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!!

@ThreadGuardDog in my hospital it’s not. It’s in our normal drug cupboard. we use it a lot for children with fractured femurs.

This thread has been an absolute eye opener for me. I’ve had horrific anxiety and also back spasms (usually as a result of the anxiety as I tense up) and it’s never occurred to me to go to the doctors, I usually make a physio appointment.

im so cautious though so I’d be petrified to take anything for fear of getting addicted. I’m going to have to have a rethink!

Is he using them for some sort of buzz?
Hide them in something then?
At or wirh a nearby friend or relatives?
Ask him if he wabts to end up a druggie again.

And you think he's going to do that? I've got a bridge to sell you....

He doesn’t socialise outside our home so no, they were all taken to “enjoy” himself although he’s always said they have zero effect on him.

How does taking a temporay pills work tho?
Knock you out or sedate or mellow you?
Would something to keep a even level be worth while?
Or was it temporary challelleging moments in life.
I dont know anything about this drug.
Seems like a possible addictive habit for you too.

This may not be useful to you OP, but may be useful to others - have you tried CBD to calm down racing thoughts? You can buy it in various forms from various places. I use the drinks - little cans they are. I was really overwhelmed with work recently and my head was swimming with a million thoughts and I was about to host a meeting with a lot of people at work and it was like I couldn’t focus or even remember what I was supposed to be talking about. Had one of those drinks and within minutes my mind quietened right down, thoughts stopped racing and I could function normally.

They kind of separate the threads of thought in my head and focus in the most challenging one. I’ve only ever taken in situations of very high stress.

I got this prescription because one meeting with my now former manager left me shaking because of how bad it was. I didn’t have them with me at the time, so didn’t really need them (and my manager stopped being the way she was being) but if had continued I would have ended up unable to think about anything else and just paralysed.

I take dihydrocodeine daily but wouldn't be impressed if DH took it to "relax". It's an abuse of the drug. OP keep it hidden next time!

It calms you down when you're having an awful anxiety attack, that's it.

I still can't believe people think that having to take a very occasional (prescribed) low dose benzodiazapine means you're an addict! But would probably quite happily take daily anti-depressants.

I think everyone’s going a bit hysterical about the OP getting half a dozen low dose diazepam a couple of times over the past 5 years. These drugs can be useful when used responsibly, which she is doing under the supervision of a GP. That’s what they’re there for. Her husband clearly has an underlying issue with drugs and I suspect has eaten them all at once because he couldn’t resist. Lay off the OP and stop shaming her for using appropriate medication for her situation. Any one of you could be given these at a rough point in life, they give lots of people a lifeline when needed and they never need them again.

OP, you describe him as taking more than the prescribed dose of his own medication (makes him feel like he’s on clouds) and of likely having eaten all of these pills in one go - that’s the behaviour of someone with a serious problem.

He will have been absolutely spannered if he’s eaten six 5mg or 10mg pills at once.

How often is he himself being prescribed medication and do you think he actually needs it for a condition or he “needs it”?

It works exceptionally well for pain caused by spasms, like back pain. It's a muscle relaxant and is prescribed for this purpose.

What did he say when you told him to ring the GP and report himself for stealing and abusing he drugs? Is it likely he will actually do this?

I got this prescription because one meeting with my now former manager left me shaking because of how bad it was. I didn’t have them with me at the time, so didn’t really need them (and my manager stopped being the way she was being) but if had continued I would have ended up unable to think about anything else and just paralysed.

I don't think your GP is right to give you drugs like this.
You should be learning to cope with strong emotions and what you describe are normal feeling which EVERYONE HAS at some point in their lives.

To use them as some coping mechanism for normal life events which you can learn to deal with is wrong.

Shaking- yes, okay. We've all been there. It passes. It doesn't need a drug to medicate your feelings.

It's worth you looking at mindfulness, meditation, yoga, even going for a long walk and clearing your head. Talking to a good friend and sharing it all.

I say this as one of my family was given that drug and (a long time back) became addicted and never got off them. GP was too dozy to know what was going on. They could have worked through their emotions.

Taking a strong drug like that because you feel emotional rather than training your mind to cope with emotions, is not good.

And I'd not be surprised if your H is addicted and may be getting more of it elsewhere.

almost a medical drug

?

Yes, it does appear to try to minimise what it really is.

Why are people still lecturing the OP about her drug use? The problem isn't the OP's drug use. It's her partner's thieving that's the problem.
I mean, you might as well say I'm an addict because every time I have surgery, I have morphine. And some codeine to take home.
I only take the codeine if/when I need it, and my partner doesn't swipe it when I'm not looking.
OP, I'd be having a cold hard look at his day to day behaviour. If he's prepared to steal all of your "in case of emergency" prescription, he's probably doing other stuff and hiding it from you.

He’s only been prescribed it three times, and he definitely needed them (he couldn’t move like at all)

You are not completely correct when you say that the Diazepam won't work for his "so called 'hip pain'" @Hatty65.
Amongst several other uses it is also used to relieve muscle spasms, which is because he it it rather good at relieving tired, and overworked muscles.

As well as working directly at relaxing muscles, Diazepam's most common usage is to help very stressed people to relax both physically and mentally. I am not an expert in how it works to relieve stress, I just know that it does.

So as an all-around relaxant, it can help a great many of the body's muscles to relax. Therefore it certainly could work in reducing hip pain. Also, when people suffer from pain their body usually tenses up, and the fear of something being about to cause themself to feel even more pain, indeed does make the body stiffen up with tension, and to reiterate, a tense body will lead to the sufferer feeling a significantly higher level of pain.

I think that without knowing the OP's partner, in person, it is quite unreasonable to judge whether they do actually suffer from a painful condition - hip pain in this particular case. Of course, taking anyone elses medication is both immoral and illegal, and on many occasions it could lead to a very bad medical outcome.

@Givenup2026, please be aware that if you tell your GP that your partner has stolen your medicine - for whatever reason - then your partner could be arrested. If the CPS then decides that he should be charged with the theft, there are several different things he could be charged with, including unlawfully taking drugs in order to sell them, in order to make a profit.

Apart from that, your GP could, but hopefully wouldn't, refuse to give you any more Diazepam as you have proved that you can't guarantee that they will be kept in a securely safe place, where both children, and thieves, could not get to them. I hope that your GP would be more understanding than that, and would give you another chance, but that is sadly not a guaranteed outcome.

I am not advising you to not tell your GP about your partner stealing your Diazepam OP, I just wanted to remind you that there are times when GPs have to break their patients' confidence, and the theft of your medicine might well be one of those occassions. I'm sorry Given up, but I don't feel able to advise you on your personal choices regarding your partner, as I have no actual knowledge of his and your relationship, and whether the good far outweighs the bad. But I don't believe that there is any couple who have a perfect relationship.

If you’re not there and listening I’ll bet that what he says is my wife said I could have a couple. Maybe ‘I thought’ my wife said so he can hand on heart say he didn’t lie about what you said. He’s lied about they have no effect on him, he’s an addict and a liar.

By the way @Givenup2026, please don't give up, there are - thankfully - very few things in life that are worth 'giving up' over. 💐

What Diazepam can do or not do is not the point.

If he has genuine pain with his hips, he needs referring for a )physiotherapy and b) an orthopedic surgeon to see if he needs surgery.

The fact he says he takes it for hip pain is a red herring. He could take other OTC meds like ibuprofen, Voltarol, etc. Or his GP could prescribe stronger versions of other NSAIDs.

Also he is stealing it. He's not asking OP if he could have some. So the odds are he's using it for MH reasons and to get high. AND if he is driving as well, this could be an offence is he's in an accident 'under the influence of drugs'.

On another note, OP should not rely on using valium to get through bad days even if they occur only now and then. All this does is perpetuate the emotional dependence rather than learning how to cope with the stressful feelings.

Talking therapies, mindfulness, meditation or doing exercise are the first line treatments now for this and GPs are negligent dishing out strong drugs. They are not supposed to.

The correct treatment is to learn to manage uncomfortable emotions and build resilience. GPs often don't offer this as it costs more, isn't a 'quick fix' and it's easier for them to hand over a prescription. But all it means is the person never moves on to be able to handle uncomfortable emotions.

And of course prescribing them risks them getting into the wrong hands.

if OP's doctor has prescribed these for her, it's because she needs them. GPs don't dish them out like smarties like they used to back in the day; you need a watertight reason to have them

suggesting OP does a bit of mindfulness, yoga etc is a bit rude imo

I'm prescribed them as a muscle relaxant, and use them as and when. You do have to be careful with them, yes- but a couple of times a year isn't going to suck you into a life of dependency

ps OP- your husband is a knob. I'm sorry

You're entitled to your opinion but if you knew anything about this, you'd know GPs get things wrong all the time partly as they aren't up to speed and also because they want a quiet life and to save resources.

You're out of date with your opinions.

Go onto the website MIND and look at ways to deal with stress and emotions.