Does tramadol withdrawal cause pain in arms and legs?

[nikko270]

I've been on tramadol for viral pain for 2 yrs. On average 6-8  50mg pills daily. I stopped cold turkey 7 days ago because my pain had finally tapered off and left me. Or so I hoped. For the first four days I took one 10 mg dose of hydrocodone to reduce the discomfort which helped a fair bit. Im still experiencing insomnia, chills, runny nose and pain in my arms and legs. Is all this normal? I'm really worried about the pain in my arms and legs and that maybe the tramadol was actually working better than I thought and my pain has never really left.

[joejr2u]

When do the Headaches subsize with this Tramahell??

[LeaAnn807]

It took me about 10 days to get ANY sleep after I stopped tram and then it was still broken.....an hour here and fifteen minutes there.  Just sleep when you can even during the day for now won't hurt.  After about a month I was getting 3 straight hours, but it was at weird times.  It just stinks to have to be patient and wait, but that's the only thing that helps.  You don't want to treat it with sleeping pills.  That only puts off the natural sleep from coming back.

When you can, try some exercise during the day....like in the morning. That will help as much as anything.  I tried melatonin, valerian root, etc, but nothing did much for me along that line.

Just hang in there!  Congrats on your clean time! : )

[nikko270]

Can anyone tell me how long the insomnia will last??

[harmsnogood]

Hi,low energy levels linger on for a while.Me,I drank plenty of water,protein shakes,ate healthy and tried to exercise as much as I could no matter how little.Little by little I could feel my natural energy come back.For me I would say after about 14 days there was a vast improvement compared to detox week.Hang in there your energy will soon be improving.
Harms

[nikko270]

Thank you. I think your right about the anitdepressant part making it trickier to get off of. While i have to admit the drug helped me a lot over the past 2 yrs with my pain, i certainly let my guard down with it compared to the other opiates I'd been on. My fault I guess but it certainly is marketed as a safer alternative to other "heavy duty" pain meds.  Regardless I am soooooo looking forward to having this in my rear view mirror. One question - did you find after you'd been off it and all the withdrawal issues were done that your energy increased? Im really hoping mine will.

[nikko270]

Thank you! Im guessing I might have protracted part of the physical w/d by taking hydrocodone for 4 days after stopping the ultram as this would simply mask the opiate w/d part of the drug.  Either way, with every discomfort and pain I experience it only makes me that much more resolved to never use it again. That said, it was a necessary evil as it helped get me through 2 yrs of pain.

[harmsnogood]

Hi,contratulations on stopping this drug.It's amazing how many people are suprised with the withdrawals from this.Tramadol is an synthetic opiate type drug with an ad propertie added to it,which can cause quite bad withdrawals such as you mention in your post.The physical withdrawals from this drug are typically 5 to 7 days after prolonged use.I agree possible rebound pain,try otc meds.I physically felt a lot better from tramadol detox after about 8 days and after that each day got a little better.Mentally I would say I felt somewhat normal around 17-18 days,but of course we are all different.It's the best decision I ever made stopping trams.Take care
Harms

[ImDONENoMore]

Yeah, a lot of people say that.  And a lot of Dr.'s still prescribe it as a safe alternative to your standard opiates.  Hopefully that will continue to change with time since I have seen their knowledge about tramadol change quite a bit in the last few years.

Definitely try the OTC stuff - the aleve works the best for me.  Hang in there- and keep posting.  It will help you to cope with the feelings we all experience when going through withdrawal.  But you're right, tramadol is tricky (and sneaky) - I believe it's because of the anti-depressant component to this drug that makes withdrawal especially tough.  But it will get better with time.  You'll see - :)

[nikko270]

Thanks so much. I havent tried either of those but I will. Hadnt thought about rebound pain and actually dont really know much about it but I'll look it up.  How long did it take for you to feel "normal" again. I have to say I'm pretty surprised at how much stopping this drug has thrown my life for a loop. I've quit fentanyl, percocet and just about every other px pain med in the last 2 yrs and got what I expected everytime. But I really didnt see these "issues" coming from stopping tramadol.

[ImDONENoMore]

I experienced reallly bad pain in my upper arms after I quit tramadol but it did subside a lot with time.  Rebound pain maybe?  And now the OTC stuff works great for my pain.  Have you tried motrin or aleve?

Congrats for quitting!