Getting on Tramadol

[bBarry]

Hi, I am in the process of tapering Valium and is really hard. At 62 years old I have never felt a withdrawal before. I am still taking 1-1/2 Soma a day and 2, 7.5 Norco's. I have had so many broken bones including over 14 rib fractures (not counting older ones), my scapula has a huge hole punched in it, I have asked where did it go? The Doc told me it was pulverized and gone. I find that hard to believe but it is what it is, painful after 12 years every day, can't lay on back or sit in a recliner for long. Have to have a pillow against my back to sit in an office chair. I fractured my pelvis and my collarbone is overlapping. I have several ruptured disks and a couple fractured vertebrata. They should have fixed some things like the collarbone but I had a collapsed lung (a rib punctured it) and head injury, I guess they didn't want to do surgery. That shoulder is a good 3 inches shorter than the other side and feels like a  pinching type pain. I will need something for pain for life. I burned a hole in my gut with aspirin, now I can't take motrin either.

This Doctor wants to get me off all my meds. He must be crazy. He told me I could have Ultram since it's non-addictive. Are these Doctors that stupid? This is the same guy that wanted me to taper off Valium after 12 years in 2 weeks. It's a good thing I had some in the hole and found a Doctor that gave me 30 5's. I think I have enough to get off Valium for good. I asked for some 2mg tablets and he gave me 15. Thanks for the 30mg of Valium Doc, that should be a big help. If I have another heart attack I will see this jerk (can't use the name I want) in court, if I make it. A million would make me feel a lot better.

As for the Tramadol, from reading posts here I believe it's a worse drug than hydro. I will be trading one depenency for another, possibly worse. I'm gonna tell him to kiss my, oh well, nevermind.

Are these doctors just evil or don't they know how to safely get someone off the meds they so easily ordered you to take? Any Doctor that prescribes narcotics should have to go through withdrawals of the same type they put other people through, like benzo's, suboxone and methadone for example. My sister had a problem with hydro, I don't know how much she was taking but WHY would a Doctor have put her on methadone, a worse drug? She was taking 160mg a day at one point. Now she is taking much less. She was off it once and went back. I'll answer my own question,, because they buy it for pennies a dose and charge outlandishly for it, hundreds of $$ a month. It's criminal. Crack dealers don't mark up their drugs that much. All of the sudden more and more Doctors that were family practice are doing it. It's terrible. Why doesn't the DEA stop that instead of making it hard to get hydro? When they have us living longer it's only common sense that we will be in pain one day. Florida and Arizona alone has hundreds of thousands of people 60 and over on pain meds. A friend told me he and his wife didn't want to get on the "hard stuff" (hydro) and his Doctor precsribed Ultram for them because it was non-addictive. A few months later he called on a Sunday night and said he ran out of pills and he had crazy legs that were driving him crazy and his pain was worse than before he got on it. He had been awake for 2 nights with no sleep at all. That's when I knew without a doubt these Doctors don't know what they are doing.

It's quacks like this that give people a drug they say will be the answer to all their problems that has most of us here. The DEA is raiding drs offices and making arrests, that's good. I never would have taken Valium but did so at my Doctors insistence. They play too many games and a lot of them are just looking to make their millions and leave you cold one day. He was writing me 120 lortab, 120 soma and 90-120 10mg valium a month until he moved away and left a bunch of people to go into withdrawals. That seems criminal to me. I had never had a Valium before. You know I got high.

Don't know why I posted this. I guess because I am so disappointed in the medical profession. All I can add is that I will never take another new pill a doctor orders me until I come home and learn everything I can about the drug. Who knows maybe this will help someone getting ready to try some terrible drug.

Oh yeah, the Soma, I had terrible muscle cramps but the flexeril was working okay. I was satisfied, sleeping fair on flexeril but feeling more rested when I woke up. He said hmmm, your ribs aren't moving right, I want to try a different muscle relaxer on you. I'm so stupid I actually trusted him and said no problem, what is Soma? He said it's just another muscle relaxer.

Well, that's it. You guys hang in there, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. These pills can be beat without 12 step programs or checking into rehab, it just takes a really strong desire to get off the ones you can. I never needed valium and will be happy when I take that last piece of a pill. Was at 30mg a couple years ago, went down some each year until this year. Been tapering as slow as I can with the resources I have. I'm down to 3-1/2mg now, chomping at the bit to get to <2mg and I will stop then. I think the withdrawals are worse towards the end. Don't know how it will be to stop and what dose I will be on when the time comes, but I am prepared mentally to go for it. I almost want to stop now. I have been sick since August,, actually July, had to start over. I wasn't ready for what I experienced cutting 5mg a week.

If you have never taken a Benzo,, Valium, Xanax, Klonapin, etc., don't think if you take less than prescribed the drug won't beat you. It will, you are only human. Like the Robot on Lost in Space said,, Danger Will Robinson, Danger!! Avoid Benzo's like the plague. Please!!

[bBarry]

Thanks for telling me about that Doc telling you tramadol isn't addictive. They have to know better. Why do they lie? As a matter of fact, Doctors do devious shi1. I have caught them in lies. They couldn't care less about you and me. Makes you wonder why some Doctors always seem to have a drug rep in his office. Drug Companies can't pay someone to give Doctors boxes of free samples and sit for an hour unless there was something in it for everybody. That's as a business owner and 62 yrs of living. You can't make money giving your product away. I believe most of it is very addictive, or as they say you might just have a little seizure if you stop, no biggie.

Off subject, you can find on the internet about people that have found "cures" for some cancers, probly youtube. The drug companies buy them out. They don't want to cure us, they want a life long customer, even if they make it shorter than necessary. I really believe the Government wants to thin the herd.

Thanks again for the info Krissy,

Barry

[bBarry]

Nice to hear from you again!

You rattled my memory. Right after my accident (motorcycle, no helmet), the Doc that gave me all my meds for 25 years had me on percocet, which was great. My Dad was still alive and I had road rash from hell. Dad said I had a lot more bad spots than good spots. I needed percocet. Like you said, the Doctor I trusted told me that people taking percocet for a legitimate reason don't get withdrawals from it. What a lie!! He would have kept me on it until the day he moved away. Then your a drug seeker if you look for narcotics. After 3 months and 360 percocet,, some pure oxy and morphine for a week in the hospital I told him I was ready to get on Tylenol 3's. He was shocked. He said Tylenol 3 is a bad drug, I want you to take Vicodin, "it's easier to get off." Now I don't even know if that's true.

A lot of people, many here need pain control and that's how we got in this boat. I wonder if Tylenol 3 is harder to get off than hydro? Did he lie to me?

[luvdolphins58]

Hi Barry. I totally agree with you about stupid greedy incompetent Dr. 5 yrs ago injured on job surgeries ... fast forward this past Apr moved no longer had dr. All these dr lied to me. They prescribed Percocet said if i take as prescribed will not be addicted. Well I found out the hard way. Major withdrawals. So yeah i agree they need to go thru ct detox than tell me not addictive. So hang in there.