the journey; 6) NICE guidelines suggest that medication should not be used for mild & self limiting mental health disorders; in more significant anxiety related states - benzodiazepines, sedating antihistamines or antipsychotics should not be prescribed

No-one NEEDS diazepam to get on a plane, because no-one NEEDS to get on a plane. Flying will always be a life choice not a necessity

Sadly, JudgeyPants @gingersausage, this flight for OP is actually more of a death choice, as she has to attend a family funeral. What an arsehole the dead party was, not to give a month's notice of their imminent departure, so OP could go by ship instead.

Doctor shopping until you find one to give you the drugs you want is the behaviour of an addict.
I don't think addiction is defined as wanting to use a small amount of a trusted drug, once or twice a year, for a specific purpose, for a specific time, in place of one that you know nothing about & fear you may react badly to.
I suspect that it's about 100% more likely you merely wished to fling the epithet "drug addict" at the OP because you are cross for your own reasons.

Valerian does absolutely nothing for me I’m afraid. Even if the benefit is in the mind that means I can cope better with being stuck in a metal tube with 600 other poor buggers for twelve to fourteen hours at a time!

no-one would suggest someone in pain should just deal with it because they dont like handing out painkillers I can assure you that people in pain are told to just deal with it. Along with being told they're making up the pain. It's cruel.

Amen sonypony.

sonypony this is true, sadly, even for acute pain - when I had a colposcopy a couple of years back I was doubled over and the nurse gave me one paracetamol and told me I’d be fine in a minute