Ultram Addiction

[John P.]

I have been taking Ultram for the past 6 months and am up to 6 pills a day (300 mg a day) I have been taking Ultram for a herniated disc,after 2 mthsI started experiencing small side effects, sweating, nausea, headaches and I thought I had the flu. But these symtoms continued, I discovered these were side effects of Ultram. As the next few months continued, symtoms got worse, hallucinations started and I ended up in the emergency room one day.  They diagnosed me with Ultram addiction- up until that point no one believed Ultram was addicting. I was given Librium to relieve the withdrawal from ULtram.  My doctor prescribed Vicodin and I am going through "living hell". Should I have quit the Ultram cold turkey and gone right to Vicodin or should I first have phased out slowly the Ultram before going to the Vicodin.My body is so confused.It is my 4th day with no sleep, terrible cramps, stabbing pains in my stomach, feeling like a cat is clawing me inside and my body is being ripped to pieces, joints all hurting like the flu and I am taking the librium and valium. I realize I can get addicted to the Vicodin, so I have been trying to not take the full dosage.

[AngeF]

Ultram is definately addictive, After taking Vicodin Es for 6 months my doctor finaly cut me off, I was given a script for Ultram, Of course I didnt fill it right away I did not know nothing about it and when I looked on the RX list it was a non controlled substance, so I Asumed it was not going to help my cravings for the Vicodin, A week later after terrible withdrawls for many days I decided to fill it to help the body aches , The dosage was 1 tablet every 8 hours as needed for pain, so I doubled it (100mg) in about and hour I felt like  was in heaven,  thoughtit was better than Vicodin, So of course I got on the web and looked into the info on Ultram and found that it peaks in 1 to 2 hours after oral ingestion, so It takes a while but the high comes, and lasts about 6 hours, the half life is 6 to 8 hours, I also discovered that therapeutic doses could range from 50mg to 200mg in a single dose but no more than 400mg a day!This is a man copied Codeine! its says so in the pharmacology section of the package insert(in so many words) the chemists studied the phamacology and structure of codeine and copied it, And called it tramadol(ultram) very sneaky, but they did not market it as a ontrolled subtance even though in their clinical studies, Man identified ultram as a narcotic,Ask the pharmacist for the package insert on ultram(legally if you are prescribed the drug, they must make it avalable to you) and read,read,read. Needless to say I went through awful withdrawl, the only good think about ultram is that it doest cantain nythg else lk acetametaphen, which can cause liver damage if abused. Another big secret within the pharmaist and manufacturers community, is Immodium Ad (loperamide) this is sold over the counter and contains nothing more thana Man made Opiod (narcotic type affects) Well Vicodin and al those pain killers cause constipation, so they made one to use as an antidiarreal, pretty smart, I also got the package insert to this from a pharmacist and believe me It tells you alot more than it does on the package you buy. It speciffically says" this should not be used for longer than 2 days because it can cause physical and psycolohgical dependence, under pharmacology it says this is a synthetic opiod with narcotic type side effects. This was a drug I used to help with the Ultram withdrawl, it helped alot, just take a stool softener a day to keep from becoming constipated, It made coming off Ultram a breeze this time. I am sure it will help with any opiod withrawl and you can run to wal-mart and buy it 18 2mg tablets $3... Dont use more han two at a time or exceed 6-8 in a 24hr period, But it does help, he its an Opiod

[lola]

I am very addictied to Ultram. The doctors even offer me Vicodon and I refuse and lie to them saying no I'd rather have something that doesn't get me so loaded. I love the feeling I get from them. I kind of have a sence of well being and a whole lot of energy, but if I stop and lie down I go into a euorphoric sleep which I wake from every half hour or so. When I run out,  I go through terrible withdrawls. Flu like. Very aggitated and depressed. I tell myself I will never take them again but think after a month that I must be okay and go get more. Been doing this for a year now. I'm pretty scared about the whole thing. I really want to be drug free. Oh, I take them for cronic back pain.

[lola]

I am very addictied to Ultram. The doctors even offer me Vicodon and I refuse and lie to them saying no I'd rather have something that doesn't get me so loaded. I love the feeling I get from them. I kind of have a sence of well being and a whole lot of energy, but if I stop and lie down I go into a euorphoric sleep which I wake from every half hour or so. When I run out,  I go through terrible withdrawls. Flu like. Very aggitated and depressed. I tell myself I will never take them again but think after a month that I must be okay and go get more. Been doing this for a year now. I'm pretty scared about the whole thing. I really want to be drug free. Oh, I take them for cronic back pain.

[melde sa]

There are some good points to be made with the use or misuse of persribed drugs,
I took myself off Zoloft by ignoring them last July
I was on them 5 yrs. sometimes up to 150 mg., but usually 50-75 mg. I began using them because I had a tremendous amount of anger which stemmed from letting someone at home in the home, walk all over me, and I felt that I could'nt confront the situation alone
After about 3 years I found myself right smack dab in the middle of a physical disaster, a drug addiction and a divorce from a 20+ yr marriage. Slowly and with LOTS of SUPPORT and thousands of dollars pissed away on everything...FOR WHAT?
I got thru all of it, and now as I look back to what I might have done differently It would be to stay on the doctors' orders, not do anything but what the dr orders.
I have chronic pain now to deal with and reading thru the notes that are listed here remind me though I have this problem it is miniscule to what it might easily become if I don't watch out. Addictions of all types are so difficult, and support has to be a priority for someone who is alone in their problems,( and most of us are alone, right? ) Like the 12 steps say  DEAL WITH THE PAIN
Admit the problem to another and you need someone bigger than you are to overcome, and stand alone without it UNLESS YOU HAVE TO TAKE IT

Great site, thanks for being here!

[tom]

I am a 25-year prescription narcotic junkie, and my experience with Ultram is that it felt exactly like a strong opiate the first few times I used it. After that, the effect faded and I (naturally) increased the dosage. This I strongly discourage. The effects of even a mild Ultram overdose are pretty bad, even a bit scary. I literally went out on my feet while walking across my patio, waking up flat on my back a few minutes later. I have no memory of falling or laying down, and that scared the **** out of me. Leave the stuff alone, fellow junkies.

[imus3]

As Warner Wolf says on the Imus in the morning show... If you took ultram, and thought it would give you a buzz.....YOU LOST!