Help! The GP will not renew my prescription!

Consider this scenario: You have an appointment with your GP and are subsequently prescribed appropriate medication for your health issue. The medication proves to be effective and you notice the positive changes that the drug is having on your daily life.  However, now there is a problem: your GP has refused to renew the prescription due to Healthcare Guidelines around the negative and addictive effects of long term prescription medication use. What can you do? You feel you want and need the medication. Why should you not have it? These days, this triggers  an option that many more people are choosing to take – you turn to the internet and access the drug. It was originally prescribed by your GP, and now an unknown source will provide the pills without the need for a prescription. 

The majority of people obtaining medication illegally in this way will not mentally struggle with what they are doing as they will justify their actions with the belief that what they are doing has no possible dangerous health repercussions: their GP prescribed the medication to them in the first place so it must be safe for them to take.  However, there is no way of knowing if the medication from the unknown source is safe to use or will even work in a similar manner to the original one that had been prescribed.  Common medications that are sourced this way are Benzodiazepines, such as Diazepam and Valium, Opiate based medication such as Codeine and Pregabalin and Zopiclone.

Dangers from medication sourced on the internet

There are potential dangers to our health accessing medication via an unknown source but these are generally ignored – the fact that they were originally  prescribed seems to block any sensible reasoning.

What can go wrong:

• The active ingredients in a medication make it work. Medication bought online may contain no active ingredient, too much or too little of an active ingredient or the wrong ingredients all together.
• Even if the medication that is bought online looks the same, there is no guarantee that it is genuine or the same that was prescribed and as a result the medication could have an adverse effect
• There is no way of knowing if the medication has been tested and is fit for human use and what has been sent may not even be the same as was originally advertised on the website
• Because there is no certainty about what is in the medication bought online you can not be sure it is safe to use alongside other medication that you may be taking. This can result in adverse reactions between the online medication and currently prescribed medication.
• There is no way of knowing how or where in the world the online medication was made and some medicines that have been tested have been found to also include traces of dangerous toxic substances.

Some countries such as Eire have taken major steps against supplying prescription medication via mail order, including through the internet, and have made it illegal.  Manufacturing fake or counterfeit medication known as falsified medicines is now a criminal offence and any that are discovered by customs are destroyed. They have successfully prosecuted website operators which supply unlicensed medication. 

• Another risk is that it is known that criminals are behind the rise in the availability of counterfeit medications through websites.  This leads to the risk of credit card  fraud and identity theft after customers openly giving out their personal details when ordering any medication.

Long term use of these medications will usually lead to an increase in the daily dosage as our body becomes tolerant to the effects of the medication and we will need more of the drug to get an effect.  Also drugs bought off the internet may have a lesser amount of the necessary ingredients and will therefore be a lower dose meaning we will also have to daily consume what at least appear to be higher amounts.  Tolerance to the drug and long term use will usually lead to an addiction to the medication with our suffering withdrawal effects should we try to reduce or cut back on the daily dose.

What is prescription drug addiction?

Prescription drug addiction is a recognised illness and disorder. The beneficial medical effects of the drug have long gone and the medication is now needed to  stop the effects of withdrawal.  As with all addictions, there will be a time when people need to seek help as the effects of the medication will not be helping but will have be having an adverse effect.

The original condition for it being prescribed will now have likely worsened and we will be experiencing negative effects not only on our health, but also on our ability to work effectively and on our finances, social life and relationships with those close to us.   For example, if we were originally prescribed medication to help with anxiety, now after long term medication abuse, our anxiety levels will  be even more heightened and we will be in a worse medical condition that when we initially sought help from our GP. 

Help for prescription drug addiction

It is extremely difficult if not nigh on impossible to detox off medication in the home environment. In addition, owing to how the medication has been obtained after a prescription has not been renewed, it will be very difficult to get help from the GP. Likewise no hospital is going to want to allocate a bed to someone wanting to come off illegally obtained medication.  Therefore the only real immediate and effective help available is from a residential rehab specialising in addictions.

How long does it take to detox off prescription medication?

One thing that is not routinely considered is the amount of time and the financial cost that is required to safely detox off prescription or internet medication.  Those that have developed a codeine addiction will require a medically assisted residential detoxification over a period of 2 weeks and the detox medication is exactly the same as someone detoxing off heroin.  A Benzodiazepine detox can take up to six weeks (sometimes longer) within the safe environment of a residential addictions treatment unit.  Someone with a Pregabalin addiction can take up to 2 months or more for their body to be safely clear of the drug. 

Prescription medication rehab

Making the decision to telephone a detox clinic or addiction rehab unit and  speak to someone who understands the situation is a critical first step. If you have a problem with prescription medication you are certainly not alone.  There is a way forward in getting your life back on track and being happy again.