ULTRAM/ULTRACET/TRAMADOL: The Truth about this 'non narcotic' please

[percsnomas]

Hey Goldie, this new thread is for you!!!

There is a great deal of confusion with respect to this drug.

Why is it, that if this a non narcotic and non addicting med., i continue to read(or hear) about, horror story after horror story getting off of it???????

Seems many would say the withdrawal from tramadol is far worse than many opiates.

A wise friend of mine even mentioned a front page article in their local newspaper(recently), siting what a great "alternative" Ultam is, in that it is "non-addicting".

Any help would be appreciated.

percs

[Chezz2]

Good call Percs. Hopefully this will bring them back over here to help out all the lurkers that are stuck on this drug and need to find some "buddies" to help them out.
This forum is very easy to find via a search. Although I am not sure how easy it is to find the forum they are at currently.
Of course it can also help the plethora of people that are considering using either one of these drugs to help taper down off of the "true" opiates they are currently on.
I hope all is well in Canuck country. Congrats againnnnnnnnnnn on your continued abstinence, but most of all for your NON-STOP support for eeveryone giong through what you have already conguered.
You da' man...

Chezz

[mystere]

Unfortunately I have extensive experience with the dreaded Ultram-After detoxing from opiates in 1997 I remained clean and sober for approx 6 months--After a medical problem developed a doc Rx the Oh so Non-addicting Ultram--BULL@#t--I was up to taking 20 of those suckers a day and it was hell getting off of them! Not only that it lead me back to my ultimate DOC Hydrocodone--The drug reps used to leave bucket loads of samples of the stuff in my husbands office, touting the wonders of this new drug that had been available in Europe and was just introduced here I believe in the early 90's.  They started having so much trouble with it there is now a warning in the PDR about prescribing Ultram to patients with a previous addiction to opiates--My advice RUN do not Walk away from this drug. Also it is VERY EXPENSIVE compared to other painkillers. In my opinion and I'm not a physician but I think very soon they will make Ultram a schedule IV controlled substance, and I think it is addicting. Good Luck I hope this helped--Mystere/AKA N.O. Lady

[gracie97]

I have been tapering from 8 tabs a day for six weeks to where I was when I wrote today. It is now 34 hours and 4 minutes since my last one- 1/2 half no. 10 tab. We tapered by breaking them into pieces. But my bowels and energy just are not where I wanted them to be. I go back to work Monday, and I am scared someone will notice I am different, not in a good way but irritable and weak, which was not the "high tab me", maybe I said some stupid things but I am in a very high profile position and a screw up can cause alert. I did get to Wal Mart today, and then this evening a walk (yeah right, well only 1 and a half blocks) I kicked meth 18 years ago, high school addiction, which I have NEVER, EVER touched again. I can do this! I can! Thanks to you guys, it is so nice talk  to you, I thought I was so alone....I have Rick who is kicking this with me, but I get mad at him because he introduced me to the tabs, but yet I love him for kicking them out of our life. He has a back injury that requires pain meds and he has given the tabs up for the both of us! Everyone, thank you soooooooooo much I really need someone to talk to, this is driving me crazy at times, one minute everything is OK the next I am crying...then sleeping 2 hours at a time...lost girl you know the details, thank you so much for your support!

[oxic]

What a great taper!!!

I felt exactly like  you, and worried about being as confident, as funny, as energetic....after the pills.  BUT you know what, as my good buddy MethMan so astutely pointed out, that person is still in there; and i'm certain you will rediscover her quickly.

I am very optimistic about your recovery.

Vent on whenever you need to.

percs


.....oh by the way, the crying and radical mood swings are just more wonderful withdrawal effects.  I still remember walking down the hall at work, by our CEO's office, and hit by an uncontrollable need to cry(and i don't cry very much)........of course i ducked into my gas marketing gals office(the coworker that helped me taper; and was immediately "talked down")

[mystere]

Oh and yes I forgot to mention Tramadol has a high incident of causing seizures--You must be very careful especially if you are taking other meds--With the amount of those little puppies I took it's a pure D miracle I'm not dead or in a coma!  Peace and Prayers/ Mystere AKA N.O. Lady

[AmberHunter]

i can relate, i worked for a rheumatologist for about four months doing clinical drug trials (numorphan was one of them, guess who got strung out on that the worst) and guess why i was let go??!! anyhow...

he had boxes of samples of ultram in the office and i was too picky to even mess with those, didn't think it did much...

about a year later i was on ultram for about two weeks, just a regularly prescribed dose... when i quit i had three days and nights of opiate withdrawls... you know them when you have them and that was what it was... RLS, everything... that was the last time i took ultram... i think i pretty much figured that if i was going to go through that kind of withdrawl in the end i was going to find a more pleasurable opiate to make it worth the trouble! typical junkie thinking!!

i remember something about the opioid site that it worked on, something about MU 1 and MU 2 or some kind of stuff that i no longer remember, lol!!! that is why i am sitting here, working as an "administrative assistant" for a wildlife management company and have all this time to be online! lol!!!

but this is good for me b/c there are no drugs for me to "divert" and you know the saying "i am right where i am supposed to be" amen to that!!!

amber

[mystere]

Ortho-McNeil (drug co, that makes Ultram) was hitting the othopedists with the old Ultram hard-sell when it first came out. Trying to give them an alternative from prescribing Vicodin, Lortab, Ect. They brought in samples everywhere and like you I didn't think of it much in the begininng and then when i doubled my dose I got that semi-warm cozy hydro feeling! and as they say it was off to the races--Another reason they heavily promoted this drug was the fact it is VERY EXPENSIVE!--compared to other pain killers.  My advice to anyone on this forum with a hx of drug abuse please stay away from Ultram!--Just my humble opinion--Peace/Prayers Mystere/AKA N.O. Lady

[percsnomas]

Thanks for all your comments.  They will definately help people make better informed decisions regarding this drug.

Chezz, i must point out, that you've been here almost the entire time with me.....so back at ya(thanks). I trust things are still progressing on all fronts for you.  Take Care Friend.

Goldie, i told you i wouldn't know what to say, in the event i "got through"...........but seems it doesn't matter, as people are filling in just fine.

[gracie97]

Can anyone pleeeaaaaaassssseee tell me how much longer the ups and downs will be after tampering off tabs to my first tab free day? I am going crazy now, the first six hours today were fine, I was honestly happy but now I am down again. Wed. I took 3/4 no. 10 , then Thurs. took 1/2 no. 10 and now 26 hours and 8 minutes later I feel nuts!

I am sorry for changing the subject.....

[percsnomas]

Hello Gracie!!

I'm not sure how long or how much hydro you were on; but as you've tapered off gradually(extrapolating from two day regime you reported??), it probably doesn't matter.

I'd say that the first 2-3 days, AFTER zero,are the roughest, and that things should stabilize and improve steadily after that.
You are getting VERY close to coming out the other side, SO JUST HANG IN THERE!!!! You are soooooo close.

Great job on the taper by the way.

[AmberHunter]

yes, you are almost there! no matter how much we taper our meds there is going to be about a 48-72 hour feel like **** stage...

depending on how gradual i can come down the less severe the w/d's are...

but it sounds like you have tapered about as much as you can taper! so there might be some discomfort but it won't last forever!!!!

look into that thomas recipe that keeps getting posted! other than that hold onto your ass and just know it will be over soon!!

amber

[grappler]

I am a world class athlete (wresler/ultimate fighter. If anyone has seen the HBO special "The Smashing Machine" that is almost my exact story just that I was led to dependence by an accident. I was in a serious accident I ruptured some discs and had some fractures in my spine and had some nerve damage that extended into my stomach and made my stomach very sensitive to the touch and that almost took my life and was forced into retirement and my "olympic" and "fighting" career was put on hold or held off indefinetley. Well, anyway I was given many medicines including a large number of opiates for back and nerve damage and pain that was incurred from my accident. I must admit that I had withdrawl symptoms from Morphine when I was discharged from the hospital but overcame them in a few days. Later I went to see a doctor and he perscribed me some Ultram or as generic is known "Tramadol" it took some time to get used to,because at first its not a pain reliever it feels like a sedative or something, but once I did it did ease the pain and ease the symptoms especially the ones I have the most trouble with which are the damage to a nerve that extends to my stomach, in fact one of my stomach muscles was collapsed which looked kind of deformed for about a year. I started to run out of the perscription before it was time for a refill and this happend time and time again I felt extremely dependent I never felt like this even with the vicodine or whatever else I took. I have a tremendous amount of will and I told myself I am getting off of this **** no matter what. It was so tough but I did it and the withdrawls continued for two-weeks I have never encountered anything so mentally challenging and difficult to beat.  I'll tell you I have fasted for a couple of days no food no water while still training like a madman to get down to weight for competitions and I thought that was mentally challenging for the normal human. Over the course of my two-week withdrawl I developed sores in my mouth like blisters probably because of the fever and chills I got, but man, I thought,"this is heavy duty" I can't believe how rough this is. I would not advise the use of this medicine to anyone and the doctor said "don't worry about it it's not a narcotic medine" Well it might not be narcotic but it sure has some allout more than narcotic effects. I have since stopped taking it and am now taking some other medicine that does'nt totally take my pain away(ibuprophen) but I don't care I will probably have to live with it for the rest of my life it's nagging but tolerable. I can still workout and strengthen my muscle tissue and train hard but not to where I'll injure myself it seems that it helps with the pain. I still take some vicodin every once in a while but only when I can't stand it. Also, if there is someone with a similar problem with nerve damage that extends to their stomach and still bothers them please, please email me with any suggestions on treatment.  I invite anyone or any other person with a similar story to email me. But to recap please Say No To ULTRAM!

[sundara]

This forum, has definitely been my "thread" back to life.  As of today i have not had any vicodin ES or percocet after an 18 month habit of anywhere from 4 to 12 a day . . . tried to taper . . . never worked for me . . went searching internet for help . . someone suggested Ultram . . wow! . . .man, i tried several on-line places to order and THANK GOD, no one would send them to me . . .this forum has been most educational and heartwarming . . . i did the medically assisted rapid detox . . which consisted of many other drugs . .. . some say good ,.some say bad . . i say so far it's worked for me . . i also have the revia implant (which again thank god i haven't had any side effects from) . . . however, i find my self wanting Valium (don't have any and haven't tried to get any . . just sometimes think . . boy it'd be nice to just mellow out). . .or something, anything, to get through the tough moments. . .i now know they pass . . .am using the recipe(the junkie in me still like opening that bottle of pills in the morning) and some Kava Kava root liquid form and the Valarian Root extract . . .another interesting aspect of coming back from the dead is . . i am on the move from the time i get up till late at night, , , my body is physically tired but my brain says keep moving .. sometimes i just walk around in circles . . lol. . .i think the thing i most appreciate about being off the Vicodin/Percs is the way i feel in the morning . . man oh man. . .to not wake up wanting . . is just the best . .However, i am monitoring my behaviors and am finding that two Bacardi and Coke in the early evening very nice, yet very scary. . .don't want to swap one addiction for the other . . any toughts on any of this would be appreciated . . . i don't know if there is any "right" way to do what we are all doing. .. all i know is that today is DAY 18  for me . . and that makes me feel good about me . . which is another feeling i haven't had in a long time. . . peace,love and understanding . . . sundara

[AmberHunter]

sundara! congrats on day 18!!! way to go girl!

as far as the two bac and cokes go... i "rewarded" myself with being drug free for 8 years by allowing myself the freedom to drink alcohol! some trade off! lol!! and being the good addict that i am i whole-heartedly embraced alcohol and all the despair that comes with alcoholism...

i lost more due to this period of time in my life, family-wise than i ever lost due to the drugs... i am four months and two days past my last drink and holding on to how awful it was and how UNSUCCESSFUL that i was!!!

i am aware that there are some addicts who can drink successfully (whatever that is) i am just not one of them... and i hope i never kid myself again that i am one of them...

again, congrats to you!!!! hang in there!!

amber

[Thomas03]

Eight YEARS of sobriety? Man! I can't conceive of eight months!  At least you know how to stop. Congrats on four months and change. How long was your drinking period?

Thomas

[MrsRat]

Hi Grappler. I'm not sure if I can help you or not with your stomach, but will try my best. You didn't give a lot of details on what exactly it is acting like after your injury.  Are you dealing with pain, spasms, ???

I'm the resident Crohnie (and resident rat) here. LOL. I've had Crohn's Disease my whole life, so have a lot of experience with the digestive system and different meds they give for it.

You said to email you, but you forgot to include your email address. Mine is ***@**** and if I'm awake, I'm more than likely online somewhere, so please email me anytime and we can talk about our guts.

[AKIRA]

My doc. perscribed ultracet to me for pain mangment. but the catch is that i just 3 weeks ago went threw detox for vicadin and we used bupernex for the detox. he also gave me clonapin for anxiety. my question is, is the smart way to manage my pain or will i end up in the same boat i was before?

[AmberHunter]

i relapsed after 8 years clean in around 1996 and have been pretty much trying to get right ever since... hence the four months...

funny thing about clean time, once you have it you may start to think you have it beat (like i did and start drinking or drugging) i have heard how it is so much easier to stay clean than to get clean and it is SOOOO true... and after you have had some time clean and relpase it can really do a number on you... "can't save your ass and your face at the same time" well, why should we have to (the NA way) i felt so defeated by repeated relapse in NA that i think i pretty much decided it was easier to stay out and accept my "fate" i am serious here...

what i have learned on this forum the past four days or so has spoken volumes to me! i am not afraid of relapsing right now, i mean, i don't want to but if i do i know it is not the end of the world and i will just try to pick up where i left off... rathter than stay out until i am so sick i need a medical detox!

what is your story thomas? you seem pretty interesting and i think your recipe is the ****!! :-)

amber

[theGolden1]

Wow! You did it!! I want to answer everyones post here, but it's about 2:00am and I gotta get some zzzz ... I am so happy for this thread. Grappler said it. TWO WEEKS to kick ultram. I have to get back into tapering. At least I didn't go back up ... thank God. I was all set to use vicodin to get off this ... but then I came here and started reading ... it's so great to know people that have been through the Ultram torture ... well tommorrow is Sunday, and I'm going to start my taper back up again. I did start my excersize program this week. I hope I can do this. It's hard losing energy, especially in the spring ..... Goldie

[grappler]

Hey hope everyone is doing well.

My problem is not internally in my stomach but it's kind of like on my skin.  When I was injured,for some reason nothing could touch the skin on my stomach not even a sheet or else it would hurt me with inmense pain and supposedly it's a nerve that extends from the lumbar part of my spine that got injured to the front part of my stomach.  In fact when I was first injured I was missing a stomach muscle and it looked pretty weird.  The doctor says that it's some kind of nerve that is being pinched but who knows I got an MRI and they did'nt tell me anything,how can you tell.  Well, anyway my side still hurts from time to time and my stomach which is very irritating it feels like it hurts but it itches at the same time. Please if anyone has any advice or has been or is going through something similar from a recurring back injury please write..


Thanks \\


Grappler

[ldjohn]

Help....I am taking the most ultram ever  30 a day...the Internet connection is how I got this much.  I ordered and ordered and now not only am I taking more than I ever dreamed but I am a few thousand dollars in debt.  My husband does not know about the cost.  I am afraid to tell him.  I can't stop taking them because of the energy and the withdrawal.  3 Kids don't give you any down time.

I am getting my liver checked. I am taking milk thistle to help detox the liver but I don't know if it is helping.  I try to taper but I don't know how.  My tolerance level is so high that I don't feel anything except when I stop taking them.

Anybody with suggestions?????
ldjohn

[vettezr1]

Grappler I have been trying to contact you, there are some things I can suggest you try.
I have some pretty bad nerve damage to my spine causing me some bad pain and bizarre sensations in my legs and feet.   One thing that might help your stomach area is a Lidocaine patch you can get them from a pain doc and put them right on the area that is affected. The second and also available from a pain doctor is a drug called Tizanidine it

[theGolden1]

What happened? You were determined to start cutting back. If it were me (and it is me, although I am on the low end now) I would go to an addictionoligist. They will switch you to something else that you cannot get from the internet and work on it from there. I have been steadily tapering, but have remained at the same dose for over a month now. (2 1/2 per day) My doc keeps giving me scripts for tramadol and I have a drawer full of pills. I just can't flush them right now. Once I'm clean for a month ... then I will.
It's the energy problem as well. The only solution is to use it in the morning, then less in the afternoon and even less at night. Cut down on the last dose of the day. Cut it once a week, but very little and always on the last dose until you are dosing only twice a day. The rule of thumb is 15 percent of the daily dose every 7 to 10 days. Bottom line .... you need to tell someone. Your husband will find out anyway. You are out of control ... 30 a day? OMG!! You will have a seizure .... God forbid. Tell your husband and take him to the doctor with you. You can't do this alone. You shouldn't have to. You need to slow down. Please promise me you will at least locate a doctor and make the appointment. Then talk to your husband. You need each other and the kids need a healthy Mom. Just do it!! Your friend ... Goldie

[grappler]

Hey,

Thanks for the advice I want to ask you what type of doctor you were going to was it a regular or a was it a specialty doctor.
Cause man these guys are idiots,(the one I go to) he does'nt think that much because I don't cry about it like a *****.  So he probably thinks that I don't hurt like everyone else and also he sees me in good form so he automatically thinks that I should be coping pretty good I told him what the deal was with the pain radiating from my back to my stomach an he gave some **** called "difunisal" it does'nt work at all.  Could you give me some advice on how to approach him that I want something like you suggested. And thanks for the advice,keep it coming.

Grappler