Mental Health The UK's unfair rules on Benzos for Mental Health patients!

[THECATINTHEHAT]

Does going private increase ur chances of getting what u need? And when u say private do u mean joining Bupa Healthcare?

Yes, massively.

After I had my shoulder reconstructed the best painkiller I could easily obtain feom the doctor for the post-operative period was dihydrocodeine. I was unhappy with this so I went to a private doctor and he wrote me out a script for ms contin on the spot.

Private doctors are a completely and totally different ball game, if I wanted I could go and get a morphine script today easily.



Some good advice ITT, nice to see productive discussion of competing viewpoints and different ways of looking at a situation.

 

[evo4ever]

Please be honest with your GP, tell them you want to taper down your oxys. Give your remaining oxys into a pharmacy for disposal. The fact you’re happy to reduce your oxys will show your dr that you’re less of a risk in regards to addiction. It will look good on your file.

I’m really sorry you’re going through it at the minute but I honestly think even though it might not feel like it that the oxy taper has probably accounted for some of your symptoms like the lack of sleep which will make your mental health issues worse. You’re a trooper for wanting to reduce your oxy but it’s probably best to do it with medical supervision especially when you’ve mental health issues, ya know?

I would imagine if you told your dr about wanting to taper your oxy and spoke to your psych about things they would give you a short script of benzos to see you through. At the minute your Dr is seeing a 120ng oxy with pregabalin and they would be really uncomfortable with prescribing benzos on top. Your willingness to reduce your oxy would go along way to show your dr you’re not a risk with benzos.

I hope you get sorted, I’m sorry you’re going through such a rough time. A good list of distractions might help, when you’re feeling the need to self harm try move your thought pattern to something else. I have an eating disorder and I purge quite regularly after eating so I have a list of distractions like having a shower, going for a walk, doing laundry etc etc. When I’m going up the walls after eating and wanting to purge I get my list and go through it. It helps sometimes and of course it doesn’t other times but sometimes is better than none.

Yeah your right about telling my GP about the Oxy taper but I don't think this is the right time because my GP is on holiday and I don't want to deal with a locum GP when I don't know her. Plus I might have to stay on 40mg because my neuropathy is coming back.

 

[evo4ever]

Yes, massively.

After I had my shoulder reconstructed the best painkiller I could easily obtain feom the doctor for the post-operative period was dihydrocodeine. I was unhappy with this so I went to a private doctor and he wrote me out a script for ms contin on the spot.

Private doctors are a completely and totally different ball game, if I wanted I could go and get a morphine script today easily.



Some good advice ITT, nice to see productive discussion of competing viewpoints and different ways of looking at a situation.

Are you with Bupa btw?

 

[THECATINTHEHAT]

If they are an NHS doctor I 100% understand your reticence to speak to them about what you are doing because of fear around the difficulty if being re-prescribed.

Obviously doing that entails an increased risk but it sounds like you are aware around that and AFAIK it's pretty difficult to get an oxy script in the uk so I dont blame you for taking that approach.

 

[Wilson Wilson]

Sorry guys I've been preoccupied with other stuff atm. I've actually taped down to 40mg of Oxy a day now and I'm still taking the Kratom and I'm not getting any WDs thankfully, the only problem I've got is I'm sitting on a shit load of Oxy's! I was scripted a total of x7 diazepam tablets from the hospital and my GP and they will run out on Wednesday, I've got a telephone appointment on Wednesday with GP cos she wants to see how im getting on. BTW I'm seeing a locum GP my actual GP is on holiday. The Diazepam has really helped for sleep and it's reduced my thoughts of self-harm, I've been cutting again over the past few weeks .

This has nothing to do with the Oxy taper and I know what Oxy WD feels like trust me, I've had mental health problems for 5 years now.. it's an on-going thing. I've been prescribed Zopiclone and Diazepam in the past while on my current meds without any problems. Going back to the Oxy I might not be able to come off them after all cos my neuropathy in my arm has come back its probably got something to do with the reduced Oxy dose. This is why I didn't want to tell my GP I'm reducing my Oxy dose incase my pain came back because if it did which it has I'd have to jump through hoops to get the Oxy scripted again.

Sorry to hear about your pain creeping back. I understand why you didn't tell the doc about the taper, especially when it's not your usual GP. As you said, if during the taper you realise you still require the meds for pain, it's much more difficult getting them back if you already told the doc you want to get off them.

Glad the diaz is helping. It sounds like your locum GP might give you small scripts every week or something to cover their arse. If they don't give you anything, given you have a script from a mental health nurse and they are actually helping you for the reason you got them, speak to another GP if possible. Although I know that's difficult at the moment with all that's going on.

Yes, massively.

After I had my shoulder reconstructed the best painkiller I could easily obtain feom the doctor for the post-operative period was dihydrocodeine. I was unhappy with this so I went to a private doctor and he wrote me put a script for ms contin on the spot.

Private doctors are a completely and totally different ball game, if I wanted I could go and get a morphine script today easily.



Some good advice ITT, nice to productive discussion of competing viewpoints and different ways of looking at a situation.

Yep private docs are very lightly regulated compared to NHS ones. For one thing a private doc has no obligation at all to care about NICE guidelines. Some of them will be strict just because it's how they are, but since it's private you can always do research and choose the doc you think will be most sympathetic to you.

My mate got diagnosed with ADHD privately and the psychiatrist straight up asked him which stimulant he wanted and gave a list to choose from

Out of curiosity was the doc who gave you the MS Contin script a private GP or a specialist?

 

[THECATINTHEHAT]

Are you with Bupa btw?

No, I dont have any insurance. You just pay whatever the fee for the consultation is and then you have to pay whatever the cost of the medication is. Usually a standard private consultation is about £100 iirc, then you'll pay whatever at the pharmacy for any meds that are scripted.

 

[THECATINTHEHAT]

Make of this what you will:

Any doctor you go to who hears the full extent of your medical issues and medications is going to be hesitant to prescribe any kind of narcotic to you. Your issues are such that I would have thought most doctors would only prescribe as part of an ongoing relationship.

 

[THECATINTHEHAT]

They were just a regular GP not a pain doctor.

I also recently enquired as to obtaining a proper diagnosis and treatment for adult ADHD through the NHS (I have been reported as showing signs consistent with ADHD by an educational psychologist who went through the full diagnostic process, and have all the paperwork) and the waiting list for the clinic was 18 months. On friday I called a private specialist on Harley st to enquire about the process, I was assessed this morning and I'm having medication couriers to me today.


Private is just a totally different ballgame.

 

[Wilson Wilson]

They were just a regular GP not a pain doctor.

I also recently enquired as to obtaining a proper diagnosis and treatment for adult ADHD through the NHS (I have been reported as showing signs consistent with ADHD by an educational psychologist who went through the full diagnostic process, and have all the paperwork) and the waiting list for the clinic was 18 months. On friday I called a private specialist on Harley st to enquire about the process, I was assessed this morning and I'm having medication couriers to me today.


Private is just a totally different ballgame.

Interesting, I've used private specialists before but not private GPs so wasn't sure what they were like. However my insurance now covers an online private GP service and I was pondering if it was worth giving it a go for a script or two. Sounds like it is. Might as well eh?

And yeah I also got my ADHD dx from a Harley St clinic. Same story, NHS would have had me waiting around two years. Saw this bloke in a few days, had a script in my hand within a week.

Last time I had surgery done on private though the surgeon was just as strict with opiates as the NHS. It seems a lot of docs nowadays are scared of scripting opiates even privately.

 

[evo4ever]

I've just phoned Bupa and they don't cover pre-existing chronic health conditions. How do I find a private doctor with no insurance?

 

[Wilson Wilson]

I've just phoned Bupa and they don't cover pre-existing chronic health conditions. How do I find a private doctor with no insurance?

Bupa would be very expensive anyway. Most people who are actually covered by private health insurance in the UK get it paid for by their employer for this reason. And yes it doesn't cover chronic conditions.

Just look up "private gp uk" and you will see many options, mostly online based. You can just video chat someone for £100 or so and get your script delivered to your door by the pharmacy.

 

[MsDiz]

I went private for my condition as my regular GP would not increase my pain medication as I was “too young” to be on strong opioids. I was then on tramadol, max dose which I told her I hated as the side effects were too hard to live with but that cocodamol 30/500 does nothing for me. I also hadn’t been properly diagnosed after waiting 2 years for a rheumatologist who misdiagnosed my condition even though I’ve strong family history of ehlers-danlos syndrome he diagnosed me with hypermobility syndrome which was incorrrect. I paid to see the UKs top specialist in EDS which cost me £250 plus flights over. He spent 2 hours giving me a full examination, he gave me a proper physical therapy schedule, he moved me to tapentadol and wrote to my dr and told her how ignorant she was of the condition and basically gave her a dressing down. He sent his recommendations to my GP and I was put onto proper meds with notes to say when I was due an increase I was to get it. I subsequently made a formal complaint against the GP who treated me so horribly and had not even researched the condition and she was fired from the practice. The practice I am with had a training session for all their drs on EDS and how to treat it so I called that a win.

In my opinion sometimes it’s best to go private, it’s worth every penny.

 

[ageingpartyfiend]

They were just a regular GP not a pain doctor.

I also recently enquired as to obtaining a proper diagnosis and treatment for adult ADHD through the NHS (I have been reported as showing signs consistent with ADHD by an educational psychologist who went through the full diagnostic process, and have all the paperwork) and the waiting list for the clinic was 18 months. On friday I called a private specialist on Harley st to enquire about the process, I was assessed this morning and I'm having medication couriers to me today.


Private is just a totally different ballgame.

how much-ish did the private adhd assessment cost?

 

[THECATINTHEHAT]

Interesting, I've used private specialists before but not private GPs so wasn't sure what they were like. However my insurance now covers an online private GP service and I was pondering if it was worth giving it a go for a script or two. Sounds like it is. Might as well eh?

And yeah I also got my ADHD dx from a Harley St clinic. Same story, NHS would have had me waiting around two years. Saw this bloke in a few days, had a script in my hand within a week.

Last time I had surgery done on private though the surgeon was just as strict with opiates as the NHS. It seems a lot of docs nowadays are scared of scripting opiates even privately.

You with Dr Humphries?

It's definitely worth noting that just because a doctor is private it doesnt mean they will write out anything, they are still individuals and different people will have a different response. However, if you know how to play the game then you stand a vastly increased chance of getting what you want, and now not in x amount of time. It is 100% worth speaking to a private GP if you're after a few cheeky goodies.

Part of the difference I think is that NHS are basically looking to predominantly reduce risk, whereas a private doctor tends to be more receptive to the idea of providing comfort. Also, they obviously know that giving patients what they want is more likely to make them come back and thus they make more money.....

 

[Wilson Wilson]

I went private for my condition as my regular GP would not increase my pain medication as I was “too young” to be on strong opioids. I was then on tramadol, max dose which I told her I hated as the side effects were too hard to live with but that cocodamol 30/500 does nothing for me. I also hadn’t been properly diagnosed after waiting 2 years for a rheumatologist who misdiagnosed my condition even though I’ve strong family history of ehlers-danlos syndrome he diagnosed me with hypermobility syndrome which was incorrrect. I paid to see the UKs top specialist in EDS which cost me £250 plus flights over. He spent 2 hours giving me a full examination, he gave me a proper physical therapy schedule, he moved me to tapentadol and wrote to my dr and told her how ignorant she was of the condition and basically gave her a dressing down. He sent his recommendations to my GP and I was put onto proper meds with notes to say when I was due an increase I was to get it. I subsequently made a formal complaint against the GP who treated me so horribly and had not even researched the condition and she was fired from the practice. The practice I am with had a training session for all their drs on EDS and how to treat it so I called that a win.

In my opinion sometimes it’s best to go private, it’s worth every penny.

That is an epic fucking win.

If I didn't have access to private healthcare I would probably be dead already. Even my dad said the same. I was very badly depressed, trying desperately to get treatment, but the NHS was fucking useless. I'm now stable after a year of CBT weekly and a good medication regimen. No way would I have got all that on the NHS. They'd have me sitting around depressed out my mind with no treatment for years.

This is why I said OP is very lucky to have an NHS psychiatrist.

 

[THECATINTHEHAT]

how much-ish did the private adhd assessment cost?

Initial cost was £850 for the consultation, ininitial three months worth of prescriptions and a follow up appointment in a month's time. After that you pay £90 every three months for him to write a new prescription. You have to pay the pharmacy for your medication on top of that which is about £90 a month. He said that in time he can help me get the same medication prescribed by my GP and the cost just becomes £9 or whatever it is each time you pick up an nhs prescription.

 

[Wilson Wilson]

You with Dr Humphries?

It's definitely worth noting that just because a doctor is private it doesnt mean they will write out anything, they are still individuals and different people will have a different response. However, if you know how to play the game then you stand a vastly increased chance of getting what you want, and now not in x amount of time. It is 100% worth speaking to a private GP if you're after a few cheeky goodies.

Part of the difference I think is that NHS are basically looking to predominantly reduce risk, whereas a private doctor tends to be more receptive to the idea of providing comfort. Also, they obviously know that giving patients what they want is more likely to make them come back and thus they make more money.....

Nah. Can't remember his name now as this was over 5 years ago but that doesn't ring any bells.

You're exactly right, private docs are not prescription machines, however they're more free to use their own judgement and have much muuuuch less regulations and bureaucracy hanging over their heads. They usually will prescribe within reason as they don't wanna get sued, but they don't have to follow NICE guidelines, don't have other doctors looking over all their decisions, etc etc... they can follow their own judgement.

Some of them are even more America style with their prescription routines I've noticed. I was actually given Adderall for example. And private docs can script Xanax - although given the reputation it now has I'm not sure how willing they would be to do so vs other benzos.

Finally yes the mindset difference is big. The way I see it is like this:

NHS - Would rather make sure they don't give drug seekers any goodies even if it means risking legitimate patients not getting their medicines.

Private - Would rather risk the odd druggie getting a script than see patients go without treatment.

The fact their patients are customers doesn't hurt either, but then a private GP for example would still get plenty of business without handing out sweeties. I reckon it's the weight lifted off their shoulders compared to all the NHS/NICE bureaucracy that makes the big difference. Ultimately docs know that many controlled drugs work great for their intended purposes. But if you are under strict regulations to not use them, you will obviously hold them back from patients.

Initial cost was £850 for the consultation, ininitial three months worth of prescriptions and a follow up appointment in a month's time. After that you pay £90 every three months for him to write a new prescription. You have to pay the pharmacy for your medication on top of that which is about £90 a month. He said that in time he can help me get the same medication prescribed by my GP and the cost just becomes £9 or whatever it is each time you pick up an nhs prescription.

That is mad! After my initial consultation all my scripts were referred direct to my NHS GP.

 

[MsDiz]

That is an epic fucking win.

If I didn't have access to private healthcare I would probably be dead already. Even my dad said the same. I was very badly depressed, trying desperately to get treatment, but the NHS was fucking useless. I'm now stable after a year of CBT weekly and a good medication regimen. No way would I have got all that on the NHS. They'd have me sitting around depressed out my mind with no treatment for years.

This is why I said OP is very lucky to have an NHS psychiatrist.

It was a win but i put in a LOT of work to that complaint, I’m a stubborn bitch and I don’t like people walking over me. The drs we have are all old, they are treated like gods and no one challenges them which makes them feel untouchable. I think now you need to be your own advocate and have plenty of correct medical information behind you to back up what you’re saying. It’s a god awful process but more people need to be pulling them on their shit. I have a great dr now who took over from my previous one and he’s amazing. He is happy to speak to me on the phone as he knows what I’m talking about. He is open to new treatment options and he has no qualms with giving my what I ask for. He helped me come off pregabalin and was happy to increase my diazepam for my muscle spasms. He’s currently treating my son who has unfortunately inherited my condition and he has researched it thoroughly which I’m so delighted about. I’m happy that my son will have someone who is open and knowledgable. So there are good GPs out there but they are a dime a dozen.

 

[MsDiz]

Initial cost was £850 for the consultation, ininitial three months worth of prescriptions and a follow up appointment in a month's time. After that you pay £90 every three months for him to write a new prescription. You have to pay the pharmacy for your medication on top of that which is about £90 a month. He said that in time he can help me get the same medication prescribed by my GP and the cost just becomes £9 or whatever it is each time you pick up an nhs prescription.

That is crazy money! I thought £250 was a lot and my specialist is literally the best in the UK. He just gave me a script and wrote the recommendations to my GP who had to go by his advice as he was the specialist in the condition. I’ve never paid for anything other than that first appointment. He even had a free follow up appointment a year later with him to see how things were going.

 

[THECATINTHEHAT]

Yes, it is a lot of money. I could have got a bit cheaper consultation (maybe 500) but I just decided to go with the guy who is essentially the UKs leading expert.

He said he would help me get it prescribed through the NHS but for certain reasons I want to maintain separation between my medical records and this guy. I was pretty honest with him about most things including the fact that I've been to rehab and abused stimulants etc, but there are other things that would for sure cause hesitation and after paying that much I just wanted to be treated. I'm well aware of the risks that entails but I felt that in this situation it was the correct choice for me.

NHS - Would rather make sure they don't give drug seekers any goodies even if it means risking legitimate patients not getting their medicines.

Private - Would rather risk the odd druggie getting a script than see patients go without treatment.

This breaks it down nicely I think, agree with that totally. I think there's also an element of doctors having more ability to make their own choices around what is considered legitimate medical practice. For instance I reckon that if you went to a private doctor and said you were experiencing a lot of stress at work and were having trouble unwinding and switching your mind off afterwards or on days off, most would probably be happy to slip you a few benzos to deal with that. However I can't imagine that would ever fly with an NHS doctor, benzos are considered almost a last resort treatment in the NHS these days.