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?

I've just found 8 propanalol in my medicine cupboard from years ago, must be the same batch that I had a bit of a panic with my asthma with and I'm tempted to take one because I feel that bad.

Once we've taken off and we are up, I start to calm down and within an hour, I'm okay.

Also, DH had some Nytol in the cupboard from when he used to work nights and needed something to help him sleep in the day so I'll probably take one of those and pray it works.

Thanks everyone for the antihistamine suggestion, I will try to get some at Boots in the airport.

It sounds like you might have this sorted now.
I hope you have great holiday.

@anxiousflight I don't think the propranolol would be a good idea with your asthma.

The point is that it is dangerous to suddenly withdraw a mental health medication. If the psychiatrist/GP feels it should be stopped/changed it can be done in a managed way. My comment was about a Dr deciding to stop a medication with no plan or even communication with the patient.

Literally anyone with a SMI would know them as benzos, as well as anyone medical.

Sadly, this thread has many posts displaying profound ignorance about mental health issues. But yours takes the biscuit.

Ahh that thing is autoblocked I think

I suppose all GPs are saints and never suffer from worry or fear of anything, and never ever feel the need for a temporary respite from fear or anxiety. Bless them. They are so perfect.

I do realize that guidelines must be followed, but seriously, if GPs actually KNEW their patients then prescribing on a one off basis would not be an addiction issue.

One size does not fit all.

According to a GP posting on here I am dodgy as fk and likely an addict because I abbreviated benzodiazepines to benzos. But I am sure that GP knows me intimately and can judge what I am online. Well that's the way it's going.... online, or phone consults so I can't blame Gps in a way, how could they know if I am strung out or in need of a little help for a dental visit, a flight etc., without knowing me and my general demeanor.

Everyone's an addict or a potential one.

Love from The Benzo Babe.

2 - I know it's my choice to go on holiday and I'm privileged to be able to. Personally, I'm never going to deny my hardworking husband and my daughter a holiday because I have a fear. That's not fair.

Yes but as you say that's your choice. Expecting a GP to facilitate this is ridiculous. Just get a train or a ferry next time. Or do the fear of flying course.

No need to take it personally.

If I were able to prescribe I'd prescribe as many as you want.

Don't take an antihistamine as well as Nytol as they are very similar and the combination will knock you out.
I work in a GP surgery and our doctors took a decision recently to stop allowing even small numbers of these for flying as the medical insurers have warned they may not cover issues arising from them. Also the NHS is not supposed to supply medication needed solely for the purpose of travel/holiday. They send this letter with any refusal:

People sometimes ask the doctor or nurse to prescribe diazepam, or similar drugs like lorazepam temazepam or clonazepam, for fear of flying or to help sleep during flights.
Prescribing these drugs is not recommended any more for these reasons:

1. Although plane emergencies are rare, taking Diazepam reduces awareness and reaction times for patients so you risk not being able to react to save your life if you have to escape quickly. You may also put other people in danger by getting in their way or making them help you.
2. The use of these drugs can make you sleep in an unnaturally deep sleep. This means you won’t move around as much as during natural sleep so you have a bigger risk of getting a blood clot (Deep Vein Thrombosis – DVT) in the leg or lungs. Blood clots are very dangerous and can kill. This risk is bigger if your flight is longer than 4 hours.
3. They have short term bad effects on memory, co-ordination, concentration and reaction times, and are addictive if used for a long time, with withdrawal leading to fits, hallucinations, agitation and confusion. They have also become widely used drugs of abuse since they first came on the market. Diazepam in the UK is a controlled drug. The prescribing guidelines doctors have to follow say that that use to treat short-term ‘mild’ anxiety is inappropriate. They are only to be used short term for a ‘crisis in generalised anxiety’. But if you are having such a crisis you are not likely to be fit to fly. Fear of flying in isolation is not a generalised anxiety disorder.
4. Some people get agitated and aggressive after taking diazepam and similar drugs, and behave in a way that they would not normally, which can pose a risk on the plane. This affects everyone’s safety and could get you into trouble with the law. A similar effect can be seen with alcohol, which has led to people being removed from flights.
5. There is evidence use of these drugs stops the normal adjustment response that would gradually lessen anxiety over time, and may increase anxiety in the long term, especially if used repeatedly.
6. Diazepam and similar controlled drugs are illegal in a number of countriesi. They may be confiscated or you may find yourself in trouble with the police.
7. Diazepam stays in your system for some time. If your job or sport needs you to have random drug testing you may fail this having taken diazepam.
8. It is important to tell your travel insurer about your medical conditions and medications you take. If not, there is a risk of your insurer not paying if you try to make a claim.

So we will no longer be providing Diazepam or similar drugs for flight anxiety. Instead please try one of these aviation industry recommended flight anxiety courses. Fly And Be Calm™Fly And Be Calm™ is an instant download and comes with a money back guarantee (Guarantee does not apply to app versions).6 MP3 tracks which include instructions, the fear removal tool and two hypnotic tracks. The least expensive option, takes very little time, works on the root cause of your problem. If you are not 100% happy you can get a full refund. https://flyandbecalm.co.uk/ Easy Jetwww.fearlessflyer.easyjet.com British Airwayshttps://www.britishairways.com/en-gb/information/travelassistance/flying-with-confidence Virgin Atlantichttps://www.flyingwithoutfear.co.uk/

I’ve been a doctor for 32 years and have worked with literally hundreds of clinicians in that time, and none of them have used the term “benzos”. It’s a colloquial term used in an affectionate way by people whose familiarity with them suggests illicit use.

And regarding the withdrawal of drugs - OP is not an addict, she rarely uses diazepam, so there is no danger of a clinical withdrawal. But the reason she wants it is a reason which is no longer sanctioned by the relevant authorities. In the same way that GPs don’t prescribe “off licence” drugs, so they shouldn’t prescribe diazepam for flying. The British aviation authority does not support it, and therefore any GP prescribing it is going against flying guidelines. I’m not about to jeopardise my career for that.

There are lots of stressful situations (flying, medical procedures) where it's really helpful for a person to be able to have just one or even half a diazepam tablet to calm a person down.

All these people banging on about addiction are rather missing the point, as is so typical on MN.

So we have had...

People these days are just lazy. If you just pulled yourself together...

You are all addicted anyway.

Nice things aren't a human right. People like you don't deserve them and should just stay at home. Don't disturb the doctor with your entitlement, you pitiful junkie.

But thalidomide!

It's a bit like the mental health bingo. Did I miss anything?

You acknowledge that guidelines must be followed but then say an exception should be made for you!

I was a GP back in the days when we had a huge amount of prescribing freedom, very few guidelines, and were able to make clinical judgements based on individual patients. And generally it worked. But then came litigation. The rise in litigation by patients has lead to doctors practising defensive medicine, and adhering rigidly to guidelines, because they need the protective protocols. As a doctor, if you’ve followed guidelines but something goes wrong, you’re safe. If you haven’t followed guidelines, and have based your decisions on your personal knowledge of the patient, then you’re in the shit.

I will stick to guidelines whether I agree with them or not, because I don’t want to be dragged through court.

That is modern medicine, whether we like it or not.

That is not really fair. GPs used to prescribe diazepam for flying, so OP is NBU for asking. And you can only get them from a GP. Or is she meant to ask on the streets?

@MumblesParty
I understand your approach completely. I was making a general point, not about myself specifically. Medicine appears to have become quite depersonalised in recent years, and I know Covid was a factor in the reduction of F to F contact.

The new doctor may also have refused you the diazepam partially on this basis combined with the flight; taking benzodiazepines alongsuse.opiates increases the risk of respiratory depression. As well as for the other reasons listed.
My heart does go out to you; my own GP prescribes me strong opiates for my severe chronic pain (I always reduce my dose as quickly as possible, we've been working together on this for a decade) and I dread the day she retires.

I'm currently in hospital and it's not much better in here either; one doctor told me my CT scan was normal, then today another has told me I have a mass in my bowel & a dilated pancreatic duct so need to stay in for urgent investigations 🙃

Have you worked in psychiatric hospitals? Plenty of people call them benzos who do not use them illicitly!

My comment wasn't specifically about the OPs situation but about Drs (usually GPs) withdrawing a mental health drug without consultation because 'guidelines'.

Quite!

You’re wrong. Promethazine is an antihistamine which is first line for anxiety and /or agitation even in inpatient psychiatric services.

So why didn't her GP recommend that instead?

‘Student nurse ’ can you explain your concern? You seem to be confusing cessation of regular meds, which can be dangerous depending on the drug, with declining to prescribe a PRN, which is what’s happening here. The OP is describing using a total of perhaps 100mg of diazepam a year. What withdrawal features are you expecting to see in irregular use of a benzodiazepine as a rescue med at a total dose of less than 10mg a month?

The GP is in a difficult position being asked to prescribe drugs of addiction for a new patient. It’s unfortunate timing.