Dr refused anti anxiety meds

[anxiousflight]

Long history of depression and anxiety, it is mostly under control but something can set my anxiety off and I'll be bad for a couple of weeks.

I've recently moved drs surgery as moved house and my old GP would always give me about 10 diazepam or lorazepam a year, to help me through anxious periods.

I hate hate hate taking off on a flight and this has triggered my anxiety the past couple of weeks as I fly tomorrow first thing.

I booked an appt with new GP and first appt available was yesterday, the duty Dr said she was not happy to prescribe any diazepam as if there was an emergency I wouldn't be able to get off the plane??? I said, they help me rationalise and keep calm, they don't knock me out. She wasn't happy so said she'd get my actual GP to call me today. The receptionist called me at 4pm and said that my GP isn't happy to prescribe them either. Not happy that I was promised a call from my GP but she avoided the conversation and asked the receptionist to call me so I couldn't speak to anyone medically trained to help me. My medical records are there for drs to see so I cant understand at all why they couldn't issue me a small prescription.

I can't take propanalol due to an adverse reaction with my asthma a few years ago. So now I'm stuck without anything at all and I'm so panicky, I leave my house at 1:30am tomorrow morning.

Does anyone know if I call 111 will they be able to prescribe anything?

What's factual? That everyone who takes a diazepam has to be carried off the plane because they're so out of it? This is extremely silly you know.

It's for the fear of the dentist. Even if it's just a check up, so not that dissimilar.

But why did you wait until the day before to sort this? If you'd have seen the Dr earlier, they may have been able to offer alternatives.

It is. Dentists are considered beneficial to your overall health

The doctor doesn't know how the patient will react.

They have a duty of care to the public and patient in this respect.

It's not just the patient who might be at risk of someone is drugged up on a plane. It could affect other passengers and flight attendants.

Knowing that's what the patient wants the drug for, it would be potentially negligent to prescribe in this situation especially given the guidance.

Imagine there is an incident. Patient can't get off the plane quickly and blocks the passage way resulting in deaths or injury. Autopsy comes back saying on sedative no longer recommended was partially responsible.

Who is then liable?

The doctor can not reasonably be giving these drugs for this purpose with that in mind. It's unprofessional and dangerous.

In another scenario, it might be reasonable to give the drug for anxiety. But not this one.

OP needs to properly address the problem.

The excuse about not getting someone off a flight is ludicrous. Airlines routinely fill passengers up with alcohol to send them to sleep on long flights.

OP I’m certainly not giving you medical advice but other over the counter meds also have calming effects such as low dose cocodamol ( again addition risk but this is a one off), or an antihistamine ( Nytol tablets are basically antihistamines). I would probably go down this route in your shoes. Again, not medical advice just information for you to know.

Have a good trip.

You've been lucky, that may not last. I presume you don't use all of them, so keep the leftovers until they expire in case you could find yourself in the OPs shoes in future.

I'm not scared of flying as such but I do get anxious at the airport, fine once I'm in the plane and find that a latte ( the only time I have them) helps me feel relaxed.

Oh yes. I have a 'stash' (well about 14!) They are 2mg so literally just take the edge off

OP can you get hold of CBD oil or tablets from the chemist or a shop. Personally they work for me. I used to take diazepam but not for years.

I don't know how many times I need to say that this woman has been taking roughly 10 of these every year for many years. She does not respond to diazepam with sedation. People are not all the same in their responses to medication.

This is also of course a ridiculous argument because as someone upthread said, people get on planes out of their minds on alcohol regularly.

OP needed help. Today. She didn't get any.

Is the doctor liable for prescribing alcohol against guidelines for use with anxiety on planes?

No.

So shit comparison.

Correction.

She's been dependant on diazepam for ten years in order to fly.

Doctor says, this is no longer ok.

Doctor is within rights and good practice to do so.

Probably no one bothered to tell her that prescribing guidelines had changed so she had no idea it would be an issue. The doctors were able to offer her the help she needed for tomorrow, they just chose not to.

This and you weren’t advised by me. But in this case for this time I would do this and then follow up with a longer GP appointment and follow up with a better more long term plan gaffer.

does the beta blocker not calm you enough?

You seem to be doing this odd thing with the word dependant, as if you're equating it with being addicted. Anyway, fortunately from the sound of things there are good doctors out there who are capable of treating the actual patient in front of them.

The excuse about not getting someone off a flight is ludicrous. Airlines routinely fill passengers up with alcohol to send them to sleep on long flights.
That's true, good point.

I used to get so anxious flying that I would throw up repeatedly, I used to shake and could barely speak. Actually an out of hours gp that once saw me in that state assumed I was on drugs.

With one diazepam I would function like a normal human being - could listen to in flight instructions, answer immigration questions etc. Instead of constantly thinking WE ARE ALL GOING TO DIE every second of the journey and the days before.

These days GPS give you off label antidepressants for anxiety. Brutal side effects and very difficult to come off. But oh they are not addictive apparently.

She can't take propranolol due to some asthma issue. Maybe there are others she could take in future that would be ok, she could look into that.

Do they? Before they've even left the ground?

No, they don't.

When and for whom ARE benzos prescribed by GPs?

Doctors are not obliged to help within a set timescale for this travel.

If the doctor says 'yes this time but...' then what's to stop the OP saying it again next time.

Doctor sees a problem with this prescription. It's against guidelines. They are obliged to 'do no harm'. The harm is known addiction.

Continuing to prescribe isn't ok. The doctor has to say no at some point. They don't know when the next occasion the request will come again. This request is part of a pattern not an isolated request.

Most GPs are very reluctant to prescribe Benzodiazepines as they can be addictive. If it’s the occasional one off, rather than a repeat prescription, that’s not so bad but I’m not really that surprised a GP, who doesn’t even know you, wouldn’t do it.

That's an excellent point, anxiety can also make people unable to behave rationally in an emergency, which could be far more dangerous than someone simply being heavily sedated. Yeah, it's incredibly easy to get SSRIs prescribed for anxiety, and the withdrawal symptoms when people try to come off them are absolutely horrific for some people. But oh 10 diazepam a year, how shocking and dangerous!! Totally irrational stuff.

Don’t ask someone else to give you their meds!!!

Benzodiazepines (including diazepam, flunitrazepam and temazepam)Benzodiazepines are class C drugs. Some benzodiazepines belong to schedule 3 and some belong to schedule 4(1). Possession without a prescription, or supply or production without a licence, is illegal.
Possession carries a maximum sentence of 2 years’ imprisonment and a fine. Supply or production carries a maximum sentence of 14 years’ imprisonment and a fine.

That wasn't why the GP refused it. She refused it because 'if there was an emergency I wouldn't be able to get off the plane.' This also is essentially a one-off prescription, and her old GP, who knows her, also refused once the first GP had done so.