Just learned why Tramadol is so horrible to come off!

[TramHell]

So, I took my first dose of Suboxone yesterday, and my last dose of Ultram was about 550mgs, 12 hours before that.  I had no idea how the Suboxone would make me feel, since Ultram is not a "complete" opioid.  Well, here is what I have pieced together so far.  Ultram is a triple threat, meaning that parts of it act on the mu opiate receptor, part of it is an SSRI, and it is ALSO an SNRI, which means it produces Serotonin AND Norepinephrine.  When I abruptly stopped taking it, the mu opiate receptor was taken care of because it had Suboxone to take its place.  No horrible opiate withdrawals there... good news.  The bad news, however, is that now it is as if I have just quit an SSRI or SNRI cold turkey!!!  I am having horrible brain zaps and dizziness, and a general feeling of suckiness.  The brain zaps are what made me research the Serotonin connection to this stuff, and it made me realize that no wonder it is more addictive than people know.  Not only is it making your receptors happy, but it is also dosing you with good-feeling Serotonin and Norepinephrine.  So I am basically in hell, and wish I had tapered the Ultram a little bit.  I have 6 pills left, and EVERYTHING I have read says that Ultram and Suboxone are prescribed together, and that taking Suboxone too soon after Ultram WILL NOT throw you into precipitated withdrawal.  But of course there is always the one commentor who says "of course it will, Ultram is an opiate, blah blah blah."  So I'm scared to death I'll make it worse.  I was just hoping that giving my body a little bit of Serotonin here and there will take away the zaps.  Any thoughts?

[M_DuBb22]

And I hate to say it but I've noticed some similar mental/emotional effects from the suboxone compared to the tram... Maybe it would be easier to ween down to a low dose of tram and just quit that all together instead of switching to the sub? Suboxone is also very addictive and will just hold back the opiate w/d's til you stop the sub, at least in my experience.

[M_DuBb22]

Stay strong brother!! Today is 8 days clean for me. I was into the harder opiates, taking up to 150mg a day of mostly oxycontin, but also hydrocodone, dilaudid, morphine, opana, anything but heroin. I used suboxone to quit those hard opiates, weening down from 3mg/day to .5mg in a few weeks, than quitting all together, with a few failed attempts. I got about a week clean than figured my old friend tramadol wouldn't get me hooked again and would mess me up..

I was doing about 150mg a day of the tramadol as I always did, for a few weeks, than decided is enough is enough I need to be completely clean. That was 8 days ago!! The physical withdrawals were very mild compared to the real opiates, but they do kick up at times.
....... Mentally/emotionally, I've been a wreck!! Super depressed, lonely, un-motivated, no energy, extremely sad, combined with some super crazy anxiety, stress, and boredom.. I have not been myself!! But its getting easier every day, everyday I feel more and more normal, with more happy times.. Thought I'd share my story, it should get easier soon stay strong!!

[avisg]

bump ,

Ok with you taking 1000 mg a day you want to wait a few days before you get on an ssri .You dont want to have so much serotionin in your system the you end up with serotionin syndrome .I cryed the whole first few day too it was bad . how much sub are you taking ? how much do you have ?

[TramHell]

Avisg, thanks for answering my question, but do you know if that is true both ways?  Like, Ultram while on Sub, and Sub while on Ultram?  No induction time?  Believe me, if I had known the reason that Sub probably isn't good for Ultram, I think I would have tried tapering first.  The problem is that I cannot afford the Sub doctor as it is, and I can't afford any more medication.  What I have is Sub, and Tramadol, and I am really worried about having a seizure.  I mean, I was taking 1000mgs a day and never had a seizure, so maybe I am not prone to them, but it could still happen.  I don't want to end up accidentally dying while I'm trying to get better.  When I asked the doc yesterday about the sudden stoppage of Tram, and its Serotonin affects, he did not seem to think there was an issue, and there obviously is, so he is no help.  Also there is a language barrier, and I can't understand what he is saying half the time.  So I am stuck trying to ride out the Serotonin withdrawal, and was just posting my question to see if a few Ultram pills would lessen the shock.

[DeeDee694]

I've been on Tramadol 100mg every 6 hours as needed along with Prozac 40mg daily for years.  Several medical professionals have questioned my taking both together.  One told me that it (Tramadol) can cause seizures.  Duh!  I never worried about it so much since did not have any seizure activity going on.  It wasn't until I joined this website 2 days ago that I now understand why there was a concern.  BTW, I'm an RN.  Fortunately, I don't take Tramadol anymore because I'm on the wicked narcotics, now.  One time my sister was so ill. I forget what it was but she was in alot of pain.  I insisted she take 2 like I did at the time and boy oh, boy I thought she was going to the ER. I felt so guilty.  It really perplexed me that she got so sick  but the difference is she doesn't take medication, period, whereas I've progressed to addiction.  All this is to say that you can learn alot on medhelp and I'm so glad she (my sister) turned me on to it. BTW, I'll be going through drug withdrawal after my knee surgery on July 12.

[avisg]

are you getting sub for a doctor or did you get if off the streets?

[avisg]

GA good post and your right sub doctors  dont like to use it for tramadol use for a reason. .

[GA Guy]

I hope that your Suboxone Doctor made you aware of the fact that your tolerance levels will be increase significantly by taking buprenorphine for tramadol withdrawal. I'm not saying that it isn't necessarily indicated, but in this case you're bumping your tolerance a great deal, and it will be much harder to come off of. Also, it will not decrease the antidepressant withdrawal effects from the Tramadol..only an antidepressant will do that (which can take weeks to kick in). I think you're experiencing the reason that almost all Suboxone doctors will not detox people from Tramadol with Buprenorphine.

[avisg]

it may not put you into wd most likely it wont do anything please go to the doctor and have them put you on an antidepressant your serotonin level just plummeted you need to find a happy medium it does need to be done by your doctor plz dont try it on your own.