coming off tramadol, is this withdrawl?

[Eem_sa]

Oh have been on tramacet since March.  I was prescribed six tabs a day as needed for a bulging disc in my neck.  I have never taken the full dose, at most I have taken four throughout the day.  I stopped because my doctor prescribed something new, saying nothing about side effects.  I was told this is non addictive, too.  

I'm starting my second day without it.  I also take Neurontin, Coxflam for the neck.  He also gave me Trepaline, but I don't like taking it.  I take Zoloft for anxiety, and have xanax and Rivetrol for panic attacks as needed.  Would taking one of the canal or rivitrol help to withdrawal symptoms?

[dominosarah]

Do you still have access to any pills?

[Sheelie326]

Tapering is a great idea- I tapered too, but when I got down to those last few pills I had such crazy anxiety I was glad to see them gone. I'm not going to lie- I tremendously miss the calming effect that Tramadol had on me and I'm still craving the pills. I had to get them all out of the house while I had my resolve.
Good luck to you on this journey.

[dominosarah]

Did you taper down or just quit cold turkey?  How many were you taking a day?

Eem, i am glad you have researched this and came up with a plan to taper.  The pharmaceutical companies are all about the money.  Safety isnt always the No1 priority.

[Eem_sa]

After reading many stories and discussing this with my husband and my general doctor, we have decided to wean off over a few weeks.  My GP was worried about the psych side effects more than anything.  I feel confident that I made it two days and that the WD wasn't too bad, that I will be able to get through this.

But it is definitely a stay up all night, pacing, watching Netflix to keep the brain occupied while sneezing my head off and shaking from chills sort of thing.

Someone tell me again why they thought this stuff was so safe?  

[Sheelie326]

I'm coming off of Tramadol too- I'm on day 4. I feel generally pretty miserable - brain zaps in my head, sweating, chills, lethargy, and suuuper depressed. If you're not feeling any of that consider yourself lucky.
I'm sorry you're in pain - that's why most of us get started down this road. Good luck with getting in touch with your doctor.

[Eem_sa]

Sorry, I misunderstood.  Not rapid detox.  The general anesthesia was for infraction injections, where they put cortisone and an analgesic directly into the affected area to relieve the pain.  It's a temp fix for pain, but I will need surgery eventually.

[Eem_sa]

No.  They just said stop taking that and start taking this.  I need to look up the new medication, I will not take anything anymore with out researching it fully.

[dominosarah]

Were they going to do a rapid detox

[Eem_sa]

Unfortunately, I have a greater chance of winning the lottery than getting to see my Dr.  I haven't had an appt with him since March.  It's all messages and email response.  We were going to try infiltration under local two weeks ago, but the local wasn't strong enough and we had to stop.  I've been trying to get in touch with him since. (A colleague was doing the procedure).  I'm scared of doing this under General anesthesia, especially when no one seems to care about the patient.

So, I am here, begging for advice.

[dominosarah]

Tramadol is very addicting and more and more doctors are finally realizing this.  Sneezing is a wd symptom.  With all the other meds you are taking it would be best to talk with your doctor about the drugs you are wondering about.

I wish we were heading into spring!!  Winter is coming here!!

[Eem_sa]

Is this sneezing really a withdrawal symptoms, or just because it's spring here?