TAPERING OFF TRAMADOL! HELP!

[Haley1867]

I have been reading old posts regarding tramadol all throughout this website.  I have been addicted for 2 years.  I am currently taking 20-30 a day.  I am not willing to go cold turkey and it appears that many folks have had success with tapering.  I was hoping for support, advice, suggestions, and experiences.  FYI, I had a $200 a-day heroin habbit 15 years ago.  I was clean up till the tramadol 2 years ago (which I was told is not addictive).  I kicked the Heroin habbit cold turkey but at the time I was not working.  It sucked, but It was possible.  I am hoping to taper and quit tramadol without much disruption in my daily life.  Please help and thanks.

[Haley1867]

Hello everyone!  Another good day.  I am feeling good and was able to drop two from the previous day's total. I had some discomfort, but functionable.  Even managed to clean my wood floors last night.

I don't want you guys to think I am just aimlessly taking pills throughout the day.  I do have a "soft schedule" but I did it this way to see what times/amounts I could take with the biggest jum and the least discomfort.  It has definately taken the last few days to do that.  One thing I have incorporated, thanks to my new buddies, is DEFINATELY NOT to increase once I have decreased.  Even if this weekend the 7 is too light, I will deal with it and learn from it by tapering slower next weekend.  For now, so far, I think I am doing alright. :-)  I mean, I would be doing better if I wasn't in this mess ... stupid tramadol :-)

I have read how others tapered by cutting out one of the doses during the day, or dropping one dose by a 50mg pill during one of the scheduled times and that is the route I am going to take.   I am pleasantly surprised that I have been able to drop to amount I have and still feel OK.  Not great by any stretch, but OK.

I am so excited!  I am soooo happy to be doing this.  Thanks again for all the support.  I probably won't be able to get on the site over the weekend, so I wil be out of touch but will let everyone know how I am doing on Monday.

I hope all of you are doing well.  I am so proud of you all.  I hope you realize how selfless and loving it is that you take some time to help newbies like me and the others.  I am glad you didn't just get clean and leave the sight.  Being able to bounce things off you guys and have someone to talk to about this has been just wonderful.  I can not thank you all enough.  It feels so good to hear the words "you're doing great"........"keep it up"......."I'm so proud of you".........It helps me to keep going when I don't want to.

I hope everyone is doing well.  I hope you all have a great weekend and I look forward to speaking to you all soon.
Big hugs and kisses!!!

[LeaAnn807]

I agree with vicki.  If you are tapering, you need to take a scheduled dose at an appointed time.  Not just a pill here and a pill there and then two more when you need them.  You need to get a plan, write it down and don't vary from it!  If you have symptoms between doses, then you have to do something else to alleviate them.  Like Hyland's Leg Cramps will help with the leg aches.  Mag/cal supplement helps SO much too.  Hot bath.  Heating pad.  Advil.  Immodium.  I know it's not exactly big time medicine, but those things worked well for me when I went cold turkey!  And I was MISERABLE!  

Drink lots of gatorade and apple juice too.  I could not believe the difference it made for me.  AJ is full of potassium!  

You are doing so good honey, and you have an awesome attitude!  Just keep being positive and know that you CAN do this and that you ARE worth it!!! : )

[vicki595]

Haley~  I think it would be better to take 2 every 6 hours for a few days to keep those blood levels stable.  Then after several days or when you feel okay,drop a dose from there.  That's what I would do.  
Tapering is very difficult. You need to be regimented for it to work. I tapered for months with my DOC and I had someone else to hand them out to me. I hope that you can stick to a good plan so you only need to do this once.
Also,it's good to have a doctor on board who knows what you're doing...

V.

[Haley1867]

Hey, by the way GuitartotinVet!  Are you currently using?  Are you still taking tramadol and the others?  How are things going for you?  Are you trying to come off or just manage better?  Not to be nosey, I was just curious.  Hey, by the way, Army Airborne Accident? Are/were you a Ranger jumping out of planes?!  Wow, you are a bad@ss if you can jump out of a plane!!!  Again, just curious.

TMRobin, how are you holding up?

[Haley1867]

Hello to all my tramadol hating friends!
thanks so much for all your advice and encouragement!  I am sooooooo glad I have this forum.  I NEVER would have even given it second thought to take a few extra one day.........say I was down to 7 and slipped up to 10 one day.  I NEVER EVER would have thought that would be a big deal.  This is why this forum and everyone on here is sooooo very important to me.
Vicki!  I am actually only taking a large amount (5) at once in the morning.  Only because it was the morning when I took my first dose of 12 everyday.  The rest of the day it is merely two or three each time.  Believe it or not, I still feel good today.  It is almost 2pm.  I took my 5 at 4am and then I took 2 at 11am when I started feeling icky.  I was gonna take another 2 around 4 or 6 if I felt I needed them.  I was thinking that when I begin to yawn uncontrollably, my lower back begins to ache, as do my legs, and I start feeling just horrible and COMPLETELY exhausted is when I need to take the next dose.  It always takes at least an hour after taking them before I feel better, but it works.  However, since the idea is to taper down, I will take that advice and cut my large 5 dose down to 3 in the morning.  I will play it by ear to guage my next dose but will stick to two a a time throughout the day.  I already know I won't feel better immediately (why is that???).  I am so excited and hopeful.  I already know from reading this forum that more times during the day that you "dose" the easier it will be to just cut one out.  At least that's what all other tapers seem to do.
Thanks again you guys!  I certainly don't want to have to explain to anyone at work why I just had a seziure.  I never got them from tramadol.  I only had seizures way way back in the day when I was injecting cocaine (nasty evil stuff).

[tmrobin]

Haley and Tramahater,

Thank you for your encouragement!
Today is day three and since I was not on so much (I guess), my physical wds are not quite as bad as yesterday. Still VERY tired! The worst thing now is the anxiety! I'm not sure what's worse??? I'm going to head to the gym in a few and hope I can work off some of this anxiety. What a hellish drug and to not be classified a narcotic is such a joke.
What's getting me through right now is my sweet little girls and watching them through eyes that have not been clear for months. Haley, I also miss the energy the tram gave me, but not being in the fog and realizing what true laughter is, is begining to make me feel like there is a light. I hate the drug for where I am now, but hope it will end soon. I'm glad you're tapering, I think that would have been a better way for me.
Tramahater, thanks for your insight I know I will be asking you lots of questions during this process. Congrats on 130ish days!!

[vicki595]

Haley~  Hi !   I just have a suggestion for you:  Don't take so many pills at a time and don't drop your dose so fast. You cut the tram by almost 50% the first day.  This is hard on your body.  Try to take less pills at one time and take them more frequently
throughout the day. You can still taper this way quite nicely and you will prevent the
spikes in blood levels.  Try to work out a plan of taper,based on the amt. of pills you have now.  And as Tramahater said,once you drop a dose,don't go back up!

xo

[LeaAnn807]

Awww.....you are too sweet!  Tram is a nasty, nasty drug to get off of.  It seems so innocent when you start it though, doesn't it????  I didn't know much about it either, but I should have been scared of anything that made me feel so much better, so FAST!  Remember with tapering, once you go down in dose, don't go back up no matter how bad the WD feels.  Especially with tram.  You could have a seizure.  I had MANY of them from taking too much in one day or at one time.  Just wait it out, and in a few days you will feel better and can lower your dose again.

I will help you in any way I can!  If I don't seem to be around, then just message me!!! : )

Hope you have a great day!!!  Stay positive ok? BIGGGG Hugs!

[Haley1867]

You are my hero!  I wish I had the balls to do what you did.  I really appreciate your feedback and your information.  I know very little about tramadol, the half life, and I never even knew there were SSRI properties (did I say that correctly?) until I began reading this forum.
I will be careful.  I have enough on me today (here at work) in case the withdrawal gets bad.  I am hoping to lower my dose initially to something reasonable.  I will be very careful not to do anything that drastic.  I think I am just anxious to get this over with.
Please continue to post tramahater.  I get excited everytime I see a reply from you!

[LeaAnn807]

Haley, you are tapering really fast, huh?  I think that you'll want to let your body adjust to the drop before you drop again.  I never did taper though.  I am just saying that because that is the general rule of tapering.  It mainly applies to when you get down to the lower doses.  Tram has a long half life, so it will take a bit for your body to realize what you are doing, as opposed to opiates with a short half life.  But you're going so great!  Keep it up!

tmrobin, I also did cold turkey from about 15 a day, and that was 130ish days ago???  I think.  That is a close number anyway.  Have to check my tracker!!!  Anyway, be patient.  You have the supplies.  Take hot baths too.  That will help a lot of the symptoms.  If you can, get a Mag/Cal supplement.  It helps a lot.  After a week, you will realize that you may live through it.  After a month, you will sleep better and have some energy.  It just takes time.  You may find that you need an anti depressant for a little while.  Exercise is probably the best thing you can do when you feel like it.  Even a little will help!

[Haley1867]

Hello Tmrobin and anyone and everyone else!
Hey, I am gonna be over hear rooting for you!  I am so happy that I don't have to go cold turkey and I will be checking everyday to see how you are doing. Please continue to post.  I have begun my taper to try and avoid c/t.  I worry that I might say "oh, the heck with it, I have plenty, I can do 20 just today".  I want to taper down to none and then throw the stupid things away.  You know, I can't ever really remember getting high off of these pills.  They just made me feel more energetic.  In fact, I clearly remember the first day I took two.........I cleaned, painted, and redesigned my son's entire bedroom.......even put up chair rails, then cleaned out two cabinets in my kitchen and the bathroom closet.  But I remember feeling very spacy and out of it.  My mom had come over and I was paranoid speaking to her because my sense of humor was gone and I had a hard time focusing on any conversation.  I havene't felt like that in years but it makes me wonder why the hell I began taking so many every day in the first place.  It never flet like a percoset or an oxy.
Anyway, tmrobin I am rooting for you.  Please hang in there.  You are couragous to do this, especially with children around.  I know it can be done.  I have read about it on the forum.  I am here if you need me.
As for me, I am on day two of my taper.  I took a total of 14 yesterday (down from 27 the day before) and felt little or no withdrawal, just a lot of yawning and I was dead tired.  I woke at 4 am, took my 5 pill dose and I forced myself to work out.  I feel good right now and I plan to take it down to 10 or 11 today.  Over the weekend I am going to cut it down to 7 a day, but I will have more time to feel like **** over the weekend.  I know that when my doses get lower I will have have taper slower and I am prepared to do that.  I do feel good today though.
Anyway, just wanted to chart my progress!  I hope everyone is doing well!  Thanks for all of the support and tmrobin, I look forward to hearing how you are feeling today.

[tmrobin]

I just posted for the first time today. I am on day two of Ultracet (tramadal) wd. I went cold turkey bc I didn't have a choice. I feel like hell. I so understand you guys that can't tell anyone! NO ONE knows where I am. I want to tell my husband or my mom, but I don't want to worry them, or have them not trust me! I went to the store and bought my B supplements, Hylans Leg Cramp med, Imodium and some Potassium. I am sooooo tired, but I actually managed to go to the water park with my kids today and although I was very tired, It made me feel better to get out of the house. I was only taking 4-6, somtimes 8 a day, but they are so addictve bc of the norepenephren and saratonin properties that the anxiety and depression are very hard to deal with.

I would love to know how long it has taken some of you to overcome this. I have no more pills or scripts for them, thank God! I hope to never have to go through this again.

Thanks again for eveyone's encouragement!

[Haley1867]

ugh!  well, here it is, day one of my taper.  I took 5 at 4am.  3 at 11am.  My nose is running, I am so tired I could collapse and I can't stop yawning.  I think I will take 2 and see if that will hold me over.  I can leave work in one hour and I already told my hubby "I think I am coming down with something........that I just want to come home and go to bed".  That wonderful man said he will rub my back when I get home and then I can go to sleep.  What a doll.  that is why I feel so crappy lying to him.  God, when I get through this, I will never deceive him (or myself) again.  This *****.  So, I don't feel like taking a bunch of tram to "wake up" or feel better.........I just want to get off this crap!  I look forward to being where you are 2_be_free.........soon enough.  It is so nice to have a place to come where no one judges you and most everyone knows how horrible it feels to be a liar.  
All in all, I would say today was a huge success!  I will slow the taper down as I get to a point that feels ok.  

[Haley1867]

Thank you so much all of you for responding Tramhater, Vicki595 and 2 be Free!  I am so afraid.  I am curious as to what you all mean by brain zapps.  What the heck are those?  I have begun my taper schedule.  I just got my last script (150) so I have plenty to play with.  I created a schedule and today is day one.  I took only 5 this morning (I usually take 9).  I actually feel better than I have in a long time.  More alert, awake, happy...... I have two more doses of 5 with me if I need them during the day and will just be as honest as I can be with my body and what it is feeling.  I am so addicted to grabbing a pill (or a handfull) when I feel anxious or scared or even happy.......that might be the most difficult thing to stop since it almost seems like it is instinct.  I wake up every morning at 4am to work out (have done that for the past 21 years........its a habbit like brushing my teath) so it is 9am (5 hours since my dose) and with the exception of some baby sweats, I feel great.  I cannot tell anyone what I am doing or what I have done to myself.  Because I have a past it would break my mothers hart and my husband would be terrified.  That is why I have come here for support.  I am desperately trying to quietly do away with these nasty little pills.  My husband takes them.  He had a work injury 3 years ago.  He has taken them since.  He is disabled but that man is like no one I know.  He refuses to get a script for hard narcotics because he doesn't want to get addicted and he takes only 5 50mg tramadols a day.  Never ever goes above that.  I no longer have a legitimate reason for taking this stuff.  The fact that I do, and I take so many, makes me feel horrible........like a failure, a liar, just a horrible person who is deceptive to my wonderful husband.  God this whole thing just depresses the heck outta me.  Well, I will continue to post here if for no other reason than to just chart my progress.  Oh, and no worries about taking hubbies pills.........I never have and he counts them.  I just can't take his pills.........he needs them and I just draw the line there (ah, look at me, the good little drug addict).
Thanks so much for your support.  Since I don't want to get high, just not get sick, I think I will try taking just 3 in a couple hours.

[LeaAnn807]

Hi!  I didn't taper, so I really have no advice on that, but I can tell you a few things about being off of it.  You have to be patient.  VERY patient!  Sleep and energy are the last things to come back, but you can help both by exercising and eating right.  Stay hydrated.  Start on a B complex vitamin right now, and keep taking it.  Take baths to help RLS and muscle aches and pains.  You are on a high dose, so it will take a while to taper.  I quit at 15 a day, and it was horrible.  I do not recommend that at all.  Any help you need just ask.  You will get a lot of support on here!!!  I'm around 130??? days clean from tram now, and I feel great!  

You can do it!!!

[vicki595]

Hi!  This is such a hellish drug !!  I'm glad you're leaving it behind. It is addicting. It has a synthetic opiate AND SSRI properties. So,a double whammy.  

We cannot give out taper schedules on the forum. I can tell you just to taper slowly, day by day.  When you drop a dose,wait for your body to adjust and then drop another.

It may take awhile but it's the best way,especially on that high of a dose. It really shouldn't ever be stopped cold turkey.

Keep posting~
Vicki

[2_b_free]

Hi Haley...you & I are pretty much in the same boat w/the Trams as far as length of time on them, I wasn't up to as many as you are taking a day but have no delusions that if I keep on my path i won't be far from it!  I am far from being any kind of expert here as I ran out of my script and just decided to suck it up & tough it out....I tried a little bit of tapering as when I saw how low I was getting so quickly after just re-filling the script I got shoked into realizing I have a problem that needs dealt with .... so I began to cut back although it was too late..........I am Day 5 and just now feel a little better...although a long way from feeling good!     The only advice I can offer is to definitely just try to taper , if you have someone who can hold your pills & distribute them to you that would be great..........Tram apparantly acts as a SSRI as well which makes the W/D's much more serious as you could put yourself at risk of seizures - I was just stupid & very lucky I didn't suffer any although I do honestly believe I was on the brink....had terrible brain zaps 2 night into it!!!  Anyway I'm here for moral support!!  Best of Luck to you in this Journey!!