Escitalopram without a prescription

[colourblindrainbow]

Please could anyone advise me what to do next if I don’t get a call back from the gp?
I have been really struggling with my mental health for a long time and it just seems to get worse rather than better and I’m so tired of it all. It’s like I just can’t be normal and my emotions are all over the place every day.
I’m not doing well and it is affecting others around me too but I can’t seem to “unmask” how I am really feeling.
I know that if an adult spent any length of time with me they would see it realise how much I need some help but I don’t spend any length of time with other adult humans which would be long enough to really drop the mask and let them see.
Sorry I’m going on, I’m trying to explain why I’ve made the decision I have.
The intrusive thoughts have been very persistent lately and I have been trying to get some help but it’s taking a long time (probably not actually long, but longer than I desperately need.)
I have been waiting since January for therapy but have had 2 assessments. During the second one I was told I’d get a call back in about a week but it could take longer and it’s now been nearly 2.
I filled out an online request for a mental health appointment with the gp so I could finally attempt some medication but they haven’t gotten back to me for about 10/11 days.
I had a breakdown a couple of years ago now and they absolutely doped me up with all sorts of medication which in time I took myself off.
I have had a pot of antidepressants since that time that I hadn’t taken and I counted them and there were 27 in there so I started taking them a few days ago.
What do I do if I don’t get a call back from the dr in the next 2 weeks or so? I’m worried about having started them and then having to suddenly stop again. I’m worried it will intensify suicidal thoughts.
I know it might have been a bit silly but I didn’t know what else to do to try and help myself.

Sounds like you need an urgent appointment OP. If you can’t get one via your GP, could you ring 111 and press the mental health option on there?
You shouldn’t be driven to taking random ADs just because the NHS is in such a state.
Hope you can get the help you need quickly now xx

If your GP practice is at all contactable by phone then ring them and explain your situation or queue first thing in the morning. I know some GP practices are totally rubbish though.

Private online gp consult?

@Boxingwhelp I didn’t start taking them so I could get help quicker, I started taking them because I didn’t know what else to do and I sometimes get to a scarier place with the suicidal thoughts and I want that to go away.
I was thinking of waiting until I have 2 weeks worth left and then call the gp back if I haven’t heard from them by then?
I don’t even know if what I’m taking is the right thing I need or the right dose etc. I just need SOMETHING.
@starpatch Do you think tomorrow or leave it a couple of weeks as I have enough for 24 more days?
And will I be in trouble for taking them without an active prescription?

@FlowerBarrow i can’t afford a private gp.

You won’t get in any actual trouble but the hcp may try a mild “telling off”.
No dont leave it, keep pressing one way or another as it could take a week or more to get the actual meds after they are prescribed.

I work on in a GP surgery. At our practice if someone calls and wants help with their mental health they get an on the day urgent appointment. Contact your gp first thing in the morning.

@FlowerBarrow whats an hcp? Health care provider is guessing but just so I know.
Thank you, I will try them again. I’m not sure if I will be able to actually do anything on the phone as now it’s all through an online service but I contacted them through that 2 weeks ago almost and they said in a message “a receptionist will call back with an available appointment when one becomes available as per your request” (or similar).
@orangeandpinks, thank you, what should I say on this situation? I’m worried about having done something I technically shouldn’t have done.

I second the poster that said ring 111 and press option 2 for mental health. If you can’t get through to your gp. I have done this before and they have been so helpful in a crisis situation. Hope u get the help u need @colourblindrainbow x

I think you have misunderstood me if you think there was any criticism of you OP. I meant that it is terrible that the NHS is in such a dire state that people could be forced to take their random leftover ADs because it was such a long wait for a GP appointment.
I’m really sorry if that wasn’t clear. I know you are really struggling.

I think it is only about £50?

I am so worried about being put under the crisis team. I had to be once before in the past (when I had the main breakdown).
They won’t do that will they if I call 111? My fear is that they try and hospitalise me or something. Last time I had somebody on my side so to speak who was a strong influence in me being able to stay at home but they had told me (a physiatrist within the crisis team) that I was lucky not to be hospitalised and that they’d actually had a meeting about it which terrified me and I don’t ever want that to happen!

They won’t hospitalise you for being depressed OP otherwise they would need millions of beds to cater for all the depressed people in the UK.

@Boxingwhelp sorry no I didn't think you were criticising, sorry! I don’t always get things right but I suppose I maybe just worried that that’s what people would think. I took no offence to your comment though at all and really appreciate your advice!
And thank you, if I can’t get through to the normal gp I will keep that in mind as an option.

Hang on in the phone queue at your GP surgery. Tell the receptionist you need a repeat prescription. The poster who suggested calling 111 is a good idea tho. Once you’ve started the meds you need to carry on x

@Boxingwhelp it’s not just about the depression. When I was under them before I was given 2 diagnoses which are more “serious mental health disorders” but I never did fully understand how they really explained everything and then I went on to be diagnosed with asd.
I don’t know if this is just depression and anxiety or more but I know that realistically I am barely functioning at the moment.

Phew! It’s so easy to misinterpret peoples intentions on here.

@Boxingwhelp i appreciate you taking time to explain it just incase, I do misinterpret things sometimes but this time was just me.

I understand what you mean @colourblindrainbow but I think NHS MH services are so stretched that even clearly suicidal people are not being hospitalised. The crisis team may offer to visit you for a few days/weeks for support and coping strategies but that is voluntary.

That is exactly what happened with me, I had the home treatment team visit me everyday then every other day for three weeks and in that time I saw a doctor and a therapist a few times too, the service was amazing considering I couldn’t even get to see my own gp face to face! They can’t solve the problems straight away but they are a very good starting point when you are at rock bottom ❤️‍🩹xx

@Boxingwhelp thank you so much, that is a relief to hear. Not that people who are about to act can’t get the help, that is terrible. But that I probably wouldn’t qualify for their services as I don’t want them (in the politest way possible).
I just need to continue with therapy and actually give this medication thing a real go and keep trying really hard to help myself.
I think that when I’m having a very low day it can sometimes be a bit too much and I’d started doing things like actively walking across a road without looking so if I died it would just be an accident and as I’d made a decision to speak to the gp about antidepressants anyway I thought I would just start on what I had from before as things have felt like way too much in my brain lately.
I have been given enough coping strategies that I should be amazing at coping but I just can’t seem to. I don’t even know what exactly is wrong with me to be honest.

That’s so positive that you are determined to help yourself. I hope you can get an appointment sorted out quickly so you can get your medication reviewed.
Please don’t do anything rash because you could end up horribly disabled and in a worse situation than you are now. Google Beth Mathews blog to see what happened to that poor young woman.
Good luck @colourblindrainbow, let us know how you get on xx

I wish I could give you a great big hug, I really feel for you and I also feel you have done nothing wrong re starting meds you were prescribed before, what’s the date on them?

call your gp first thing in the morning, get in the queue and be patient, you could ask for a nurse to call you back, that may be quicker and I’ve found our nurses really helpful and knowledgeable.

do you still have the number for the crisis team to give them a call along with option 2 with 111 call everyone and ask for help. Please tell them about walking in the road without looking, that’s worrying and I say that as someone who has done similar.

is the medication starting to work and make you feel a little bit stable? It sometimes takes 6 weeks to stabilise on new medication, how long ago did you stop taking them?

look after yourself and well done for posting,, that’s very brave of you and shows how serious you are about reaching out for help?

I wish you well, you’ve got this and stay safe

Great post, although I would say don’t tell them about walking into the road without looking OP if you are certain you don’t want the crisis team involved.

@Boxingwhelp I have just read a news article about Beth Matthews and it is so sad. I am not shocked though, when I was under the crisis team, I found it very hard to reach out and call them when I was really struggling even though I was told to. When I finally plucked up the courage to call one night instead of hurting myself as I did cause some self harm to myself at the time, I was told by the man on the phone to call the Samaritans. Another staff member told me I should put in a complaint but I didn’t want the hassle.
Yes I need help. It’s now or never. I am so scared that my life will end early due to suicide and I don’t want to get to that point. I really want to be better at being a person and just be able to get on in the world like other people seem to be able to. I used to do so much better than this!
@Rescue2024 thank you, sometimes I really do think I need a hug so thank you.
Thank you, I hope not, they were prescribed in 2021 so 3 years old and I’d put them all into a little brown medicine pot so I don’t have the original packaging.
Thank you, I will try in the morning. I just worry as when I needed to book an appointment for my son a couple of weeks ago they told me I couldn’t do it over the phone, only online and then that’s what I’ve done for myself too and they haven’t given me an appointment yet.
I don’t want to have the crisis team involved, I don’t think I could tell them about the walking in the road as it worries me that I won’t have a choice then, It’s just those sorts of things and the intrusive thoughts that make me make “plans” that worried me so much I needed to try something else.
I’ve taken the escitalopram for 3 days now so I have 24 left of the 27 I had. I’m not sure if I’m feeling the effects yet, I’ve slept allot, no appetite so am forcing myself to eat and I feel sick and a bit high?! But other than that I’m not sure there’s any change. Although I am hopeful that maybe medication will be able to help so I do feel a little more hopeful.
Thank you very much, it’s hard knowing that you need help and wanting it but it not being available so easily and not even knowing exactly what the help you need is.