Tramadol addiction

[propionic]

I have been taking tramadol now for nearly 6 years, but only got addicted a year ago when I needed them daily. Since then I've been desperate to come off them and have tried a number of times, but it's so hard. I know what symptoms I get - insomnia, freezing cold, weakened immune system, involuntary movements, depression and sneezing. I'm down to between 200mg and 300mg per day and am planning to go cold turkey on Wednesday. I want to know how long to expect these symptoms last for (give me light at the end of my tunnel) and is there any way to speed the detox i.e. drinking water? Also has anyone found anything helpful to cope with these side effects, apart from the obvious loads of layers and hot water bottles e.t.c.

[worried878]

tapering is important when quitting trams..seizures can result if u ct them..can u continue tapering them slowly..like shave off 1 pill every few days?  may help to have someone hold them for u cos tapering is hard...u r down to a lower dose cos 200 mgs a day is the normal dose...but the urge to abuse is always there if u r truly addicted to them..so it is good u r quitting

my friend is addicted to trams..when she runs out/which she often does/depression if her number 1 symptom..also anxiety..she also will get rls...she always caves when the doctor writes her a new scrip but it usually takes about 5 days or so for her to get thru the worst of it...5htp is great for tram wd cos it helps the depression..exercise as well/as often as u can tolerate it..and yes fluids help flush out the toxins and a hot sauna as well...the thomas recipe in the health pages is good/i used it for lortab wd and i really think it helps..meetings helped me more than anything..and trying to stay positive and busy...posting often also helps...so keep posting  (:

[firefish]

Listen to Worried.  Then, don't take our word for it:  Read up on this.  Better yet, you may want to seek the guidanceof your doc, or at least a drug counselor.  Tramadol is nasty stuff:  been there done that.  I was hooked on Vicodin, and in getting off that my doc, in all innocence, prescribed the trams as "it doesn't produce the high that vicodin does."  Yeah, but it's addictive as hell, as you know, and messes with the brain as well.

I tapered down to two 50 mg pills a day, then the last week made 5 pills last.  Then I was off.  What helped:  Keeping busy. Lots of exercise: I found that 30 minutes of an aerobic workout lasted a full hour and half of feeling really good.  It helped with sleep later as well.  Lots of fresh fruit.  Lots of  water.  A glass of milk before bed really helped.  Honest, it does.  On bad nights some OTC benedryl.  Tylenol helped with body aches; you can combine the tylenol and benedryl by taking Tyelnol PM.  I also used mind games myself, going to my Happy Place.  Sounds corney as hell, but it did help me.  I built a boat in my mind, visualizing every step of the way, even the setup and teardownof the jig.  

After 3-4 days the physical stuff went away and I woke up in the morning feeling so good I was giddy and my wife thought I was high on something.  After two weeks the hard cravings were pretty much over.

I still get moments when I miss being pain free, as I do have chronic pain, but I look at it now as a reminder that I am alive and healthy (aside from the pain, but that's due to injury).  

I will never get back on that stuff again.  

It will be rough, fer sure, but like standing at the edge of a swim pool anticpating the shock of the cold water, the anticipation is worse than it is.  Oh, you will feel really crappy, but it will pass.  It will.  

[Miss_Amy_2009]

MY CURRENT WEANING PROCESS OF TRAMADOL......

After finding these threads, one thing for sure is that I feel good that I'm not alone...I came to the boards for help/support and although I still need support for this prescribed addiction, I feel that I may be able to help others through my own experience...so I'll try to post what I'm doing and what I'm experiencing while I go through my weening process..but let me just say, that I have consulted with my doctor before doing so and recommend the same for all that are interested in getting off of tramadol (or any other drug, for that matter)...
I am here to share my story of my addition/weening experiences with TRAMADOL. I was initially prescribed Tramadol/50mg/2x/day for chronic back/neck pain..which lead to same dose/4x/day. About a year or so ago, I was able to cut that down to same dose/2x day. (Although I had some withdrawal symptoms (w/d's included, anxiety, sweating, lethargy, etc), I found it easier to do after a facet block procedure that I had done for my back pain.
I have just recently decided that I want OFF of TRAMADOL.  Like several of you, my doctor gave me the prescription and told me that it was NOT addictive, but possibly habit-forming.  If you take tramadol and/or read enough of the boards, you will find out (like I did) of how addicting this drug really is...
One thing that people that are trying to get off Tramadol need to know is : You should NOT stop taking it suddenly. It's DANGEROUS!
I talked to my Doctor and he recommended weaning off of them gradually...Soooooo..... I started out by cutting two 50mg pills in half...and taking 3 of the 4 halves (25mg) 3x/day...this decreased my dose by 25%....which I found out later, that it’s TOO much of a decrease...I found some info that said you should cut down 10% at a time.. It sounds easy enough, but 10% is actually hard to do when you don't have a pill cutter...or even if you did, I imagine it would still be difficult to do with such a small pill.
I have been breaking my pills into fourths...so I have 4 small "crumbs" that I can't imagine breaking down any further because of how small they are already...I was thinking of crushing them just so I could make the proper doses as I go lower and lower in mg’s…(Is there another way???)
So after learning that 25% is too much of a decrease, I was already down to 62.5mg/day from 100 mg/day….Let me tell you that the w/d's are very uncomfortable....but my determination and strong will IS going to get me through this…I want OFF of Tramadol!!!  I’m just glad that I didn’t go into a seizure (yet?).
I have learned a lot about Tramadol by reading other posts..in addition to “listening” to my own body….

Just to let you know what I’ve been doing, here’s MY weaning process SO FAR which I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND this to anyone…as I JUST found out that I SHOULDN”T HAVE decreased the dose so much.  Today is my 5th day of weaning....I just want to share my w/d experiences and my mistakes in my weaning process.

Starting dose:  50mg/2X-day  (100mg/daily)

Day 1 –25mg/3xday (75mg/daily)
Day 2-  25mg/3xday (75mg/daily)

These two days seemed to be ok but I was anxious right before it was time to take the next dose. Each dose is about 6 hours apart, so the biggest gap in my dosages was after a night of sleeping..which is 8hours..always woke up reaching for the pill, first thing...but then again..it's always been that way.

Day 3 - 12.5mg/5xday (62.5mg/daily)
Day 4 –12.5mg/5xday (62.5mg/daily)
Day 5-  12.5mg/5xday (62.5mg/daily)

Last two nights..w/d's woke up me up at 3am (took 12.5mg)
This dose turned out to be the first dose of the day...the others are taken @ 8am,12pm, 4pm, 8-9pm, and it begins again at 3am.

I'm still afraid to lower the dose again...although it may sound like I'm cruising through the weaning process...let me just say that IT"S NOT EASY!

If anyone's interested, I will continue to post my progress/withdrawals...

I may just keep posting for venting purposes...Please wish me luck in this journey...if you have any questions...I'll be happy to try to answer them...

Amy

[propionic]

I find tapering just as hard as simply coming off. It's the relaxed, happy, calm feeling that I   crave. I don't get it with the lower doses anymore. I've always taken them all in one go. I was up to 800mg a day earlier this year. I think I'd feel worse than this if I was at risk of seisures. Compared to other people, I think I'm having easy time of it or maybe it just hasn't kicked in yet. Thanks for advice with drinking and hot sauna.
Take care
Hels

[propionic]

I've always found that exercise helps my mood and rarely have a day when I do nothing - whether it's dance, skating or simply walking. I always eat healthily, although chocolate is a habit that I can't break. I'm going to see a drug councilor on Fri. As I said to "worried" tapering isn't really an option for me as I am more addicted to the "feel good" high and I only get that with the higher doses all in one go. So about 3 - 4 days until the physical symptoms go. Can't wait!!! I've done 1 and a bit. I've also ordered some Tylenol.
Thank you for your advice.
Hels

[Miss_Amy_2009]

FireFish said:
"I still get moments when I miss being pain free, as I do have chronic pain, but I look at it now as a reminder that I am alive and healthy (aside from the pain, but that's due to injury). I will never get back on that stuff again."


I just want you to know that THAT is how I will feel after I'm tramadol FREE..as I don't think I will be pain free..but I do believe that being Tramadol free is a much better way of life...

I'm almost done weaning off of tramadol...and I think I'm seeing the light at the end of the tunnel..However..I still have to figure out a way to deal with my condition...so I will more than likely use Skelaxin (non addictive muscle relaxer), massage/wet heat, exercise and maybe trigger point injections...Other than that, I'm not sure what else to do..

Thank you for the uplifting post. :)