Is there anything the Gp can do / prescribe?

[QuimReaper]

I lost my lovely Dad on Wednesday night and I am really not coping.

I just want something to numb it a bit for a while so I can start to speak and sleep and things without descending into unpredictable bouts of hysterics.

I have developed a really poor opinion of GPs and generally don't darken their doorway unless it's straightforward. Is there any point in going to them? I've heard people talking about things to reduce anxiety, any experience here?

I've had propranolol for anxiety or they might be able to give you something like diazepam
I'm not recommending it but night nurse or the not herbal version of nytol works for sleep for me

Thanks Wandloresman Something to help me sleep would be great. The OTC stuff isn't doing much.

I just don't want to be told to "confront my pain" or any of that shit. I'm not confronting it with or without their help.

I'll happily give a sleeping tablet for a few days for bereavement.

I was prescribed propanalol and a few very low dosage diazepam when my dad died. They definitely helped.

So sorry for your loss

Sorry for your loss. I found diazepan took the edge off my hysterical grief for the short term. Take care.

Yes. Short term sleeping tablets are often prescribed in situations like this. Sorry you have had bad experiences but not all GP's are rubbish.

Ask for the sleeping tablets to get you over this period. They allow your body and mind some respite. Sorry to hear about your loss.

Propranolol helped me in the short term, along with a low dose antidepressant for the longer term. I put off going to the gp for 4 months thinking it would start to get better but it only got worse and I ended up signed off work at my managers suggestion and in a real poor state physically and mentally. I pretty much stopped sleeping and became manic. A month after starting the meds I was functioning again and back at work.
I hope you find some relief. X

Just to add- although the meds have undoubtedly helped I am still healing and recovering from my loss. I still have times where I sob my heart out , I burst into tears to day after seeing someone who looked just like her from the back. Time does heal, but you have to be in a place to let yourself heal. I walked into my GP and just said how i was failing at work and can't sleep , my hair is falling out and I can't relax. It wasn't until my follow up appointment the week after I admitted about not coping from my bereavement. She was so supportive and caring. Chances are your GP has experienced loss and will understand how you feel.

Thank you so much all.

In a weird way it just helps hearing that other people have survived this. I have my mum and my sister but they're so alien to me in the way they deal with things. It was always me and Dad, and mum and sis... I just feel so completely at sea. They're all I have left family-wise and they're like this little team speaking a whole other language. They've been great, but I feel like they're just acquaintances who also happen to be grieving, I'm not at all in sync with them.

I'll go to the GP tomorrow, and ask to not see the one whom I disliked before.

Hope today goes well and you get the help you need.

I'm sorry for your loss. And really hope you are as lucky with your GP as many other posters have been. Fwiw, I always had incredibly support, regularly but infrequently over the years with anxiety. They listen and buoy me up.

Another thing you should definitely consider is contacting CRUSE. Best thing I ever did was to have some counselling sessions with them.
When everyone else around you is a bit bored of your loss ( and sadly they will be) a lovely counsellor is your place to off load and reflect safely.

I'm so sorry for your loss, OP. The early days are so overwhelming and mad..... Anti-depressants helped me when I lost my brother, but unusually I stopped taking them because they seemed to be getting in the way of my grieving process. Still, it sounds like you're struggling with the day to day, right now, and fixing your sleep must be a good place to start. I'm sure your GP will be sympathetic, but if not another one will!