Anyone in the UK get prescribed benzodiazepines?

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I really want to come off anti depressants long term, I would vastly prefer a tablet I could take very infrequently, as needed.
In most other countries I see benzodiazepines prescribed reasonably easily, but here in the UK they're avoided to my knowledge. I understand the many downsides and the reasons we're cautious, I just wondered if anyone has been trusted with them on an as needed basis?

Maybe ask your GP for something like 3 Clonazepam pills a month to start? It is better than nothing and its pretty hard to get addicted or dependent on 3 pills a month. I'm not in the UK, I'm in Canada but I've still encountered benzophobic doctors here occassionally. That's how I would approach it if I were in your shoes. If they say no, ask them to explain why. It would be pretty hard to support any of their arguments against having 3 pills a month. I always be sure to phrase it in "Do you think we could try __insert name of medication you want to try__" rather than "Can I try" as it gives doctors a sense of control. When asking for any controlled substance its also best to not dress like a hood rat either. Normally I'd suggest citing pubmed articles supporting a particular medication treating a particular condition when asking for meds but I don't think that's necessary as its obvious benzos treat anxiety.

Maybe explaining why you need them, what situations in your life you believe could be helped by having the occasional benzo. May want to explain why you don't want to take anti-depressants instead while you are at it. Doctors here don't typically prescribe a benzo without an anti-depressant too.

Anyways that's my advice. Good luck

thank you, I feel very scared of that idea, dunno if I'm confident enough

I have some in my cupboard, I was having some anxiety issues towards the end of last year, mostly at night, I asked my GP for some Diazepam which he agreed to prescribe on the basis that I should use them when I needed them. He gave me 12 very low dose, six months later I still have 10 in the cupboard but his view was that just knowing that I had them would help which indeed it seemed to do.