Posted by Quintal on April 23, 2007, at 8:25:11
In reply to Re: How come it seems only 3-4 benzos are ever used?, posted by James_glasgow on April 23, 2007, at 7:37:23
Hi James,
I know it's certainly possible to obtain clonazepam on prescription under special circumstances in the UK - I was prescribed Rivotril too by my GP for about four years, but that was only because I managed to persuade a fairly liberal young locum doctor to give me a trial of it, and from then on - well doctors are like sheep aren't they? My usual GPs would never have entertained the idea, and the psychiatrists did everything they could to try and force me on to diazepam, and off benzos altogether.
I was referring to general prescribing habits, and in the UK diazepam reigns supreme while clonazepam has no license for anxiety and very few would prescribe it off-label even if you asked nicely (I'd say most aren't even aware of it as an anxiolytic). I also had a private prescription of Xanax from the same locum GP (it isn't available on the NHS at all), and my usual GP went bezerk when she found out what he'd been prescribing. Apparently they'd had a warning/reminder notice against prescribing the potent short-acting benzos like Ativan just weeks before, and sure enough they got queries over the unusual prescribing habits from the local health authority a short while later (I went through nearly every benzo in the book in a short space of time). I think that might have been one reason why they wanted me off Rivotril so badly. The same thing happened when my psychiatrist started me on Depakote - a warning letter from Big Brother saying ordinary sodium valproate would have to suffice as Depakote was too expensive/inappropriate by their standards.
I'm just guessing you might be living in Scotland from your posting name? I think there are substantial differences in the way the health system operates in England and Scotland, but I would be very surprised if clonazepam or alprazolam accounted for more than a tiny fraction of psychiatric benzo prescriptions on the NHS even in Scotland. It seems they're used almost exclusively in the private sector, or on rare occasions at the request of an individual patient on the NHS, but that's far from common.
Good to hear from others in the UK anyway! Good luck with your current treatment.
Q
poster:Quintal
thread:752662
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070419/msgs/752686.html