Aa
Trying to quit Tramadol
Hello
I've been on Tramadol for about a year, taking about ten 50 mg pills per day, so 500 mg. I didn't really keep track, though, it may have been more for a while. As I've been making my mind up to quit, though, I've maintained 10 a day for a while.
I'm wanting to quit, and looking for input about my plan as well as just plain 'ol support.
I originally took them for legit pain issues but honestly I don't know if I even have pain anymore. And I took more than I should have. I read how addictive they were and did not even attempt to stop. I knew it would be a big deal once I did. I didn't like how they made me feel at first, and can't say I ever really did. I just didn't know when it would be a good time to stop.
I'm a busy, divorced, working mom of two little kids.
Some people, apparently, are real go-getters on Tramadol. Not me. And I have grown very weary of the zoned-out feeling I get on Tramadol. I feel dumb on it and I feel like a zombie. I feel self-conscious, like it's obvious. And I feel awful because my kids deserve a present mom. My boyfriend deserves a present girlfriend.
So, despite reading NUMEROUS horror stories about withdrawal from Tramadol, I started dreaming of stopping. Since I won't be able to take time off mommy-ing and working, I dug into lots of posts and noted what people said helped -- everything from herbal supplements to Benadryl to oxcarbazepine.
I believe that I've read that besides its opioid component, that Tramadol causes Serotonin release in the brain (not a true SSRI, though, I think?) and is an SNRI too, I believe.
From previous prescriptions I am presently armed with probably 20 hydrocodone, a month's supply of Zoloft (an SSRI) and Wellbutrin (acts on norepinepherine and dopamine, I believe). I'm probably not thinking very clearly and I'm just piecing together a bunch of crap I've read. But my thought with the hydro and antidepressants is that perhaps I can taper over to a very minimal amount of hydro long enough to get the antidepressant element of the Tramadol out of my system (should take 24-36 hours Tram-free, that's what I read) , after which I can take some amount of the antidepressants while I continue to taper off the hydro until I'm at zero for opiates. Then when I'm ready I can take a Prozac and be done with the antidepressant withdrawal component. Kind of a "divide and conquer" mentality :) Reading people's reports of coming off this drug, I think the antidepressant part has got to be the worst part to come clear of.
By the way, In case the Prozac part (above) didn't make sense, some people find that it's very very hard to come off an SSRI antidepressant, and I have found this to be the case when I came off the Zoloft a few years ago (I didn't like the way it made me feel and quit after 3 months). When I stopped taking it, my feet tingled and felt "intense" (kind of a restless-legs-syndrome feeling). I felt weird and disoriented. I tried a few times to taper off the Zoloft, taking less and less each day until finally my dose was simply nipping the very edge of a pill! Even so, when I finally stopped altogether, I suffered the discontinuation syndrome and it just made me feel horrid, so I went back on! Well, finally I read that the trick to coming off an antidepressant such as Zoloft (which has a medium-range half life) is to take a SINGLE dose of Prozac. Because Prozac has an long half life, it tapers itself down, beautifully. It worked. So for what it's worth that's my plan this time, when I'm jumping off the SSRI.
So here's what's happened this week, just kind of playing this by ear. I didn't intend to do a fast taper but I found to my surprise that it was possible to go a few days in a row at least on a much lower dose than I'd taken before. Based on my experience coming off an SSRI (where tapering quickly didn't really effect me too badly but that last jumping off point was like going through the rabbit hole), I thought maybe Tramadol might be similar. So far it is.
Sunday, I took 8 Trams (400 mg). Less than half my dose of the previous week. I took a Unisom gel at night (the same stuff that's in Benadryl) and it put me out hard.
Monday, I took 5 Trams (I took 2 at 7am and coasted as long as I could. I took 1 after lunch, and then pushed it until 5pm, when I took 2). I just wanted to see if I could do it. I wasn't going for any particular number. I took a Unisom gel at night.
Tuesday I took 4, I think. Maybe I took half a hydro? Not sure when I started feathering in the hydro. I took a Unisom gel at night and I believe it was hard to sleep.
Wednesday (yesterday), I think I took 3 Trams (one at 7am, 1 late morning when I started to feel wonky, and I think I took 1/2 at bedtime, but not until AFTER it was obvious I wasn't going to sleep otherwise. I took half a hyrdro at bed, too, and two Unisom gels. Even with all that, it was a challenge to fall asleep.
Today is Thursday at 9:40PM and I have not taken any Tramadol yet. I took 1 hydro in the morning and 1/2 a hydro this afternoon. I also took 2 30 mg pseudophedrine (decongestant--the kind you have to sign for) in the morning and 2 in the afternoon. I saw them in my medicine cabinet and I have to say I think they helped me fight the lack of energy I am definitely starting to feel. My skin is crawling a bit but my mind just wants to sleep. I ate a good dinner, though. I am not sure what I'll end up needing to take tonight to sleep. I guess I'm hoping not to need a Tramadol because 36 hours without is coming up fast, and after that I can start taking the Zoloft and see if that's going to make me feel better. I may introduce the Wellbutrin, too.
To others who have quit Tramadol or even attempted it--my full respect.
- Zoey
I've been on Tramadol for about a year, taking about ten 50 mg pills per day, so 500 mg. I didn't really keep track, though, it may have been more for a while. As I've been making my mind up to quit, though, I've maintained 10 a day for a while.
I'm wanting to quit, and looking for input about my plan as well as just plain 'ol support.
I originally took them for legit pain issues but honestly I don't know if I even have pain anymore. And I took more than I should have. I read how addictive they were and did not even attempt to stop. I knew it would be a big deal once I did. I didn't like how they made me feel at first, and can't say I ever really did. I just didn't know when it would be a good time to stop.
I'm a busy, divorced, working mom of two little kids.
Some people, apparently, are real go-getters on Tramadol. Not me. And I have grown very weary of the zoned-out feeling I get on Tramadol. I feel dumb on it and I feel like a zombie. I feel self-conscious, like it's obvious. And I feel awful because my kids deserve a present mom. My boyfriend deserves a present girlfriend.
So, despite reading NUMEROUS horror stories about withdrawal from Tramadol, I started dreaming of stopping. Since I won't be able to take time off mommy-ing and working, I dug into lots of posts and noted what people said helped -- everything from herbal supplements to Benadryl to oxcarbazepine.
I believe that I've read that besides its opioid component, that Tramadol causes Serotonin release in the brain (not a true SSRI, though, I think?) and is an SNRI too, I believe.
From previous prescriptions I am presently armed with probably 20 hydrocodone, a month's supply of Zoloft (an SSRI) and Wellbutrin (acts on norepinepherine and dopamine, I believe). I'm probably not thinking very clearly and I'm just piecing together a bunch of crap I've read. But my thought with the hydro and antidepressants is that perhaps I can taper over to a very minimal amount of hydro long enough to get the antidepressant element of the Tramadol out of my system (should take 24-36 hours Tram-free, that's what I read) , after which I can take some amount of the antidepressants while I continue to taper off the hydro until I'm at zero for opiates. Then when I'm ready I can take a Prozac and be done with the antidepressant withdrawal component. Kind of a "divide and conquer" mentality :) Reading people's reports of coming off this drug, I think the antidepressant part has got to be the worst part to come clear of.
By the way, In case the Prozac part (above) didn't make sense, some people find that it's very very hard to come off an SSRI antidepressant, and I have found this to be the case when I came off the Zoloft a few years ago (I didn't like the way it made me feel and quit after 3 months). When I stopped taking it, my feet tingled and felt "intense" (kind of a restless-legs-syndrome feeling). I felt weird and disoriented. I tried a few times to taper off the Zoloft, taking less and less each day until finally my dose was simply nipping the very edge of a pill! Even so, when I finally stopped altogether, I suffered the discontinuation syndrome and it just made me feel horrid, so I went back on! Well, finally I read that the trick to coming off an antidepressant such as Zoloft (which has a medium-range half life) is to take a SINGLE dose of Prozac. Because Prozac has an long half life, it tapers itself down, beautifully. It worked. So for what it's worth that's my plan this time, when I'm jumping off the SSRI.
So here's what's happened this week, just kind of playing this by ear. I didn't intend to do a fast taper but I found to my surprise that it was possible to go a few days in a row at least on a much lower dose than I'd taken before. Based on my experience coming off an SSRI (where tapering quickly didn't really effect me too badly but that last jumping off point was like going through the rabbit hole), I thought maybe Tramadol might be similar. So far it is.
Sunday, I took 8 Trams (400 mg). Less than half my dose of the previous week. I took a Unisom gel at night (the same stuff that's in Benadryl) and it put me out hard.
Monday, I took 5 Trams (I took 2 at 7am and coasted as long as I could. I took 1 after lunch, and then pushed it until 5pm, when I took 2). I just wanted to see if I could do it. I wasn't going for any particular number. I took a Unisom gel at night.
Tuesday I took 4, I think. Maybe I took half a hydro? Not sure when I started feathering in the hydro. I took a Unisom gel at night and I believe it was hard to sleep.
Wednesday (yesterday), I think I took 3 Trams (one at 7am, 1 late morning when I started to feel wonky, and I think I took 1/2 at bedtime, but not until AFTER it was obvious I wasn't going to sleep otherwise. I took half a hyrdro at bed, too, and two Unisom gels. Even with all that, it was a challenge to fall asleep.
Today is Thursday at 9:40PM and I have not taken any Tramadol yet. I took 1 hydro in the morning and 1/2 a hydro this afternoon. I also took 2 30 mg pseudophedrine (decongestant--the kind you have to sign for) in the morning and 2 in the afternoon. I saw them in my medicine cabinet and I have to say I think they helped me fight the lack of energy I am definitely starting to feel. My skin is crawling a bit but my mind just wants to sleep. I ate a good dinner, though. I am not sure what I'll end up needing to take tonight to sleep. I guess I'm hoping not to need a Tramadol because 36 hours without is coming up fast, and after that I can start taking the Zoloft and see if that's going to make me feel better. I may introduce the Wellbutrin, too.
To others who have quit Tramadol or even attempted it--my full respect.
- Zoey
PS - I wish this thread was listed from newest to oldest instead of the opposite...
I am looking forward to that day and its not too far in the future, I know this. I can relate to Missy - that looking for that "pick me up" feeling you get from Tramadol. However, I must say its only short term and I know mentally the negative things such as having no desire to exercise, sweating all the time, lack of sex drive, blurred vision, sleeplessness, feeling disconnected when I've take too much, etc. kinda outweighs that little pick-me-up short term feeling that seems to get more and more difficult to achieve.
My daughter found my latest stash, she's found them before and has been all over me to get help. The problem was, I didn't want to stop until now. She said a few things to me this last time that struck home. One she said is she is done caring about it. If I don't care, why should she? The other one she is said is "Mom, you're better than this, why don't you see that?". And she is so right. Out of the mouths of babes, right? Although she is 24. Whose the parent???
When I was doing it for someone else, I didn't seem to have the motivation to stop. Liked it too much. Now, its for me. I am better than this.
Two 2 of tapering. I have been taking a lot so I took half my normal allotment yesterday and didn't notice a thing. Just curious, how does immodium help with the sweats?
My daughter found my latest stash, she's found them before and has been all over me to get help. The problem was, I didn't want to stop until now. She said a few things to me this last time that struck home. One she said is she is done caring about it. If I don't care, why should she? The other one she is said is "Mom, you're better than this, why don't you see that?". And she is so right. Out of the mouths of babes, right? Although she is 24. Whose the parent???
When I was doing it for someone else, I didn't seem to have the motivation to stop. Liked it too much. Now, its for me. I am better than this.
Two 2 of tapering. I have been taking a lot so I took half my normal allotment yesterday and didn't notice a thing. Just curious, how does immodium help with the sweats?
"Geez. I am a fairly intelligent adult woman, how did I let this happen?"
I sooooo relate to this! You're not alone.
I sooooo relate to this! You're not alone.
Hello - I can really relate to your situation; wondering how and when I got to where I was. I also have a Tramadol problem. I took it for 14+ years and was up to 40+ pills a day. I am very happy to say I'm at 67 days clean today. It will not be easy; especially the first few days/week, but you CAN do it. Better, clearer and happier days await you . . . hang in there!
Julie
Julie
I don't have any "prescription" meds to help taper with either. I order some Kratom and kava kava after reading somewhere that it helps with withdrawals. Honestly since I was still allotting for 10 trams a day my issue isn't so much the physical symptoms, as it is the mental ones. I keep looking for that pick me up. I feel so blah just feeling "normal." It's like "normal" isn't good enough anymore.
I don't have anything to augment the Trams while I taper such as hydrocodone. Im not familiar with what Kratom is? I am hoping the Withdrawal-ease I ordered will help me. I really want to stay away from any opiod altogether. For night, I take a half of a Zanax to sleep. If its really difficult, I'll take a whole one but they really knock me out. I began tapering yesterday, although I was up to quite a lot. Scares me to think how many i've been taking. Geez. I am a fairly intelligent adult woman, how did I let this happen?
Have an Answer?
You are reading content posted in the Addiction: Substance Abuse Community
Is treating glaucoma with marijuana all hype, or can hemp actually help?
If you think marijuana has no ill effects on your health, this article from Missouri Medicine may make you think again.
Julia Aharonov, DO, reveals the quickest way to beat drug withdrawal.
Tricks to help you quit for good.
A list of national and international resources and hotlines to help connect you to needed health and medical services.
Herpes sores blister, then burst, scab and heal.
