GP won't prescribe me pregabalin.

[SarahH]

Tish,

I suggest you see a different GP in your practice and show them the NICE guidelines regarding Pregabalin. Your GP is trying to palm you off with a cheaper, old fashioned drug.
In my opinion Pregabalin has side effects which are not as horrendous as SSRIs and pass with time. It is not as addictive as Valium and is the best thing I have been given for anxiety.
I am not saying that Amitriptaline is not effective for anxiety and nerve pain, it also acts as an anti-depressant. But Pregabalin is the better more modern option.

Sarah

[Avasmummy_x]

I didn't know pregabablin was highly addictive? I wouldn't have started it if I knew that!

[hanshan]

Hi Avasmummy,

You may have missed my point. Pregabalin is not highly addictive and its side effects are much milder and fewer than ADs for most people. But these are lies told by doctors to cover up the fact that they are not prescribing it due to cost.

[MyNameIsTerry]

Compared to the cost of the standard SSRI's most likely Hanshan. Oddly though I checked the costs when another member, gregcool, was having issues with his new GP and his trazadone (which was also a lying GP as it's cheap in pill form in the UK) and I found that a common SNRI which I am on, Duloxetine, is quite expensive.

They tout this addiction line around but if you look into that if guidance against it's use in patients with know substance misuse issues, if I remember correctly.

[hanshan]

There is no evidence that pregabalin is addictive when taken at prescribed levels.

There is some evidence that people with substance abuse issues are taking megadoses (several times the maximum prescribed dose) and may well develop withdrawal symptoms. This should not be confused with normal practice above.

[heather89]

OK so I have booked an appointment with a different GP at the same practice for Friday afternoon. I have printed off the page on pregabalin from the BNF, links fro the NHS and NICE. I haven't let myself get hopeful this time. But it is worth a try. Wish me luck.

[netball]

good luck heather
let us know how u get on. X

[heather89]

Hi guys thought I would give you an update. I went to a different doctor nearly 2 months ago and she said the same thing the previous doctor had said but she said she would do more research as she wanted to give me it. She said she would call me the following week but after a few weeks of no call I was getting to the end of my tether. I ended up in bed for 3 days crying when I went back to the doctor to see a locum doctor. She was really nice and sat with me for 40 minutes listening to my history. My mum was with me and she went mental about how the other doctor hadn't called me. The locum asked if I would try another SSRI so I agreed to try sertraline. For the first couple weeks on sertraline I was OK but nearer the end of the month the dry mouth had gotten so bad that my mouth and tongue came out in sores and I couldn't eat or sleep. So the doctor told me to come off them. She said I should speak to the other doctor about the pregabalin although she wanted me to try more antidepressants first. The thought of this terrified me so instead of seeing her again I requested a call from the other doctor, who is a partner at the surgery and the only one allowed to prescribe medicine for non-licenced issues. I couldn't get an appointment with her til next Friday but she called me today and she has said I CAN GET PREGABALIN tomorrow I'm sooooo happy! I have hope once again!!! I must say perseverance has definitely paid of for me this time thankyou everyone who has been supportive of me over the last few months of frustrating times for me. I really hope this works for me x

[hanshan]

Hello Heather,

This is an amazing story. Three doctors and you can't get one willing to prescribe a medication approved by NHS for anxiety eight years ago? Where are these people? On the moon?

If a new medication for anxiety is NHS approved this year, will it mean that these GPs in 2023 will still claim that they haven't heard of it and can't prescribe it? Beats me.

[heather89]

Hello Heather,

This is an amazing story. Three doctors and you can't get one willing to prescribe a medication approved by NHS for anxiety eight years ago? Where are these people? On the moon?

If a new medication for anxiety is NHS approved this year, will it mean that these GPs in 2023 will still claim that they haven't heard of it and can't prescribe it? Beats me.

I know it really is. Turn out that the NHS in Greater Glasgow and Clyde (where I live) do not have it licensed for anxiety but it is licensed everywhere else. The doctor said that this is due to the fact that this constituency did not seek to acquire a licence from wherever it is you get a licence, she does not know why, and this is why GPs are reluctant to prescribe it. She did say, however, that it does not mean they are not allowed to prescribe it for non-licensed issues if the GP feels that other avenues have not been fruitful and the benefits outweigh the risks. So I am glad I persevered. I do feel though that the first GP was unwilling to prescribe due to cost. And I am thankful I persevered and finally got a GP who done some research and will now prescribe me it. I get the prescription tomorrow. How much of an idiot will I look if it doesn't work though lol. Although I know it will as my boyfriend is on pregabalin and has given me some when I have been in a total panic and it has helped a lot. I just didn't want to say to the GP I had received meds that weren't prescribed for me.