Doctors who use are sometimes better doctors?

[Wilson Wilson]

I know more about drugs than most doctors and that's not because I'm some kind of secret genius it's just because most doctors know fuck all about drugs. I've had conversations with doctors about drugs and they've literally asked me if I was a doctor myself even though I'm only familiar with basic pharmacology.

Pharmacists know a lot more as that's precisely their job. But doctors, especially GP's, seriously don't have a fucking clue.

The only exception I've noticed is, as OP says, when the doctor in question has personal experience with the drug at hand. Then they will understand its benefits and risks.

I am pretty sure my GP is on or has been on the meds prescribed to me just by the way he talks about them. For example wrt benzos, most GP's here are scared shitless of prescribing them, but my doc was all like "it's nice and calming just knowing they're there isn't it?" This is the kind of thing a user would say it seems to me.

Not to mention when it came to an amphetamine script. "This stuff makes you feel really good because it's basically speed" is what I was told as my first prescription was handed to me. Along with "it has a high street value."

It would appear I have the best GP in the country.

 

[ChemicallyEnhanced]

I know more about drugs than most doctors and that's not because I'm some kind of secret genius it's just because most doctors know fuck all about drugs. I've had conversations with doctors about drugs and they've literally asked me if I was a doctor myself even though I'm only familiar with basic pharmacology.

Pharmacists know a lot more as that's precisely their job. But doctors, especially GP's, seriously don't have a fucking clue.

The only exception I've noticed is, as OP says, when the doctor in question has personal experience with the drug at hand. Then they will understand its benefits and risks.

I am pretty sure my GP is on or has been on the meds prescribed to me just by the way he talks about them. For example wrt benzos, most GP's here are scared shitless of prescribing them, but my doc was all like "it's nice and calming just knowing they're there isn't it?" This is the kind of thing a user would say it seems to me.

Not to mention when it came to an amphetamine script. "This stuff makes you feel really good because it's basically speed" is what I was told as my first prescription was handed to me. Along with "it has a high street value."

It would appear I have the best GP in the country.

Same. I often have corrected doctors about things or asked for a medication only to have to tell them what it is. Now I just tell them what med I want and why,

 

[Wilson Wilson]

Same. I often have corrected doctors about things or asked for a medication only to have to tell them what it is. Now I just tell them what med I want and why,

For real they either get a big book of meds and look it up in there or they will sometimes even fucking google it! Yes I have had GP's google shit right in front of me before, not even just drugs but also symptoms. I'm just thinking... if I wanted to google my symptoms I could do that at home without waiting a week for a bloody appointment!

And yeah I've had GP's ask me what common medications are too like quetiapine (Seroquel) the GP had no idea what it was and couldn't find it in her book so proclaimed it didn't exist.

They know very well what benzos are though. "I don't prescribe those, they're evil and addictive." That's about the extent of their knowledge.

This is why when I finally found a good GP I thanked the universe and refuse to see anyone else unless absolutely necessary.

 

[ChemicallyEnhanced]

For real they either get a big book of meds and look it up in there or they will sometimes even fucking google it! Yes I have had GP's google shit right in front of me before, not even just drugs but also symptoms. I'm just thinking... if I wanted to google my symptoms I could do that at home without waiting a week for a bloody appointment!

And yeah I've had GP's ask me what common medications are too like quetiapine (Seroquel) the GP had no idea what it was and couldn't find it in her book so proclaimed it didn't exist.

They know very well what benzos are though. "I don't prescribe those, they're evil and addictive." That's about the extent of their knowledge.

This is why when I finally found a good GP I thanked the universe and refuse to see anyone else unless absolutely necessary.

Yep. My GP told me that "there is no such thing as alprazolam, whatever you're taking you're being lied to". I had to get him to look in his medication book *sigh*.
I've seen him google meds, too! And have also had a doctor get out THAT book and look up doses.

Quetiapine is a very basic and common AP. Shocking a doctor wouldn't know it.

EDIT: to be fair to my GP it is pretty much NEVER used here. Diazepam is the go to. Chlordiazapoxide for things like alcohol withdrawal. Midazolam before medical procedures. Lorazepam and Temazepam are sometimes used to but as far as I know that's it with common benzo's that are prescribed in the UK.
Oh, ONCE I met a woman here who is prescribed Clonazepam.

 

[Wilson Wilson]

My GP told me that "there is no such thing as alprazolam, whatever you're taking you're being lied to"

Holy fucking shit! It's one thing to say alprazolam isn't prescribed on the NHS and you will find a lot of counterfeits on the street, that's truthful and accurate harm reduction, but literally claiming the drug alprazolam does not exist? Fuck me...

Old mate of mine had a similar story where he almost OD'd and in A&E the consultant (yes consultant, not a GP or a nurse) didn't even know how to pronounce alprazolam and the only reason he was able to find out what it was is because there was a trainee around who was from the US. So the American trainee had to explain to the NHS consultant what alprazolam was. Apparently he'd literally never heard of it before.

I mean I do get that the NHS does not prescribe alprazolam, but at the same time, it's still one of the most common anti-anxiety drugs across the world and they must come across patients from other countries who have alprazolam prescriptions no? It's baffling to me they're unaware the drug exists.

Anyway with it being all over the news in the past year I'm guessing they now know at least vaguely what it is at this point. At least I hope so, for the sake of those kids buying those dodgy bars who will inevitably require tapers.

Quetiapine is a very basic and common AP. Shocking a doctor wouldn't know it.

Yeah for real. NHS if anything overprescribes the stuff. This was a young GP to be fair, but still, I mean, it's not exactly an uncommon medication.

EDIT: to be fair to my GP it is pretty much NEVER used here. Diazepam is the go to. Chlordiazapoxide for things like alcohol withdrawal. Midazolam before medical procedures. Lorazepam and Temazepam are sometimes used to but as far as I know that's it with common benzo's that are prescribed in the UK.
Oh, ONCE I met a woman here who is prescribed Clonazepam.

Yeah diazepam is the go-to benzo across the whole country, lorazepam is second, clonazepam is third. Alprazolam is actually not available on the NHS at all in England, only available from private docs who often give it out on a short-term basis to patients with panic disorder but have only just started therapy so they need something for emergencies - which of course is what alprazolam is originally for and how it should be used.

Clonazepam weirdly is only approved for epilepsy, so scripting it for anxiety is considered an off-label use. I have no idea why Roche never did the clinical trials to get it approved for anxiety since it is highly effective for GAD. Maybe by the time they found out the NHS was already turning away from benzos so it wasn't worth the effort and money. Seems likely as pretty much the rest of the world uses clonazepam for anxiety.

But as a result of that, the only doses you can get prescribed here are 0.5mg or 2mg. There's no 1mg clonazepam pill in the UK. That's why I'm scripted the 2mg. I think my GP wanted me on 1mg but it doesn't exist so it was just like "there's only 0.5mg or 2mg... I'll give you 2mg, break it in half if you need to because it's strong." And indeed 1mg is my usual dose.

Oh and I met one guy with a temazepam script. And one woman with a loprazolam script - very rare. But that was private not NHS.