tapering off of hydrocodone by using Ultram

[slowlybetter]

Hi everyone,

I posted this already but I didn't get a response so I thought I would try again.  My friend says she is really tired today and has barely taken any ultram and I believe tomorrow she won't take any.  If anyone reads this information and can give me advice to pass along, I would really appreciate it!

For those of you who have tapered or know about tapering from other people's experiences with replacing Percocet 5 or Lortab can you explain what will happen if you take Ultram a few times a day for 5 or 6 days? I have a friend doing this. She hasn't experienced any w/d's while using the Ultram, I think she had been taking the prescribed dosage of Lortab (1 tablet every 6 hours or so). She has had to take it for a while due to back pain I think she took Percocet (I don't think she wanted to tell me everything) then she was trying to get on a lower dose of medication and wean off the meds. She still has pain but takes arthritis strength tylenol and ibuprofen as well. She has taken Ultram in the past and said she had some w/d's but she took it for a while until she was diagnosed. She said she didn't sleep well for a few days and is really nervous about stopping the Ultram. I think (if I remember correctly) she has been off of the Lortab since Thursday or Friday. Will she go through all the normal Lortab w/d's once she quits the short term use of Ultram (by the way she had a prescription for that) and have w/d's from Ultram as well?

I told her about this forum but she is just too nervous to do something like this. She has never abused her meds, if anything she takes less than the prescribed amount and just suffers through. She is a really tough person. I can tell she is still in pain but determined to not take pain meds. I don't even think the doctor thinks she should do this. But she has been through worse pain before before she had a hysterectomy (she had horrible adhesions and endometriosis) and didn't even take pain meds for that! So I don't think she is mentally addicted at all, just physically because it has been a year. She has taken breaks in the meds just because that is how she is. I am really impressed at how she handles her medication. I have been to the doctor with her and I know she is really in way more pain than she ever lets on.

Anyway, thanks for any input that I can pass along. Maybe I can talk her into getting on here. You all are such a great group of supportive people!

SB

[trainmanrick]

Don t know if this will help. I was addicted to norco for 6 years 10mg 350 tylenol  the good stuff. took at least 10 to 15 per day. Dr,. cut me off and started me on tramadol with xanex to ease the wd. Worked perfectly. Did that for 2 years cut the xanax after 3 months. Took 8 tramas per day. Tried to quit wd to painful ( not near as bad as norco)  I suffer from restless legs  ( makes you want to put a bullet in your head) Now the Dr has put me on suboxone  RX was 2 pills under the tongue per day. No wd from the trama and no restless legs period. I only use 1/2 pill per day  1/4 at night and 1/4 in the morning. I feel like a new person. I will admit to feeling tired a lot. I don t care about that   I feel like sleeping at night and have suffered the pains of hell no sleeping at night for the past 10 years. I realize suboxone is an opiate. The way it is used  you cannot just pull them out and pop them like you would a norco or a trama   you would get sick as hell. I am going to try for the next while using just 1/4 pill per day as she how she goes. Maybe I ll be done with pills all together. Doc says if I can t I should not have to raise the amount to keep up like you normally would. I feel wonderful guys and I have been in hell for 10 years plus. I am going to find a way to spread my message so I can help others.   Message from Rick

[oxfinx]

dont use tramadol to stop anything except maybe heroin, definitely not lortab, youll be worse off.

[tztlady]

I took ultram for about 10 days after tapering off of norcos.  I had very few wds from the norcos while on ultram

I thought I was out of the woods, so to speak.  However when I stopped the ultram I got very lethargic, had the sweats, tossed and turned at night, had a runny nose and couldn't stop sneezing.  I felt feverish and flu like.

Well this really pissed me off.  Withdrawals from something that didn't even take away my back pain and give me a little buzz???

I took norcos again.  I need to get through June 15th!  I teach and have 2 boys of my own graduating and I just can't be "down" right now.  So I am not taking more than prescribed and will begin tapering next week.
I will have a week off work after the 15th and then will teach summer school 4 hours a day for 3 weeks.  

If I use ultram again for the wds, I will use a much lower dose (no more than 150 mg a day) and will taper off of it instead of going cold turkey.  I just didn't see how a drug that is supposedly a "non-opiate" could cause withdrawals.


Ultram works great for withdrawals but for me requires tapering off the ultram.  
I think I will just ct it off norcos this time since I will have the time off work.  

[Crispy]

I was given ultram by a doctor last visit i went too and i felt ultram aka tramadol made me feel super groggy the next day.