As good as the NHS is - they hate to dole out drugs unless all other options have been exhausted.

I went to my GP asking for a single Ambien (Zolpidem) to help me sleep on a long haul flight and they said no as it 'could cause dependency'. So I bought 60 over the counter with no prescription in Thailand.

Yeah, I always thought it a bit dumb that you can't get a couple of sleeping pills for a flight / jet lag. They could always limit it to say 20 a year so you can't get addicted. I bought my Ambien in Vietnam.

Sorry about the late reply, enjoying the bank holiday.

I don't have a fear of dentists, I think spending money on solving pain issues is the best money one can spend. And I use a private dentist rather than NHS (since every NHS dentist near my home does not seem to be taking new patients.) – It's not an abscess that I have, I seem to sprout new teeth frequently, I'm on my third and fourth set of adult teeth (different teeth in their own different generations), and they keep coming, and as they're pushing through it causes a lot of pain, which is manageable apart from a pain perspective, but I don't get much sleep whilst waiting for an appointment. Zopiclone helps with that, but it's not easily obtainable despite the condition being on medical record.