Quitting Tramadol for pain; scary withdrawal effects; anyone been here?

[Artifex]

I developed sciatica last May 08 while pregnant with my one and only child; I'm 28 and my child is now 6 mo. I was unable to get a real diagnosis until last Thanksgiving night when I went into the ER because I had fallen down some stairs (sprained neck in addition). -Anyway; I feel I wasn't taken seriously and written off as "pregnant" when the symptoms became so bad I seriously could hardly walk or even turn over in bed that is when I decided to research pain pills I could get online so I could begin taking them as needed after my child was born via c-section. -I knew they wouldn't give me enough or the right meds so I played Dr. -did my homework and began ordering pills. At first they were a life saver the percocet perscribed after the birth was too strong for every dose all the time (I gave many of them away). I talked them into some Vicoden and got a few but those didn't even seem to work as well and I didn't want to feel 'buzzed'; I was learning how to be a new parent!  After five weeks or so my milk started to dry and I took it as a sign that baby should go on formula rather than risk her health; so that was done. Nearly six months after baby I looked at the log of pills I ordered and saw about 8 seperate orders for Tramadol 50mg 120 pills per order. I was terrified of the pain and had even back orders going on wait lists for approval and that is when I realized I was now more afraid of not having pills than I was of pain itself. In the last few months I also began taking valium (not zanex; pure valuim) and believe it or not I was considerabley functional. I knew when I finally got my Dx. on Thanksgiving that I was not losing my mind but also had to face the reality that I had to either give up the pills or expect to be a slave to the FDA (not that this pharmacy is legal per.say) and spend money we don't have to continue taking pills that were not percribed to me by any physician. I decided the pills had to go and over a few weeks I cut them back to 3-6 per day (total) and this last week I cut that in half then in half and today has been my first day with no Tramadol. -I did take about 3.5 mg. of valium but for me this is good. The pain is back in a big way! Hard to sleep; everything hurts! What's even worse though is the withdrawal of this stuff; every day now for a week I wake up feeling hung over. I can do little more than care for my child and myself; the extra chores are near impossible right now. -My Sig.Other is helping as much as he can while working over-time. . . How long do you think until I feel better? I have heard of people who got as bad as taking 20 pills a day and I was only about half that bad at my worst (I gave a few away here and there). Seriously; I would like to just get well enough to excersise and fight my pain rather than be dependent on pills but this is way harder than I imagined. Any insight will be helpful; thank-you in advance.
AuriElla's Mommy

[shartexas]

Yes, I believe that Tramadol can be addicting and can cause severe withdrawal symptoms, but I don't know how long it takes for this to resolve. Since you were obviously taking a larger than recommended dosage, other people's experience might not apply, in your case.

I am shocked and disturbed that you would self-prescribe this type of drug and then also take far more than the recommended dose. It's no wonder you're feeling so bad.  

As for myself, it would take me more than a YEAR to go through 8 separate orders of 120 Tramadol, yet you seem to suggest you took them in less than a 6-month period. Lord knows what kind of damage you've done to your body by consuming such a huge quantity of this drug, if you've done that. Maybe the "hung over" feeling is from brain damage.

Tramadol 50 mg is one of the drugs I am prescribed for severe chronic pain from nerve and spinal cord damage, and my prescribed dosage is only 3 per day. I never exceed that and in fact I usually take only 1 or 2 per day, and sometimes none at all, because I personally don't want to end up having withdrawal symptoms from this drug.

You should have gone back to the doctor for a better diagnosis and treatment, rather than haphazardly self medicating. Tramadol can have life-threatening interactions with other drugs, and you're taking your life into your hands if you're eating them like candy as you seem to have done.

Not only that, but this is "pain pill abuse" and it's what causes people like me to have difficulty obtaining pain meds even though I have a condition that's well known for being extremely painful. Unlike yourself, I know my diagnosis and have lots of proof that I have this condition -- 2 MRI's, a CT scan, several Xrays, and surgery, with another major surgery pending.

These days I cannot function without taking a combination of 3 pain relieving drugs. Without the meds, I cannot do the most routine activities of daily life, such as grocery shopping, washing my dishes, feeding my pets, etc.  

I have an identified, undisputed diagnosis that's known for being extremely painful. Yet I have to see my doctor every time I need a pain pill refill. I cannot obtain an ongoing refill because of people like you who abuse pain pills, obtaining them by hook or crook and then taking so many that you quickly become addicted to them.

I've been taking several prescription pain meds and muscle relaxants regularly for about two years, and now must take them almost daily, more than once a day. At various times these have included Vicodin, Percocet, Tramadol, Darvocet, Soma, etc. All of these drugs have a potential for addiction. But I am very cautious about the dosage and as far as I can tell, I am not addicted to any of them. On days when I am not very active, I don't take them -- sometimes for several days in a row -- and I have not yet suffered any withdrawal symptoms.

Due to taking low dosages, I usually still have pain after taking these drugs, but at least it's manageable pain. I don't want to take so many drugs that they knock me out while knocking out the pain. Besides, this type of pain is nearly impossible to completely control and taking extra pain pills wouldn't be much help.

Valium is an excellent muscle relaxant and would probably be very helpful to me, but doctors won't prescribe them for that use because of all the people who abuse such drugs and obtain them illegally.

I hope you'll stick to legal prescriptions and take them at the prescribed dosages, next time.