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1349329 tn?1276985202

Tramadol *****,

I was prescribed Tramadol early this year for "Chronic Pain."  The  Dr. and the Pharmacist said that it was not addictive.

I have not abused the Medication.  I take 100mg 2 times a day.

I have also been doing exercise and physical therapy for my pain.  I decided to cut back and get off the Tramadol a couple of weeks ago because I'm not having bad pain, and it has been aliving Hell.  Just cutting down 50mg at a time gave me extreme anxiety.  so I thought I would just quit altogether and try to go "Cold Turkey."  If I thought I was in Hell before, I really was in Hell then.

The Anxiety was so bad  I couldn't stand it.  I only went a day and a half and today I took my regular dose again.

The Anxiety is greatly diminished and I don't feel so sick, but I am super-scared as to how I will get off this medication.

I have an appointment with my Dr. tomorrow to discuss it, but I don't really know what the Dr. can do for me.

I'm thinking I'll just have to do a really slow taper, just a quarter tablet at a time.
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Avatar universal
How much time?  I was on just 50 mg for three months for broken ribs and frozen shoulder.  Tapered back in five days and felt crappy the next three months -- wondered if I had chronic fatigue and then found out in early Nov. that a doctor had given me way too much thyroid.

without thinking about effects I started Tramadol for sore shoulders before tennis -- felt so great -- stayed on -- up to 75 mg (smal dose) for six months.  Thyroid is o.k. now and figured I'd like to see what my body is like without -- wow.  Trying to taper off - 2 weeks now and 4 of the days with none, but when I take just a partial Tram, 20-25 I feel "normal" which is great.

what is the disadvantage of staying on Tram long term?  I'm considering going back to it.  You all know why -- life is hard, even though I try to live it a day at a time and do normal things.  Sitting make it worse.  If I keep moving like an occasional day of gardening I feel a lot better.  Thanks,  I hope I can figure out how to find this again. BEAB
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1349329 tn?1276985202
Day 4 off those pills.  One day closer to getting my mind back.  BTW have you seen it anywhere?
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1349329 tn?1276985202
Well, I was there for a moment.  Now I feel really sick, and I probably did something stupid too.  I took 2 muscle relaxers today so I could get some sleep.

This thing is a monster for taking away your sleep. I went to one of my regular meetings this morning and one of my friends was there, this guy, and he always cracks me up.

The worst of the withdrawals are already over, I just feel sick and no sleep.
Helpful - 0
617347 tn?1331293081
hi, girl... it seems you are enjoying your creative self :)

sorry that you are feeling sick now.
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1349329 tn?1276985202
Well, no sleep last night, and I'm feeling sick.
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1349329 tn?1276985202
Oh man, I don't know what's happening, but I am really excited about my life.  I only got a couple of hours sleep last night, and I still feel sick from the Detox, but my brain is just going crazy with all the creative projects I want to do.

I had noticed while I was on that med that I didn't really have any interest in my creativity, but I figured it was probably burn out because I have so many responsibilites, NOT.

As you can see from the post above, and I hope I didn't offend anyone, but my brain is totally waking up.


There are so many things I want to do with my life. Paint, write, Music, and most of all, I want to give back to the world in some way.  I want to help peope get their lives back.

I want to start a Non-Profit organization, I want to have a Childrens Clothing Exchange program, I want to use my Art to bring people together.

I just don't know how to go about it yet.
Helpful - 0
1349329 tn?1276985202
Wow, I must be getting better faster than I thought.  One of my friends came by this evening with all her dogs, and I went to the Dog Park with her.  Then when I came home I had an "urge" that I hadn't had for awhile, so I took advantage of my poor husband.  LOL

I definitely feel relaxed now.  LOL

Life is so funny sometimes.

I'm a writer, well not professional, but I swear  I can write Jingles and poems and stories, anything.

Anyway,  I used to date some Pilots when I was young and learned about the "Mile High Club."

So I'm writing this Rap Song called, "The Mile High Club."

It goes like this:

THE MILE HIGH CLUB

I’m in the Mile High Club
(I know you wish you were in it)
I’m in the Mile High Club
(You better believe it)
I’m flyin in the Air 100 miles up
In the Back Seat with my  Girlies
Snugglin Up
The Pilot’s up front, getting down with the Plane
While me and my Girlies are getting ready to Play
(Refrain I’m in the Mile High Club)
It’s getting warm back here,
We start to shed some clothes
I feel the smooth smooth skin
Smell the perfume with my nose
My lady get’s on me and starts to rockin
I can feel my Candy Stick meltin in her Pocket
She’s rubbing and rocking, getting ready to explode
I can feel it cumin, and I’m ready to roll
My other girl is hot, watchin  all the action
Soon as my one girl get’s off, the other's ready for action
(Refrain I'm in The Mile High  Club)

Hey, I know, I know, it needs some work, that's just my first rough draft

Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Wow......WOW!  Sounds like you are a great mom!  We always had secrets in my family when I was growing up.  My mom and I are close now, but we weren't back then.  Secrets do keep people sick, but you are right about some things being private.  To each their own, I guess.  Sounds like you and your daughter have a good relationship, and that is what will matter most to her!

You weren't preaching either!  Sometimes it feels good to just get it OUT!  And put a heating pad on your back.  It will help!!! : )
Helpful - 0
1349329 tn?1276985202
LOL, don't worry, I'm just spoutin off steam.  It really was kind of a funny thing to deal with.  I'm not homophobic in the least, I mean, I grew up in San Francisco, back in the day they called us "Fag Hags," LOL.

It was just that of all the things my then 12 year old daughter could have told me, being be-sexual wasn't even one I had thought off.  Of course there's always pregnancy, I guess.  I didn't really believe it when she told me, I know her too well, and when she told me her and her girlfriend were in love, I supported their Friendship 100%, just not anything physical.  Heck, I wouldn't let a 13 year old boy be alone in her room with the door shut.  Not that I don't trust my daughter, but I know things can happen, and I'm not looking to be a young grandma either.

I just could not believe that Dad of hers when  I told her parents.  I thought it would be the right thing to do because I was afraid if her parents found out and then knew that I had known they could sue me for child molestation or something.  You know with some people you never know and things are very different now with children.  Even with the door open I know they kissed, and who knows what else.  That's her private business.

This girl was always being moody though, playing mind games with my daughter like "if you really cared/loved me you'd do this" some sexual thing, and then she'd start sulking and be all rejecting to my daughter, when my daughter didn't want to do it.

Where does a 13 year old girl learn to play these mind games?  Well, before my daughter she had a "boyfriend" who dumped her, and it really hurt her feelings, so she turns around and does the same thing to my daughter.  Hey, don't get me wrong, my daughter had her part to play, and she's no saint, but so many times she would come to me crying and asking why this girl was treating her this way.  Her and my daughter are both Artists, and there was a sort of competition there, like "whose the best kind of thing," and for a while the girl was better, but not now.  Art is my daughter's life.  She wants to direct movies, has several up on You-Tube, and is in a Film School this summer.

Her Dad thinks I'm crazy, and I think he's an A**H***, an the poor girl is really messed up.  In my home we talk about everything. there pretty much aren't any secrets.  Just like in the program, in a family too, the secrets will make you sick.  we don't all sit down at the table to talk about certain things, things that are private to my  daughter that she wouldn't want her Dad to hear.  But anything is open for discussion.

She knows what's happening to me know, that I'm detoxing off this drug.  I don't believe in making up stories to cover up.  "Oh, Mommy's sick."  Kids aren't stupid, but if you treat them like they are, well just look out when they become teenagers.

Like I said, it's pretty much all simmered down now, and I'm simmered down too.

My daughter learned a Life Lesson, and it won't be her first, but she knows she can talk to me about anything, and I'll always be there for her.

Well, I'll stop preaching now Tramhater. LOL

Oh Advil for the backache.  I feel a little better this afternoon.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Oh my!  Try not to do anything right now!!!  Just take some deep breaths, a hot bath and chill.....I know it's hard! : (

Try to get negative stuff off your mind.  Concentrate on something positive if you can.  Watch something on TV that is mindless!!!  

What are you doing to help your backache?  Advil?  Heating pad?  
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1349329 tn?1276985202
O.K., I'm going to complain now.  My back is killing me, my stomach feels like it's on fire,  my whole body feels sick, and I've got some kind of weird cough that doesn't stop.  When I get up I feel like I'm going to pass out, but laying down isn't any better, cause my mind starts whirling.

Right now it's whirling on the "supposed" friend of my daughter.  This girl has done some snaky stuff to my daughter, however, my daughter has gotten over it and moved on.  I should take some wisdom from my daughter.  However, I have not gotten over it, and I want to call this girls father, who's a creep from the get go, and tell him what I think about him and his Snake of a daughter.  But I won't, because it will make my daughter feel bad, I just am sooo pissed off at these people.  I can't go into the wholestory, but briefly, this girl is a little older than my daughter and tried to get my daughter to believe that she (my daughter) was bi-sexual.

Last year, all summer, this girl practically live at our house and I had no clue what was going on until my daughter told me that she was "Bi-Sexual."  So, o.k., if that's how my daughter feels, hell she wasn't even 13 yet, but she is very mature for her age.  Mature in wisdom, and the way she sees the world, things like that.

So I thought and thought about the situation, and I told them that her friend could be over, but no closed doors.  In the meantime, her friend is trying to "Put the Make" on her.  One day my Daughter came out of her room with a big hickey on her neck.  When I asked her about it, she said her friend did it.  Then she started talking to me how "her friend" was trying to get her to try "Intimate things" and that she didn't like it.  I told the friend to knock it off, but she still kept coming after my daughter.

I decided to go to the girl's parents and talk about the situation, and that turned out to be one of the worst things I could have done.  The parents totally freaked.  The Mom has a couple of Gay Sisters in Florida who run a Soap shop so I thought it wouldn't be so bad to tell them.  NOT

So more drama and more drama, and my daughter decided she is not bi-sexual and breaks up with this girl who ran home to her Daddy and said I don't know what, because all of a sudden my daughter wasn't a part of the "Crowd" anymore, which really hurt her.

Finally, everything calmed down, and this girl got a "boyfriend."  Last week this boy calls up my daughter and is berating her for breaking up with the girl, and how it's my daughter's fault that this girl has problems.

What kind of S*** that is, I don't even know.  You know I went into my Mother Bear Mode and I was ready to Kick Some A**.  The Girlfriend, the Girlfriend's Boyfriend, and the Girls father, since he also blames my daughter for his daughter being hurt.

No-one knows the real truth but me, and my daughter doesn't want me to say anything about it, so I won't.

Helps to write about it though, get's it out of my mind.
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1349329 tn?1276985202
Thanks for the support.  It's day 2 of no drugs, and  I feel like I've been run over by a truck, but I just have to hang in there for a couple of more days and I should start feelihg better.
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176495 tn?1301280412
I truly hope you are feeling better, Madshadow...it takes a while, I'm totally surprised I feel as good as I do...you're going to get there, I know you are...If I can help please let me  know..I at times get caught up in work and don't always get in here but if you send me a PM message my phone tells me I have one.


Jim
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1349329 tn?1276985202
I did do that with the Valium because it was really awful.  The other stuff I can stand, body aches, etc. I can take 4 Valium a day, and I'm going to do that over the next few days until the worst of the Detox is over. and then go back down, and eventually get off the Valium too.

I'm also going to try the Seroquel tonight for sleeping.  Same thing though, only a few days.

By next week this time I could be feeling better and on my way back to living.  Hooray.

Singha,

I'm sorry to hear you got caught up in this mess too.  I hope you can get off it and get on to a better life.
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Avatar universal
I am feeling ya pain. I was prescribed Ultram 14 years ago because my dr said it was non habit forming, and he new that 98% of my family are alcoholics. I refused percs and he gave me the ultram. I wish I could turn back time. Good luck
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599071 tn?1300068702
I so remember those feelings.  This may seem counter-intuitive but because the tramadol withdrawal has potentially put you into benzo withdrawal due to the cross reactivity, (even though you haven't decreased your dose of valium), you may want to try the increased dose of valium, as suggested by your doctor.

When you are free of the tramadol withdrawals, you will be tapering off the valium very slowly anyway so, (given that you don't have any addiction issues with valium),  a small increase in dose won't add significant time tot the taper.

On the natural side, many swear by frequent epsom salts baths, where the only side effect is prune skin.

You are truly on your way now.

Hugs, M
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1349329 tn?1276985202
Well, I decided I was done.  It's been 12 hours since my last dose and I DON'T WANT ANYMORE!!!!  I got tired of that taper.  I wasn't getting anything accomplished any way.

The lower I went the harder it was for me to sleep, and last night I couldn't sleep, so I said to heck with it, II'm just kidding.

Now at 12 hours, I feel so sick, and I have this weird creepy feeling all over my back.  That's what's really bugging me.   I feel too sick to be up, but laying in bed is bad too.
Helpful - 0
599071 tn?1300068702
You are doing great, you will be free of all this cr*p before you know it.   For nausea, dramamine, (since you mentioned you had some), should work as well as phenergan.

You won't need the valerian while you are still on the valium.  Valerian also acts on the GABA receptors & may conflict with or over-enhance the valium.

Now is definitely the time to banish your inner Martha Stewart, also never hurts for the family to see how much you usually do.  I have noticed that tramadol seems to suit those of us with a perfectionist streak, at least in the beginning.  I loved being able to work at the computer for hours & remain relatively pain free & I think it takes time for our bodies to relearn our natural limits.

Don't forget to celebrate even the tiniest of improvements.

Best wishes, M
Helpful - 0
1349329 tn?1276985202
I do mean business.  I do not want my life to jacked up by any da** drug.  I'm mad at myself that I didn't look into this medication before I started on it.  In the beginning it seemed too good to be true.  My pain, gone, my energy level, great, now 3 months later I'm struggling to get off it instead of living the life I want to be living.

I watched my Brother die because of drugs and alcohol, I've seen the destructiveness of it in my family of origin.  I do not want to bring that demon into my family.  I have a 33 year old son who is married and doing well in his life.  I have a 13 year old daughter that needs her mother.  She is turning into a teenager and that's normal, she's getting a little mouthy sometimes, but she is smart and bright, and I will not lay down and die over some stupid drug.

I will be so much more careful in the future about what I put in my body.

I have read now about the anti-depressant quality, but the worst is the Anxiety.  I don't really know anything about the Seratonin aspect, and I don't think I'm on anything with it.

I take Levothroid for my Thyroid, I'm on Hormone Replacement Therapy and that's pretty much it, except for sometimes  I take Flexeril if  I have a muscle spasm, or Zantac for my stomach, sometimes phenergan for nauseau, I have a sensitive stomach.

I am trying to keep in my mind to be good to myself.  If a friend was going through something like this, I would give them as much comfort and support as I could. I need to treat myself like I would a friend.  No judgement, no guilt, just love and support.

I will be happy when I am off and away from this drug.
Helpful - 0
401095 tn?1351391770
sounds like u r a smart person...going to ur dr is a wonderful and very intelligent thing to do.  He can help u with this

ur dose is not huge//u will do this//seen folks who pop 800 mgs a day plus some..and as a rule it is Not the narcotic-like portion of trams that gets folks..it is the anti-depressant quality that nails them to the wall

Tapering down is the way to go as someone on an AD like lexapro or zoloft for yrs....tapering trams is safest even tho at ur dose i would doubt seizures would be an issue..but safety and being comfortable is important
I have never been a tram fan//they made me nervous as I do not do well with extra seratonin..didnt respond to seratonin ADs like lexapro either..couldnt sleep.  U need to look at any other medications u r taking for seratonin release as many increase seratonin that u would not suspect.   Let ur dr know everything u r taking.  He may can RX u sumpin too halp the anxiety that is safer than trams.

good luck but for some reason I sense u mean business
keep us posted
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1349329 tn?1276985202
Well, today I'm down to 30mg total, so that is 6 pills.  I'll stay on this for a couple of days, then down to 25 for 2 days, and so on.

I do a "every six hour dosing" and I'll cut the tablets as needed.

I know 30g doesn't sound like much and alot of people could just stop from here, but I have a pretty sensitive nervous system, so the slower I can go the better.

I imagine by the end of this week I'll be done, and then we'll see how it goes from there.

I have Valerian  Root, but haven't tried it yet.  I'm very sensitive to side effects from things.  So I'm only trying one thing at a time, so if I feel a reaction I'll know what it's from.

Tonight I'm trying L-Theanine.  Tomorrow I'll try the Valerian.
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Avatar universal
Well, it seems like you have your bases covered.  Remember hot baths or showers are good for calming anxiety.  Valerian Root helps some people as well.  If you are getting a few hours of sleep, you are ahead of the game.  A lot of people don't sleep at all while tapering and WDing.  When will you be done with your taper?
Helpful - 0
1349329 tn?1276985202
I promise you, and myself and everyone else, I will be careful with the Valium.  I was already on it 10mg at bedtime, and although my Dr. says I can go up to 4 10mg tablets a day, I've only gone up one 10mg tablet at bedtime.

I take 2 at bedtime and I will not take anymore than that regardless of how bad I feel.  After I get off the Vicodin, I will start tapering, very slowly off the Valium.

It's actually being a Drug Addict that got me started on the Valium.  I do have anxiety problems, but when I was going off and on Vicodin for several years I was always having more anxiety.

I know that once I'm free of the Vicodin, I will be able to free of the Valium.  Fortunately for me, Valium is not a drug I've every abused.

I'm a "one drug" addict.  Just Vicodin.  I don't drink, and I haven't abused any other drugs.

Thank you for your warning and for caring about me to give me that warning.  My ears are wide open.

My Dr. gave me Klonopin also, but I am not going take that at all, because I was told that is more addictive and harder to get off of than the Valium.

I am going to try the Low Dose of Seroques to see if it helps for sleep, but I don't have it yet.

So far, I have been able to get a few hours sleep everynight.  At least enough so I don't feel like I'm totally losing my mind.

I'm also being good with my Nutrition.  When I get up in the Morning I mix a Water Bottle with part Prune Juice and Benefiber (because narcotics cause constipation,) I put in a Scoop of this "Green Stuff, LOL" that I got from the Healt hFood Store which has alot of Vitamins and Minerals, is Vegan, nothing artificial, I also put in a Teaspoon of the "Inositol" and some liquid "Silica" which is good for people with  Arthritis and joint problems.  I add "Distilled Water," and shake vigorously and that is my "Morning Meal."

With it I take my Omega 3's, my  Vitamin B Complex, and Gaba.  For some reason the Gaba does seem to help me with my Anxiety.  I also take my Calcium and Magnesium, and a  Sublingual B.

I do the same thing for my "Dinner."  I don't really feel like eating food right now, so I think I've pretty much taking care of myself for my  Vitamin and such.  I tried an Amino Acid Complex but I'm very sensitive to the L-Tyrosine and every time I've tried it, I get bad Anxiety, so I'm not really taking any aminos.

I eat at least 1 banana every day and some dark chocolate.
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Avatar universal
It's very important to be grateful!  Lists of gratitude are good to keep making everyday.  This is going to be better.  I promise you that.  I am a perfectionist too.  WAY big perfectionist!  I was walking around my house, barely able to move, but I was able to yell about crap being all over the place!!! LOL  During WD, everything seems like a huge drama-deal!  

One thing that I want to caution you on.....The valium!  Be very careful.  I have switched addictions several times, and WD is one of the things that can lead to that.  Sometimes we will do anything to stop how we feel during WD!  I know where you are coming from right now.  I really do.  But you have to be careful, and protect yourself, ok?

You are doing great!  Keep up the hard work.  It does pay off!
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