My husband has taken my diazepam, again!!

[Givenup2026]

This is at least the second time that it has happened. My GP is very kind that they give me 6 pills very much every now and then that I use when to relax as a “one off “. They’re great, and genuinely maybe I’ve taken like 12 pills in my entire life.

anyway I’ve just discovered my husband took my whole stash at some point because of “hip pain”. The irony is don’t even work for him!!!! I’m furious!!

I looked at the BNF

As far as I can see that is still okay with it for short-term anxiety, sleep, and dental surgery

Where are you looking just out of interest, I mean what are the sources? I don't know how often they update BNF.

I think I might actually write to the practice manager. You can obviously look at my thread but it's part of a bigger picture with the doctor essentially wanting to push me back to taking long-term medication.

It's been so fantastic to come off it. I have no intention of going back to it unless I really have to and a short-term set of dental surgeries is not the reason to go back to it.

Anyone with extensive experience of mental health problems (like me) will know that doctors have a huge tendency to push you back onto permanent medication and I'll never understand why. Possibly it makes them more money in terms of patient funding.

Please don't tell the OP to go against the medical advice of her GP

No one should take medication prescribed by a Dr for someone else,tell your DH he needs to see his Gp for his health issues.
Im shocked a Dr would provide a controlled drug a benzodiazepine for occassional relaxation ,im truly shocked.

Nope. Citalopram is an SSRI and prescribed for general anxiety and depression, which OP doesn’t have. It works in a completely different way to Diazepam. OP and her GP have clearly devised a treatment plan on a strict as and when needed basis, and it avoids over medicating s condition that doesn’t require longer term drugs.

Read the thread - or at least OP’s updates. It’s not for occasional relaxation.

Agree. Some of the finger wagging on the thread is obnoxious. I’m stepping back from it now. The ignorance of MH conditions, lack of reading comprehension and the need for some posters to lecture OP as though she’s a drug addict is shocking. The notion that you can replace an agreed treatment plan with a medical professional, with ice cream and a good book is a reach, even for MN.

The dental surgery was from my own experience. Dentist wouldn’t prescribe it and when l asked my GP he said that most GP’s won’t prescribe for dental work any more - something about pushing the prescribing responsibility onto the wrong professional. I do think you have a point about the financial side - l would imagine long term MH meds are more lucrative than short term, tightly controlled supply of Diazepam as and when needed.

You can buy small medication boxes which have a code, they are big enough to keep meds in, without the code obviously it can't be opened.

You are doing the right thing having your husband speak to the GP. Partly because he needs to come clean. Partly because it is important the GP knows it is unlikely you took the pills yourself.

the odds of criminal prosecution are laughable. They want people to come forward with addiction problems, not to hide.

i really would not worry about the usage level your doctor has authorized for you.

I wouldnt tell the GP at all, they wont prescribe any more. You can get medication like that privately and given you dont use a lot of it, I would probably do that in future. I know people who go abroad to get it.

A friend of mine who is a nurse needs them very occasionally a bit like the OP, she gave the GP both barrels recently when he refused to prescribe them and he then did so, but I suppose she knows the right thing to say.

Dentists can prescribe midazolam

I think the OP is probably making her condition sound milder than it is which many of us do sometimes, or all the time. So when she says she takes it to relax, she means she takes it when her anxiety gets really bad. It's not like the kind of relaxing you can do with a book. I am the same with tranexamic acid. It makes my periods lighter but it makes them longer too. So when I am just at home I put up with clots the size of 10p coins and having to change the biggest tampon they sell every half an hour. But if I'm going out and would rather not take spare clothes, 20 tampons, a load of pads and several period pants on a day out then I take the tranexamic acid and have a period that is more manageable but lasts 10+ days instead of my usual 7.

Op I would be livid if someone took my medication like that. Can you keep it where your dh can't get at it?

I have a dog addiction, my dog is called Benzo
This statement is actually 100% true
Sorry for continuing to detail this thread

Your title says “again”
you said he’s done drugs in the past
I’m not sure why after the first time a proven user has done this you’re surprised?

I’m sorry if this was me there wouldn’t have been a second time, you’re with an addict and you need to decide if this is the life for you or whether you wish to higher your standards here because you deserve better.

And aside from the fact that it is not appropriate, Citalopram takes around 2 weeks to take effect.

I've been getting a prescription every few months - as I said, the lowest dose and in limited amounts.

I told my GP that I was concerned about possible dependency, but she told me that the fact that I'm concerned and that she's monitoring how much I'm getting means that this isn't an issue.

Apart from the immediate aftermath of my DH's death, I've had it when going to hospital and also for the anniversary of the death.

This, he knowingly and selfishly took your prescription drugs leaving you with none, and potentially risking you not being prescribed any more ever again because surely the gp's alarm bells are going to ring and they will think you are lying if you ask fro more.

Why would you remain with this man?

Yes. My GP did try me with Sertraline for anxiety, but it didn't agree with me and I don't need medication all the time: I've found that I'm better in spring and summer and going to the gym has been a big help.

So, not for hip pain then ...

My long term partner took my codeine I need for a chronic pain condition. I rarely use it as I'm well managed, so when I did need it and found it all gone, I was furious and devastated. He'd taken 100s, over months. He said 'stress'. I said in that case he needed MH support, if he was so stressed he was stealing drugs from a disabled person who he supposedly loved, leaving them in pain. He didn't get the support, so I broke up with him, and he moved out. I couldn't understand how he could steal from and lie to me. It was a huge and devastating betrayal that completely changed how I saw him.

He didn't take ALL of your Diazepam stash for no reason, what a load of BS he is spouting!

Sad that you cannot trust him to leave your prescription medication alone.

Your GP gives you diazepam to "relax"?

But its 6 pills a go and youve only had 12 ever?

Where are these pills going the rest of the time? The Drs arent giving out this kinda drug to stockpile.

But would I be raging my husband was stealing my prescription drugs. Yes. And despite what some PPs are saying I wouldnt tell your GP. You can get more jail time for giving away prescription drugs, or stealing them than cannabis.

This. What's the saying? Fool me once, down to you, fool me twice, down to me.

You all would be very shocked at how easy it is to get Diazepam ESPECIALLY if you have mental health related issues...

I can book an appointment with my GP and leave with a month's supply if I so wanted too, all I have to do is say 'im not sleeping well due to XYZ' and il be given it. No I don't do this, I haven't taken Diazepam for a long long time.

When my partner was suffering with anxiety and depression they gave him Diazepam to take alongside Mirtazepine for the 'harder' days..

If you've already had it prescribed once then you can get it whenever you ask essentially.

I was on Quetiapine for a long time, I came off it for a long time and this is a drug that you should only get from a psychiatrist, initially that was the case but after a while the GP would just do it. Even now I've been off it 2 years I could go in tomorrow and say I need to go back on it and be handed them. (Quetiapine is an antipsychotic btw)