barefoot
Diamond Member
For the last few years (roughly four, I think) I have taken 5mg diazepam for incidents of acute anxiety when I really need some help to down regulate.
I get a prescription for 28 tablets, which lasts me around 6 months.
I don’t have any dependency issues or any other problems using it. I use it sensibly and not very often (hence 28 tablets last me six months!) and they work well for me. My therapist knows when and how I take it and is supportive of me taking it as I do.
However, my GP has said that he doesn’t want to prescribe them to me any more...even though he said I am clearly not addicted...
A couple of months ago he prescribed me Propranolol but when I collected it from the pharmacy, the pharmacist said I needed to take it consistently every day (I don’t want/need to take an anxiety med every day) and she flagged that a very common side effect is sleep disturbance/nightmares. Since I am currently attending a sleep clinic for Parasomnias including night terrors, that just seemed nuts to me. Plus, the pharmacist said the propranolol was for physical symptoms of anxiety and wouldn’t help for “mental calming” in the way that diazepam does.
So, for all these reasons, I haven’t taken it and don’t intend to.
My therapist did suggest Gabapentin but my GP said he couldn’t prescribe that because it’s not licensed for anxiety. And when I mentioned it to the sleep doctor a few weeks ago, she said Gabapentin/pregabalin wasn’t recommended for people with parasomnias anyway as they can increase them. She thought it was ridiculous that GP had given me Propranolol given how common the sleep disturbance side effects are. And she didn’t understand why my GP won’t just let me keep using the diazepam as I am as it helps me and I am not dependent.
I am switching GPs (not just because of this) and have an appointment with a new one next week. I have about ten diazepam left, so there is no urgency but I want to start the conversation now to see what she thinks. I don’t want to run out then she won’t give me any and then I am stuck when I next need some help.
Ideally, I just want her to be happy to continue to prescribe me diazepam in the same way I currently use it. Fingers crossed!
I’m curious to know whether there is anything else I could take instead, which my GP may be happier to precribe.
My criteria are:
- something I can just take as and when for acute anxiety attack. I don’t need or want to take something consistently everyday/long term.
- something that calms me mentally so not something that’s just targeting and relieving physical symptoms of anxiety
- something that won’t create/exacerbate sleep disturbances
(ETA: I know pretty much anything could potentially have sleep disturbance side effects and that we all react differently to meds and that I won’t know any drug’s impact on me til I try it etc...so I just mean l don’t want something that is widely known to commonly cause sleep disturbances)
Any ideas?? (I’m in the UK if that’s relevant)
Many thanks in advance.
I get a prescription for 28 tablets, which lasts me around 6 months.
I don’t have any dependency issues or any other problems using it. I use it sensibly and not very often (hence 28 tablets last me six months!) and they work well for me. My therapist knows when and how I take it and is supportive of me taking it as I do.
However, my GP has said that he doesn’t want to prescribe them to me any more...even though he said I am clearly not addicted...
A couple of months ago he prescribed me Propranolol but when I collected it from the pharmacy, the pharmacist said I needed to take it consistently every day (I don’t want/need to take an anxiety med every day) and she flagged that a very common side effect is sleep disturbance/nightmares. Since I am currently attending a sleep clinic for Parasomnias including night terrors, that just seemed nuts to me. Plus, the pharmacist said the propranolol was for physical symptoms of anxiety and wouldn’t help for “mental calming” in the way that diazepam does.
So, for all these reasons, I haven’t taken it and don’t intend to.
My therapist did suggest Gabapentin but my GP said he couldn’t prescribe that because it’s not licensed for anxiety. And when I mentioned it to the sleep doctor a few weeks ago, she said Gabapentin/pregabalin wasn’t recommended for people with parasomnias anyway as they can increase them. She thought it was ridiculous that GP had given me Propranolol given how common the sleep disturbance side effects are. And she didn’t understand why my GP won’t just let me keep using the diazepam as I am as it helps me and I am not dependent.
I am switching GPs (not just because of this) and have an appointment with a new one next week. I have about ten diazepam left, so there is no urgency but I want to start the conversation now to see what she thinks. I don’t want to run out then she won’t give me any and then I am stuck when I next need some help.
Ideally, I just want her to be happy to continue to prescribe me diazepam in the same way I currently use it. Fingers crossed!
I’m curious to know whether there is anything else I could take instead, which my GP may be happier to precribe.
My criteria are:
- something I can just take as and when for acute anxiety attack. I don’t need or want to take something consistently everyday/long term.
- something that calms me mentally so not something that’s just targeting and relieving physical symptoms of anxiety
- something that won’t create/exacerbate sleep disturbances
(ETA: I know pretty much anything could potentially have sleep disturbance side effects and that we all react differently to meds and that I won’t know any drug’s impact on me til I try it etc...so I just mean l don’t want something that is widely known to commonly cause sleep disturbances)
Any ideas?? (I’m in the UK if that’s relevant)
Many thanks in advance.
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