The Prescription Blues

[Bob Bear]

Went to see my GP this afternoon. Iv never used a med before but after talking with Dr Nase I wanted to give Klonopin a shot. I kinda thought Id have my work cut out, so I went armed with my copy of the book and plenty of quotes.

This guy was actually alright. When i explained my symptoms he was sensitive and gave me a good hearing. He was also impressed with the case I bought. Unfortunately none of this was enough to get me a script - he turned me down flat when he realised i was after a benzo.

Thing is I cant help feeling that he refused me more out of wanting to cover his own back than for my benefit. I imagine it was probably a bit of both, either way very dissapointing. I can see his point though - its not going to look good on him if he gets a young guy hopelessly addicted on benzos! I just wish I could get them to realise that Im not as naive as i may appear on paper - I know the risks of using these drugs and Im 100% confident that I can use them responsibly without any problems. I may only take it 10 times a year!

My question i guess at this point is, how the hell do you guys get hold of your meds? Iv been refused everything but beta blockers by two GP's and a derm. It really doesnt look as if my local GP's or derms are going to work with me on this. I also highly doubt that my IPL Dr would prescribe me - he's hardly going to want that responsibility. Dont get me wrong, I dont want to be constantly taking meds - Im just after the proverbial 'magic bullet' that I can use on special occassions. Surely there must be something i can do?

He did make me laugh though at one point. He suggested Yoga might help - right, I cant even touch my toes with inducing a major scale flush! This just seems to illustrate further the average Dr's complete lack of understanding regarding us and out little friend rosacea.

[irishgenes]

It is very, very difficult to get a controlled substance drug prescription (unless you are somebody like Elvis!) I talked to an eminent San Francisco psychiatrist once who had written medical texts about anti-anxiety drugs. He had been reprimanded several times by the board of medicine for prescribing them "too much", but he was brave and willing to risk threats from the "authorities" for his patients' well-being. Doctors who prescribe these drugs get letters from the government, the board of medicine, the health insurance companies-- all questioning their decisions. They are rightly paranoid about actions being taken against their right to practice medicine if they hand these prescriptions out too freely.

Your best bet is a psychiatrist, not a GP or a derm, and one who is into using drugs, not talk therapy. If he resists, tell him you just want a prescription for a dozen pills with no refill.

[tryingtogetoverit]

That sucks but I can see why the Dr wouldn't want to.
Even a psychiatrist is not going to want to give anti anxiety medications long term...I had an Rx for Valium a while ago and only got 10 w/ no refills. There is potential for physical addiction as well as psychological...(arguably worse imo and the potential is definitely "more real" for psychological addiction in my case lol)

That said, I'm wondering the same as you. No one wants to give me anything and when I ask, I sound crazy or like a drug addict.
My family dr said a firm "No." when I asked. At least she admitted she didn't know enough about them to accurately prescribe anything...having no clue if the therapeutic dosage for rosacea was the same for diseases those drugs actually treat, etc. I asked my therapist and that got me no where. "You'd benefit from an SSRI to treat your BDD, rather than an anti-anxiety drug to treat this "redness." (I put quotes there to emphasize how he said it.) "I feel that if we treat the BDD, your desire to obtain dermatological treatment will not be as strong as it is now."

I tried my absolute hardest. I still think the best way to get these drugs is via a dermatologist or perhaps even a heart specialist or something along those lines. They'd know more about it's off label uses, I would think. (Or at the very least be more apt to Rx them for similar issues...they see these drugs every day and probably have a better understand of how they work (or how they could work for us) more so than other dr's.

[irishgenes]

You give dermatologists way too much credit! I bet there is not one in a hundred who prescribes benzos for anything. At least shrinks are used to prescribing them for anxiety. If it were me, I'd go to a shrink and say nothing about wanting benzos or your rosacea, just talk about how anxious I was. If you start talking to docs about wanting benzos for rosacea, which is something they've never heard of, they will just think you have dreamed up an excuse because you are an addict. It all depends on finding the right doctor, and that can cost a lot since you can't interview them for free.