Telehealth Ontario

April 1, 2020 7:11 AM

I am having some pretty severe anxiety at the moment. Is there a doctor in Toronto I can call and get a prescription for some short-term/emergency anti-anxiety medication?

I cannot focus on things (I do still have to work from home). I cannot fall asleep at night. I have not ever sought an anxiety diagnosis. I have a family doctor but I am not close with her. Weed is legal in Toronto but I have never tried it for anxiety and don't particularly know how to do that. Any suggestions welcome.

posted by anonymous to Health & Fitness (7 answers total)

I got an email from Galen Weston this morning (again...) but this was focused on solutions for this exact issue. They're partnering with Maple for "walk-in" stuff. I don't know about costs but it might be a way.
posted by wellred at 7:24 AM on April 1, 2020 [1 favorite]

Contact your family doctor’s office. Almost all the ones I know have move to online/telephone appointments and, depending on their fee structure, you going elsewhere may impact their choice on keeping you as a patient. If they can not help you they can recommend one of the many new telephone/online walk in services that sprung up. (This is assuming that I am parsing “I am not close with” my family doctor to indicate a physical distance). Don’t do weed for the first time.
posted by saucysault at 7:32 AM on April 1, 2020 [3 favorites]

Well I have a history of anxiety, and sleep issues but really haven't been taking anything for it recently. I'm about to message my PCP about it because not taking anything isn't working. Honestly lots of people need a little help during this time, and it's if it's available to you, go for it. Likely fixing your sleep with help with your concentration and anxiety so I'd start there. If the anxiety is still persistent you can explore a bunch of different options, but I'd focus on the sleep first.
posted by AlexiaSky at 7:53 AM on April 1, 2020

While you're sorting out your options: the "pm" sleep aid element in OTC meds like Tylenol PM, Advil PM, etc., is generic Benadryl (diphenhydramine), an antihistamine. Each caplet is 25mg. For right now (provided you're not barred from using oral Benadryl), you could try taking a half to a whole caplet during the day to ramp down anxiety, or one to two caplets at night for sleep. Check side effects/contraindications, and speak with your doctor.
posted by Iris Gambol at 10:17 AM on April 1, 2020

I work at a pharmacy in Toronto and recently received a fax from this service;

RapidAcess.ca

I haven't used it myself but may be a viable option
posted by drug_dealer73 at 10:39 AM on April 1, 2020

The Loblaws announcement said the grocer is covering the cost: "If you don’t have your own physician, Shoppers Drug Mart has partnered with Maple to offer a virtual walk-in clinic that will quickly match you with a doctor or nurse through your phone or computer. Many provincial health programs already pay for this service. But if in your case they don’t, we’re currently covering the cost until April 10, and are working to try and extend that as long as we need to."
posted by sardonyx at 12:17 PM on April 1, 2020

Since you said weed was something you were considering, and I would strongly suggest not trying that out now, since it helps some people's anxiety and makes some people's anxiety (such as my own) much worse. If that is something you'd like to experiment with, I would recommend doing that when you are in a better place, and are able to get a lot of guidance about it.
posted by ITheCosmos at 1:50 PM on April 1, 2020 [2 favorites]