GP messing with medication

[SimplySteveRedux]

Moved in October last year and had to transfer GPs. I take around 15 different medications each month and have seen numerous professionals over the years, and has taken close to a decade to find a medication regime that works for me.

However, my medication was summarily reviewed in November, and no changes made. Since them I have had a strong opiate removed from my repeat and I have to request it individually; same with diazepam,; same zopiclone; same anti-sickness drug. I've now been asked to attend another medicaments review.

AIBU to question what they are doing? How do I prepare to deal with - I will be in a terrible state if the above three medications are deemed unsuitable, and worried they may individually target others. I have several medical conditions, some of which are rather broad in regard to symptoms. Not sure what to do here!

Thanks for reading :)

I’m so sorry for you and your DD Sooverthemill. What a truly awful situation to be in.

@Tolleshunt thank you. We are so used to it now (7 years now) that we kind of forget that not everyone has a DD in constant pain needing 24/7 care. She's 20 almost 21. She is just in bed each day of her life waiting to recover.

It is naive to believe that only those with severe addiction looking for drugs on the street have a problem.

It's the same as people who dring a bottle of wine or more every night that helps them relax and function the next day and claim they don't have a problem with alcohol because they function well.

There will people with very serious addictions to prescribe drugs there will also be people whose such pain levels are such that it's a case of being on a cocktail of drugs or they might as well not be alive.

But there are also agreeing number of people addicted who take painkillers for the buzz it gives them above the pain it release and this can affect anyone.

Shear or so ago, a poster was telling about her husband GP writing prescription under her name and pressurising her to go to different pharmacies. She was very worried about him and how he was functioning but he was convinced all was fine.

Painkillers do have effects that will have damaging affects on health long term. It's all good looking at instant benefits and ignoring how it will impact in 10 years time. The NHS has a responsibility to protect people's long term health as much as possible and with the increase dependency levels of functioning people,it is only right to put measures in place to gain more control.

It's all good looking at instant benefits and ignoring how it will impact in 10 years time.

Oh, please! You operate on that paradigm and you have a body count and costs going up up and up. You can't operate medicine on a predicted future life because it's not guaranteed to anyone. ALL 'drugs' can have long-term side effects, even paracetamol. And some will need them for longer than others, say, anti-depressants or medication for ADHD or other conditions such as this. And the real problem with campaigns like this is that are a one-size-fits-all approach, that's what targets are when you apply them to people, who are not widgets. It doesn't take into account the fact that not treating pain effectively and withdrawing what works due to potential for long-term side effects or decreased efficacy without a very real alternative in place (which there is not) can cost a whole hell of a lot more to the NHS and society as a whole, not to mention the reality that some people will in fact end their lives (of course, that in itself can be seen as a success in statistics same as with cutting benefits to disabled people). It's removing a fly from someone's forehead with a sledgehammer.

And the real problem with campaigns like this is that are a one-size-fits-all approach, that's what targets are when you apply them to people, who are not widgets.

Nailed it @EuroMillionsWinner

You have to deal with the here and now. Like I previously wrote, pain levels are subjected on an individual basis, we all experience pain differently. I have a condition called Central Sensitisation Syndrome - this exacerbates pain levels, I've been administered IV morphine in A&E over 10 times in the past 18 months. We don't have the scope to know what we are precursors to in 10/20/30 years time, although technology is accelerating at light speed. It's relatively simple for a diagnostic check/biopsy to indicate the potential for illness to occur - scanning for breast cancer and morphing cells and prostate cancer are two examples.

This entire situation shows that when we treat everyone as a global group, pain levels can be assumed a different level to the patient's description, or even ignored completely. With pain we need to be treated seriously, as individuals. The adjunct of psychological intervention further makes pain almost a laughing matter, with many doctors dismissing it immediately. This has to change.

I'm so sorry for your situation @Sooverthemill , my heart goes out to you

I completely agree with Euro and Steve about the bone-headed one-size-fits-all approach.

What do you suggest people with chronic pain do, then, Dontdisturbmenow? Just suffer?

Just wanted to update. I saw the lead doctor on Friday. He's male, and I have massive issues with men when alone. I was stressing massively in the waiting room, could feel palpitations starting.

Saw him, completely withdrew into myself but managed to explain well enough the issue. His view is if I'm stable then he doesn't want to rock the boat and potentially make things worse. Wants me to be reviewed every three months due to the amount of controlled, addictive, strong, drugs I'm on, which is fair enough.

90-minute full-blown panic attack in the car, but worth it to get his notes on my file (I didn't disclose this earlier but I had a telephone consult with a different male partner about diazepam and his arrogance and hubris made me feel like a five-year-old).

Will I see the head GP next time? Tough one.

Thank you to everyone who took the time to post.

Glad to hear they’re leaving you as you are. The regular reviews are a good thing with so many meds, but I know how worrying it is when they mess with a regime that works. Maybe see if you can request to see him again next time, or even change so that you’re registered as his patient due to your complex issues.

I need to book another appointment about a new issue so I'm planning to book with the female partner and see how things go.