tramadol withdrawal

[Birdie23]

I am in the process of getting off of tramadol. It was prescribed for me for ocassional use for mild to moderate pain like headache, muscle soreness, etc. I used it only ocassionally for several months. About 4 months ago, I became involved in a fairly intense project and was experiencing more discomfort. Without really thinking much about it, I started using tramadol every day and then increased this to 2-3 times each day. The dosage was 100mg, so I was taking 100-300mg daily (or 2-6, 50mg pills) for 3 months. After I finished the project in mid-may, I decided that I needed to stop using a drug to get through the day, so I tried to just stop taking it. WOW! Serious withdrawal symptoms including joint and muscle pain, stomch issues, fatigue, depression and a strange hollowness in my nerves ensued. I didn't feel I could just stop functioning for a week or two or whatever it would take, so I used some hydrocodone that I had to help me get my tramadol use down to 100mg per day over the course of a week. I would just take the hydro when I started feeling really bad in the afternoon to get me through the rest of the day. Then, I decided to just quit the tramadol altogether. The withdrawal was really difficult. I was worried about getting addicted to the hydro, so I got some concentrated kratom powder and was alternating use with the hydro every day or two so that neither of them was in my system daily. This got me through week 2 which was a reduced amount of muscle pain, but more fatigue, lethargy, depression. Now I am beginning my third week. I am out of hydro and I am still experiencing some muscle and joint stuff, but the big problem is the lethargy and depression. It's just kicking my butt. The kratom is very helpful in this and lifts the dark cloud that I seem to wake up with, but I'm worried about an addition to this as well. I am now taking about 1.5-2 grams in the early afternoon to get through the rest of the day. I am not using any other drugs or substances. I have never been addicted to anything before and wasn't abusing the tramadol. It didn't make me high or anything, but it did get rid of ALL of my aches and pains and let me do everything I needed to in the day. I don't have any major pain and I know I shouldn't have been so lazy about my health. Now, I am trying to be really careful without losing myself to laying on the couch all day. My questions are: How long will the tramadol withdrawal take to be completely over? and How long can I use a small amount of Kratom on a daily basis without just creating another addiction that I have to get over? Or can I just slowly reduce the kratom to avoid the withdrawal since it is a powder and very easy to measure out? Any thoughts on this would be helpful. I am reluctant to engage my physician in this too much. he knows I am having withdrawal fromt he tramadol, but I don't want to ask for any other drugs if I don't have to. I just feel like I've done something really studpid and I want to get through it without his help, if possible. Thanks!

[powerup792]

adderall will help with depression but is also a problem if often takin im tryin
a six day steriod pack for my restless legs hope this works my withdrawls are from very small bits n pices of suboxone so i thought four tramadal a day would help it made the withdrawl last longer 3 hrs a sleep anight n restless legs no depression this tme with adderall but addicting if takin to long God bless

[cari2]

i have been on tramadol for 4 years, i have been taking 20 pills a day for the past year or two. Gradually worked myslef up to 20, it was 8 then 12 then 16 then 20. I have not had one day in 3 years where i had not had my tramadol. i knew i was addicted but i didnt want to go through withdrawls and i was living my life feeling good everyday so why stop. thiis isnt by choice,i thought i placed an order tuesday online  but it didtn go thru. so i have no tramadol untill monday or tuedsay when it comes in mail. and my script from my doctor isnt able to refill tell wednesday.  i am on day two , this is bad, never been so depressed and anxious,diahreah, sweating alot but freezing cold. havent slept since wednesday, cant stop crying. cant explain the emptiness i feel. Now reading on here i may  have a seizure.  what can i do to ease the symptoms and prevent a seizure. no one knows about this, i am balling and my husband thinks i am pms'ing.  if you saw me you  would never think i would be a drug addict, i have a little boy who ismy life and i am trying to be a goood mom today but this  is so  hard. i have just been pacing the house  all day sweating and freezing .  i even tried getting tramadol   for mydog today  (he has had it inthe past)  i have run out of stories to tell my doctor on why i need the tramadol early.  i stole  a few vicodin  frommy mom but those didnt help.  i am desperate  but wont goto the ER.   my granpa is in hospice care and lives two hours away, i was going to drive there in the morning to get someof his pain meds.  this is insane , its not me.  i dont know what todo.  alcohol only depresses me more.  most sleepingpills dont work.  advice  please??  

[eighttthree]

I've just found this website when googling tramodol withdrawal symptoms and it's really opened my eyes. Thanks for all your information.
My stepdad is currently battling cancer, one part of which is pressing on his sciatic nerve and causing him a lot of pain. After managing it with paracetamol he has had to move on to prescription medicine, which has been Tramadol for the last three weeks. The pills alleviated the pain and made him feel quite jolly and a lot better about everything. However they've been causing him to have night sweats, to the extreme that he wakes in the night having soaked the bed and ended up dehydrated. His dr decided to suddenly switch him to codeine, which he started last night. My mum rang me this evening worried, as he has spent all day curled on the bathroom floor, in the dark, telling her to keep away as he feels like killing someone (he is a very passive, non-aggressive person in normal life) The dr claims this is not a normal side effect and instructed my mum to go to the chemists to get more Tramadol. When she said this to my stepdad (and i was on the phone when she relayed the information to him) he refused and again told her to 'get the **** away' (again, not his temperament at all)
It seems insane to me that there are so many of you suffering the same symptoms and yet this drug is still being dolled out so casually.
Does anyone have any advice that I can relay to my parents? I feel pretty powerless and this is pretty much my only way of helping. Has anyone taken this drug for a similar amount of time and knows how long it takes to feel 'normal' again?
The whole thing has freaked me out and godknows how my poor stepdad feels.

[Kelseyannmarie]

Im not sure if this helps but I'm going through the same thing and have always had depression issues anyway so they just got worse, but i take Zoloft for depression and it has helped with a number of the withdrawal side effects, including fatigue. Some people it may make sleepy but it's rare. It kind of makes me speedy, but not addictive. They even had me on it during both of my pregnancies. If your having trouble sleeping, try. Chlorphenermine, it's an over the counter allergy pill(anti-histamine) do not try Benadryl, it will cause restlessness to the point you will want to scream and cry. Don't know if this helps. But there ya go

[Kelseyannmarie]

I think it's just your tolerance is already so high from the stronger opiates, at least this is what was true for me. That is until I got clean and hadn't taken any opiates for 8 months then one day took some tramadol and got high, I was very surprised but now I'm paying for like the rest of these folks.

[Kelseyannmarie]

I know you don't want to hear this but if you are miserable then the only thing that's going to help is a detox facility then a rehab, that's what I had to do except I was taking 200-300 mg of methadone or OxyContin a day. I have never felt better and no longer feel like I would rather die. Something to consider?