I was diagnosed bipolar in 2008, though it goes way back before then. After a lot of prescriptions that did nothing, I eventually got 400 mg of quetiapine a day last year, and this has helped me to concentrate and so work, and also to sleep every night. This week, I ordered my monthly repeat prescription, but was told my GP would not authorize it until I made an appointment for an 'annual review'. After 2 days with no meds and no sleep, I eventually got the appointment made - it takes hours to get through to my surgery now, and you have to listen to horrible music and repeated messages for over an hour before anyone answers. I thought that the 'punishment' of withdrawn meds would be ended when I made the appointment as required, but my meds were still not at the pharmacy, so I called the surgery again, waited over an hour for a reply, and was told to call back because the doctor was busy. This has now gone on for 2 more days, and if I can get anyone to answer, they just tell me the doctor is busy but when he isnt busy they will ask him to authorize my monthly prescription again. Now I havent slept for almost 4 days, I can't eat, and my head is racing with crazy weird thoughts. I'm so stressed out I am seriously thinking of going over to the rough part of town and buying some illegal drugs so that I can get some sleep ... WTF has happened to the NHS, how can they treat people like this? They know I can't sleep without the quetiapine which I am now dependent on. How can they cut off all your medicines because you hadn't made an appointment which they didnt tell you to make until they had stopped your prescription? Its now 4.30pm on Friday, and I have one hour left for the GP authorization to dispense my meds to arrive at my pharmacy ... if not, I have 2 more days going crazy with no sleep... looks like I am heading out for a drug dealer, at least they don't refuse to give you drugs because you failed to make some appointment you werent told about ... sorry for this rambling message, but my head is truly messed up; - how can they treat people like this?
That's terrible but I can see how it could happen. Your best option is to go to A&E right away. Since you are BP they will see it as entirely appropriate. Then get a new GP.
Current waiting time at local A&E: 5 hours. Current waiting time at local drug dealer: 5 minutes. Starting to realize why illegal drugs are so popular in UK...
Call ahead and tell them that you coming in. They will be prepared and should treat you carefully and promptly. My guess is that you look on edge! A&E will get you a mental health care team assigned to get you back to a stable state.
On edge?!?!? I look wild at heart and weird on top ... there's so much intense emotion pouring out of me its a wonder all the bloody windows don't blow out. My hands are shaking so much I can only type by holding one finger with the other hand, and I'm chain-smoking and chewing the skin off my lips. I can't sit down and I can't keep still, and my mind is starting to sound like a crossed phoneline. One way out of this: over and out of it
A&E can help. Go. Or call a hotline.
My SRN wife says take yourself to casualty.
Dear Brian
I agree the NHS really sucks and the way they've treated you is apalling. When you're better I'd complain BIG time.
I'm really worried about you.
You can go to your pharmacy and get tablets that help you sleep over the counter. Nytol or unisom brand (diphehydramine) are good.
I would go to a pharmacy and ask for some Nytol. Say you have had it before. Lie and say something like you've restarted shift working and having trouble sleeping. Don't tell them the truth. They'll give you the run around and probably tell you to see your doctor. Just be calm and patient.
Once you have the box go home and take at least 100mg. You can take up to 400mg a day of it intravenously in a hospital so tablet wise it's safe to have even more than that (only about half the tablet dose is absorbed so that's why the tablet dose can be more than the iv dose).
Basically knock yourself out with Nytol.
Stay home. Avoid going out beyond the pharmacy. Avoid contact with people. You nay be behabing sttangely. You can't risk getting sectioned.
If you can't get legal tablets you can always make yourself drunk at home and fall asleep that way.
You NEED to sleep.
I don't think you should do anything illegal.
Brian.
Nytol, and just about everything else, works the opposite to what it's intended for me, gives me a high all night long, and I am only BP2. You need professional help and A&E is the only place to get it. Don't self medicate please you know what you need is quetiapine. Then when you are controlled, and don't look expensive, apply to a big practice with a choice of doctors.
Mike's advice is very sound. You are BP2. It feels bad but A&E will have seen similar before.
Do the straightforward thing. See professionals. You feel much better soon.
Take care of yourself.
Hi Mike. Hmmm. I'd never heard of Nytol having the opposite effect. It works well for me. I suppose A and E is the best option for Brian now. But I fear it's too late. I actually wrote my Nytol recommendation message without seeing all the other later comments.
thanxxx for advice people. unforchunalelyamodal OTC and herbel sleepstuff doesnt touch the sides of my buzzin brain after over a year on big doses of Zeroquel, you would need an elephant trankwilizer gun to stop my mind moving round at 100mph about now and around here....but Liverpool is luckily 'alternative medi-sins' central, and Doctored Feeelgood has now 'prescribed' me the necessaries....if you want something doing, do it yaself... Night night NHS, sleep well, it won't be long until the government puts you out of your misery haha
Hope you sleep well Brian.
Can I ask, out of curiosity, what drug you've got?
cannabis and tranx. been here before, minimal risk, HAVE to sleep before I go too strange...
FOUR DAYS AWAKE...
Something's coming
Dead head's humming
Shadows whisper ‘lock and key’
Words are stalking
Fast-fire talking
From this mind-maze laterally.
Overcharging
Ego larging
Midnight’s crooning ‘men don’t cry’
Brain’s unzipping
Med-mask’s ripping
Flame goes blazing ten miles high.
Ask your gp or the reseptionist when you will need to go to another med review so you can book in advance and keep a small surpplus of your meds just in case they mess up again.
Hi BadnewsBrain, have you got a cpn or care worker. How about contacting your psychiatric doctor. Withdrawal is awful and i fully sympathis. Hang in there and don't see a drug dealer as street drugs are not the same as prescribed.
hope this helps. Lou x
thanks... january drags, winter's dregs, and the weather drugs you like a storm-cocktail. onwards and upwards until the floor gives way again...
You might find that a therapist/counsellor helps in the bad times. I do see one once a week when I'm doing badly. I helps deal with the idiocies of the NHS, among other things. He/she can usually offer suggestions around obstacle that those of us at a distance cannot. And it's helps just to talk to someone.
google counselling directory
You can see the specialisations of each counsellor. Chose Bipolar!
thanks, but I have had counselling and therapy with several professionals, and it has all been fairly unuseful ... research into what makes psychotherapy and counselling effective - including studies of multiple variables - has typically found that the only significant factor is the individual therapist/counsellor, i.e. independent of the approach or therapeutic context etc, it seems that some people are just good at it while others are bad at it (probably most of them). My feeling is that I have only had crap counsellors and therapists to date, so either need to carry on trying new ones, or give up. Right now, I have given up.