is tramadol equaly hard coming off of?

im on day 8 and i was wondering like is ultrams just as hard as any other opiete to come off of over time or do you think it might b a lil more easier ect?

[mimi1313]

Tramadol is harder from what i hear. I believe avisg would know.

[GoldieBoomer]

Tramadol (Ultram) is even harder to come off.  The withdrawal is horrendous.  Tramadol is what I took for the last 10 years - I thought I was kidding myself that it wasn't Vicodin - well guess what it is just as addicting.  I was up to 30-40 pills a day.  Get help with detox, don't do it yourself...

[josh231]

are you off it now?

[GoldieBoomer]

Yes, I have been free for 6 months - but it was the hardest thing I have done.  The tramadol kind of creeps up on you as you know and you need to take more and more to get that "buzz or high".  If I ever have to go on pain meds again, I will never allow them to give me that!

[josh231]

how do you feel sick months free from it and whaat dose were you at if you dont mind me asking?

[GoldieBoomer]

I took 50mg tablets - 30 to 40 a day - the "safe" maximum is 8 pills a day.

To be honest with you, I still feel a little crappy - but that is addiciton in general.  It takes about 12 months to really feel yourself again.  I have trouble sleeping - which the Tramadol used to take care of (well at 30 pills a day you can imagine I just zonked out every night).  I will tell you that I am an avid "walker" and I walk my dogs 5 miles every day.  It was so easy when I was high on the Tramadol - not so easy without the pills.  But I get a wonderful feeling of accomplishment at the end of the day knowing I have another day "pill" free.  

I am looking at a big back surgery within the next month and I will obviously have to be on some pain meds shortly thereafter.  I will never, ever, ever again take Tramadol - that stuff is lethal.

Hope this helps.  

[josh231]

It does help alot thanks so much and i hope everything works out for you

[mary577]

This is such good info.   I thought it was more or less "harmless".   Someone told me it was about like aspirin.   I will never take it again....had only taken it a couple of days....anyway.    Thanks again for sharing this.

[lostgirl302]

I just got offf ultram 50mg 24 hours now and I feel like i could just about die rite now any one have any advice on how to at least feel a little human thru all this,
please help!

[vicki595]

Hi there-  You'd feel a lot better if you tapered off of the Tramadol. It contains an AD so abruptly stopping it is a snock to your system, to say the least.

Force fluids like water and juices. Try to eat good food, rest, take hot baths with Epsom salts and soak, distract yourself. Not too much else. You just need to go through it. Get some Immodium, also.

Again, it would be much better if you tapered off by dropping small amounts over time. How much do you take per day?

[Wes032]

I keep hearing through many posts that A LOT of people thought that Ultram (Tramadol) was not addictive and harmless.  The reason for this is because the company which produced it, the German pharmaceutical company Grünenthal GmbH, were alleged to be guilty of "minimizing" the habituating nature of the drug, although it showed little abuse liability in preliminary tests.
In May 2009, the United States Food and Drug Administration issued a Warning Letter to Johnson & Johnson (Who bought the rights to the drug), alleging that a promotional website commissioned by the manufacturer had "overstated the efficacy" of the drug, and "minimized the serious risks".
So MANY doctors early on were told that this was the "miracle drug" for pain because it has no dependency factors.  My original doctor early on that prescribed it to me was one that told me and many of his patients that it was NOT addictive and could be taken like an OTC analgesic.  
If I am honest with myself.. I STILL use Tramadol but it really is not very effective at controlling pain.  At least not for me.  Im not taking the number of them that a lot of Tramadol addicts are.  Im taking at most 6-8 pills a day and only about 7-14 days a month.  I know MANY that are taking 4-8 times that many.  I am also on Norco for chronic pain and take more of it then I am prescribed to get adequate pain relief so I usually run out of it before the month is up, and so I take the tramadol to keep from going into W/D from the Norco.. and for this it works great for me.  I have NO W/D from the norco if I take the Tramadol, but the Tramadol keeps me awake and my mind races at night when I take it.
So for many doctors when Tramadol was first being used in the US it WAS being advertised by J&J to be non-addictive.. but not because J&J was being untruthful, but because the original pharmaceutical company Grünenthal GmbH out of Germany published untruthful facts about it.  Seems like SO many "BAD" drugs came from Germany..  Another one that I was on that was HELL to get off of was Methadone for chronic pain.  
Some people mention that Tramdol is more difficult to detox from than many other well known opiates and the reason for this is its long half life.   Its halflife is as long as 7 hours.
FYI:
--Tramadol is not a federally controlled drug, however the following U.S. states have elected to make tramadol a schedule IV controlled drug: Arkansas, Tennessee, Illinois, New Mexico, Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky, Wyoming, Mississippi, North Dakota, Oklahoma and the U.S. military, with other states considering similar actions.  
--The drug has a wide range of applications, including treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, restless legs syndrome, motor neurone disease and fibromyalgia.
--Investigational uses:
diabetic neuropathy
antidepressant
postherpetic neuralgia
acute opioid withdrawal management
antidepressant withdrawal aid (proven to be effective, especially with withdrawal from its distant relative venlafaxine (Effexor).
obsessive-compulsive disorder
premature ejaculation
PTSD
--Seizures have been reported in humans receiving excessive single oral doses (700 mg) or large intravenous doses (300 mg). However, there have been several rare cases of people having grand-mal seizures at doses as low as 100–400 mg orally.
--Fewer than 1% of users have a presumed incident seizure claim after their first tramadol prescription. Risk of seizure claim increases two- to six-fold among users adjusted for selected comorbidities and concomitant drugs. Risk of seizure is highest among those aged 25–54 years, those with more than four tramadol prescriptions, and those with a history of alcohol abuse, stroke, or head injury
--Long-term use of high doses of Tramadol may be associated with physical dependence and a withdrawal syndrome.  The atypical withdrawal symptoms are probably related to tramadol's effect on serotonin and norepinephrine re-uptake. Symptoms may include those of SSRI discontinuation syndrome, such as anxiety, depression, anguish, severe mood swings, aggressiveness, brain "zaps", electric-shock-like sensations throughout the body, paresthesias, sweating, palpitations, restless legs syndrome, sneezing, insomnia, vivid dreams or nightmares, micropsia and/or macropsia, tremors, and headache among others. In most cases, tramadol withdrawal will set in 12–20 hours after the last dose, but this can vary. Tramadol withdrawal lasts longer than that of other opioids; seven days or more of acute withdrawal symptoms can occur as opposed to typically three or four days for other codeine analogues.
--Rarely, dependence may occur after as little as three months of use at the maximum dose—generally depicted at 400 mg per day. However, both physicians and health authorities generally consider dependence liability relatively low.  Nevertheless, the prescribing information for Ultram warns that tramadol "may induce psychological and physical dependence of the morphine-type".
--Because of the possibility of convulsions at high doses for some users, recreational use can be very dangerous.  Tramadol can cause a higher incidence of nausea, dizziness, loss of appetite compared with opiates, which could deter abuse.  
--It may also have a large effect on sleeping patterns and high doses may cause insomnia.
--Though there is no scientific proof tramadol lessens effects of opiates or is a mixed agonist-antagonist, some people get the impression it is, while someone else might benefit being prescribed both for pain and breakthrough pain.
Just a lot of information that some people MIGHT know and a lot might not.  I do A LOT of background checking on what medications my doctors are thinking of placing me on now since I had such a bad expirence with Methadone and not being told by the doctor of how hard it would be to get off of if I ever wanted to.  Also being a combat medic in the Army I do tend to have a decent amount of information about medical conditions and medications that most people would not.
If anyone has any questions or comments feel free.  

[DEVONSTAR]

i had a great experience w methadone....i was on it for 7 yrs n slowly decreased my dose over 2 yrs have been off for almost a month now..u cant go by all the horror stories u hear most ppl dont share there good stories remember that..i wish u the best n if done rite methadone is a great drug if u need a crutch to stay clean

[Wes032]

I guess I should have been more clear.  Im not saying that Methadone is a bad drug in all cases.  Its not the best medication for pain management which is the reason I was taking it.  I have been dependant an tramadol in the past.  That had rough withdrawls.. but NOTHING to when I had gone too long without taking my Methadone dose.  I KNEW that when I Started yawninga lot that if I didnt have my medication with me it was time to get home to get to them.  
I was on 60MG's a day.  2 10MG tabs 3X a day. When I finally decided to get my self off I had gotten myself down to 15MG's a day.  1/2 a 10MG tab in the morning and 1 10MG tab at night before bed.  That on its own wasnt so bad, but going ANY lower just wasn't going to be fun at all so at that point is when I looked for help from a local Pain Management doctor to help getting myself off the rest.  
I just wished that I would have had a good pain management doctor that got me started on them and he would have told me EVERYTHING about starting a daily opiate pain plan so that I could have made a better decision before ever starting them.  
Glade you had a good expirence with them though, and like I said for some it is a great medication.  
Hope you have a great weekend.