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?

She's at risk of addiction taking at most 10 diazepam a year is she? Sure. Yeah. That's gonna kick in any day now.

And again, that's not why she was refused the prescription. Why are you paying no attention to the facts here yet lecturing me about the GP's obligations?

Just a reminder that holidays via plane are not compulsory. If you believe you need addictive drugs to be able to cope with the flight, trains, cars, ferries and buses can get you to multiple destinations.

Holidays are not compulsory either.

Just plug into networks where you can get perfectly safe, prescription meds, by non-official means. Dig a bit. Do you have any friends with long-term chronic conditions like HIV? They will have access to friendly clinicians, and loads of drugs - benzos, zopiclone, xanax - that are handed out with very little monitoring. Ask those friends to give you a couple of pills, and you'll be grand.

Do you have a dog that gets upset at fireworks? The vet will give the dog Xanax/Tramadol and you can take these things perfectly safely.

Drugs have been exchanged via non-government sanctioned routes for all time. The OP is basically saying, I want these drugs, I know they are safe and effective for me, and the GP tells me I can't have them because policy. So go and get the drugs by some other means!

Just a reminder to all those with mental health problems, you are as entitled to go on holidays as anyone else, to go on flights, and to do anything else that causes you mental health challenges. You are also entitled to decide for yourself with the help of doctors how best to treat and manage your mental health so that you can live as full a life as possible.

Everyone saying it is so terribly addictive - no, not always. I took it every day for a year when my former partner was dying. Weaned myself off (my own decision). It was fine.

Nothing is inherently addictive. People given Morphine in hospital don’t (usually) come out the other end with an opiate addiction. The point is it’s a drug that some people DO become addicted to so many GPs are hesitant to prescribe it.

I didn't read it as either GP knowing her.

I took it to be that she's at a new practice, the duty GP wasn't prepared to give it her, and neither was her new 'actual' GP.

You can't just demand benzodiazepines as they are a prescription drug for a reason.

I'm pretty sure no one's arguing that everyone should be given all the benzos all the time forever.

If someone had a severe anxiety attack on board, would they have anything to give you? I guess they wouldn’t as they don’t have your medical history. Just curious.

If Op has been provided with ten tabs a year I think you can assume addiction hasnt been a problem! Its appalling for a GP not to see you and discuss an option, Amitriptyline for instance. On your return ask for a meeting with the practice manager and your GP. This is all shades of poor practice just leaving you hanging.

Sorry for hijacking the thread but why are women put through this as standard? My mum had a hysteroscopy recently and also without pain relief, numbing… anything at all. She said it was more painful than childbirth and it had to be stopped because she couldn’t cope with the pain. By contrast someone I know recently had a vasectomy and “didn’t feel a thing”. They really took care of him while women are just expecting to deal with this shit?!

@Pollyputhekettleon - people with MH issues can absolutely go on holiday using whatever mode of transport they like. What they can't do is demand addictive Class C drugs from NHS GPS to enable them to do that.

Yes I noticed that. Here in Ireland, and in other countries, GA is standard for a hysteroscopy as far as I recall. NHS policy stinks of penny pinching to me, and of course women will put up with it where men wouldn't, so on it goes.

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.'
I was inclined think that was just something she came out with as an excuse because she couldn’t be arsed to get into a debate about guidelines but, I dunno, maybe she really thinks 10mg Diazepam is incapacitating 🤷‍♀️ Stranger things have happened.

I took it to be that she's at a new practice, the duty GP wasn't prepared to give it her, and neither was her new 'actual' GP
Yes I think it was the duty Gp and the Gp she’s registered with at the new practice who said no.

To be clear, BNF guidance explicitly states benzodiazepines (including diazepam, however low the dose) are explicitly contraindicated in phobic states (for example, fear of flying). The GP is being asked to prescribe something directly against guidance, moreover their indemnity (medicolegal protection) is null and void when the patient is overseas. So despite the low chance of any issues (and they do happen) you are asking a medical professional to put their career on the line and prescribe directly against guidance, with not a legal leg to stand on risking legal action against them by the airline should there be an issue outside of the UK on a return flight- because you want to go on holiday.

I was in hospital believing I was having heart attack, after a really stressful traumatic event, I had sinus tacky which then manifested into the mother of all panic attacks. Honestly horrific. What a dark terrifying place to be. My partner asked them if there was anything they could give me, like a Valium and they said no. CBT. 😂

Not helpful to your question, but I’m claustrophobic and also have a fear of flying.

my GP has no issue with prescribing diazepam for my annual MRI scan and when I fly (in the small quantities that I need).

for flying I have x4 5mg. 2 for the flight out there and 2 for the return. It’s hardly addiction territory and just a sensible prescription.

Oh no, addictive class C drugs! Some of you are absolute drama queens, what on earth is that about. She'll be put in jail! She'll have to be hauled off the plane unconscious! She's going to get addicted to 10 diazepam a year! We're all gonna die!!! The lazy cow needs to CBT harder, and do all the hard things instead of taking the easy option! Easy options are morally bad. Thank god you don't control her access to medication and there are sane doctors out there who will actually work with her in a normal and professional way. She just needs to find one of those long term.

@polly shame on you really for preaching about mental health problems and then calling people who don’t agree with you psychos!

I'm so sorry. Glad you can laugh about it now, you do need a black sense of humour to deal with this kind of nonsense!

Won't someone pleeeeasenthink of the sociopaths! I'm going to tell myself you're joking, in order to maintain what faith I have in human nature. I won't read anything to the contrary.

Goodness me - some of these posts are just absolutely appalling to read. OP, I'm so sorry your post has attracted some really irrational and, quite frankly, odd responses. These people have absolutely no understanding of mental health.

I have also used diazepam for severe panic disorder and, back when I was really unwell and experiencing horrific panic attacks constantly, I would have committed suicide without being prescribed it. In my case, it saved my life, and it's rare that I use it now. Some people just don't understand how serious mental health problems are, and they have the dangerous attitude that CBT or therapy works wonders for everyone. It doesn't always.

As for your flight, how do you get on with alcohol? I wanted to avoid diazepam on a recent flight so I had a few glasses of wine beforehand and it worked just as well as diazepam. If alcohol doesn't have a good effect on you then I'd also recommend seeing a private psychiatrist. A lot of GPs are like the previous posters on this thread... clueless about mental health.

Make sure to get your prescriptions well in advance, your GP could be forced to stop offering you that in future, and you may need to investigate other options. Don't end up like the OP.

Gosh - just reading some of these posts and feeling very grateful for a rational and understanding GP!