Seizures & tapering

Thought I'd just comment, as I'm seeing a "trend" here folks (hi tramaddi! :)  )

When you're tapering off of ANYTHING, you have to be prepared for the possibility of seizures, ESPECIALLY if you don't do it carefully or "play around" and spike your dose for fun or other reasons.
Even though you feel normal (or close to it), your body is under a lot of stress, continually in flux, and this stress can cause these seizures to happen.

I've had them myself once or twice, and I was sticking to the regime as prescribed, but an unusually humid day with high barometric pressure, that's all it takes to set me off if I'm not careful to watch for it.
So be aware of this and don't panic if it happens. Just evaluate the situation and try to avoid that set of circumstances again. If you can't, well, just be very aware. There are usually warning signs, and if you listen to your body, just lying down or sitting for a while will make it pass. Go to your doctor if it's worrying you.

[mlconnell]

Not everyone is prone to seizures. Most of these are happening to people that had previous head injuries etc or its in the family.

[avisg]

People who have never had seizures and no one in there families had either have seizures . Tramdol is a big ones for this .I have seen it happen and trust me when I say its not pretty.If you read threw the posts on here you will notice they seem to be happening more often.

[Savas]

I'm not talking about inherited or injury related seizures here. I'm referring to a system overload that can happen to anyone. As an addict, you should be prepared for the possibility...although there isn't alot you can do, other than deal with it calmly and try to correct the situation.

[mlconnell]

Oh I'm not saying it could not happen to me. I know full well I am taking a risk. I guess I sure hope it does not happen. Would you guys not agree though that alot of those that are having seizures with this medication are also taking other meds at the time? It seems that the ones I read about seem to be taking other meds also.

[Savas]

Oh, God yes! :)   the more chemicals you pump into your brain, the greater the chance of it. I've been lucky and only had one near miss during this whole taper,

[avisg]

Mixing with other meds does increase your risks ,mixing with antidepressants is very dangerous .
I read an article not to long ago talking about the risks of seizures with people that take more then 700 mg a day . The number of mg was even less if you were taking the tram thru IV witch I did not even know they had.
  What it really comes down to is the longer you abuse at the higher level sooner or later there is a good chance that you could have a seizure , some people take it for years before they have one . I would be very aware of that risk , good thing is you are tapering down to quit so this will be something thankfully you wont have to worry about much longer . That is however one of the reasons I suggested you drop slow .I don't want to see you have one from your body going into shock from not having the drug either.

[mlconnell]

I thought about cutting my dosage starting on the night time dose. I will cut it down by 2 pills. I was thinking about skipping it altogether. That would be a 5 pill drop. I was thinking while I am sleeping would be the best time to have any minor W/D because I will be laying down resting. This may help also not having a seizure when tapering. Do you guys think this is a good idea? Savas what do you mean you had a near miss? What did you experience. I Have heard that sometimes you get a certain smell before you have a seizure. I remember years back when I was in a treatment center and this guy was coming down off of alcohol and he had a seizure and man it was the most horrifying thing I have ever seen. We were walking to the cafeteria and he started yelling and just ran into the glass doors and fell to the ground, then shook uncontrollably. I could not eat after seeing this.

[avisg]

I think you should go slow!!!! One pill off each dosage every four or five days SLOW SLOW SLOW..
Yes seeing seizures are very scary to watch!!!! I am sure much worse to have then to watch.. so if you have been doing 5 every dosage go down to four every dosage ....
Avis

[Savas]

Well...this is hard to describe but I'll try. Whenever I've had a seizure, it's followed by a "feeling". It's a bit of a light headedness, and I can almost *see* little sparkles of light in the periphery of my vision. At the same time, it feels like an overall building pressure in my body, followed by a buzzing in the ears that increases in pitch. I've been told by a doctor it's a somewhat unusual form of it, I don't get them set off by visual sensations like strobes, for me it's auditory sensations that can set it off (I've got wicked good hearing, wonder if there's a connection). This includes severe changes in barometric pressure. (luckily, it's rare for it to happen to me).
    So I get a decent amount of warning from these signs and all I have to do is sit or lie down for a bit and it usually passes. I think that it's the same for others, but what causes it varies. I get the impression most drug related seizures are either pressure related or chemical overload. The latter I don't know if you can do much about, but the former if you can recognize the signs, it can be avoided.
Which is what I meant by a near miss. Once or twice during the taper I realized it was coming on and had to sit/ lie until it passed.


I'd say try it, if you can sleep with the cutback that's great. But I'd probably take at least one. It's easier to cut down a dose than it is to cut a dose out entirely. Remember, when you sleep your body processes alot of the dose out as part of a healing state. So you'll wake up feeling very sick if you aren't careful.

[avisg]

one of the reasons I thought one pill pre dose is because tramadol is known for seizures
Avis

[dbi77]

I am about to go c/t off of trams. I have taken them for about 3 yrs and sometime 20 a day.Your posts about Tram w/d comforted me lol. I read all these posts and most freak me out. In yours u say what one may encounter c/t off tramadol (seizures etc) but just dont freak out and deal with it.Thanks because like I said these people were scarring me! I know I should be concerned. Don't get me wrong, but I will deal with it the best I can. I c/t off of xanax a few years ago. I had been on them for 2 yrs. Horrible w/d's, but no seizures. Hopefully and prayerfully I wont this time either.