tramadol withdrawl

[Girlfriendthatcares]

As of a few weeks ago, I became aware that my boyfriend of 1.5 years has been addicted to Tramadol for the past 10 years!  He is diabetic, so various medications in his bag was no concern. His 6 month prescription was running out and it was stressing him, therefore he started to come clean about what he was actually doing. I felt absolutely sick, so I read EVERYTHING I possibly could about this drug and none of it was good!  Clearly I would not be alright with this habit, so I really do give him credit for fessing up and making the decision to quit this poison. I feel like the doctors in his life have been irresponsible with allowing him to continue for so long with vague reasons from the patient, for staying on this horribly addictive drug.

Years ago I took Paxil for about 6 months, getting used to it was so awful that when it was time, I weaned off super slow in order to NOT feel any of that weird chemical withdrawal. That is all I have to go on with helping my boyfriend come off the Tramadol because his doctor has been no help!

When he contacted his doctor about wanting ONE month instead of 6 month refill to wean off slowly, she offered NO suggestions about safely coming off, just gave him 90 more pills!  This make my blood boil!  He still had 30 or so, 50mg tablets left so together we decided on a cut back schedule that he could tolerate.  Luckily he's done a lot better than the last time he tried to come off and he is NOT refilling the 90 pills!  Did I mention how proud I am of him?

All this is leading up to my question about dropping the dose...

His 10 yr. habit was 50mg 4-5 times per day.
Dropped to 25 mg 4 times per day for a week. (I had to give him an old Librium 5mg to get through the first night)
He needed Immodium for the next drop in dosage.
Fast forward another week and he is now on 25mg once a day for this whole week.
Pharmacist suggested 25mg every other day for an additional week.

I've been giving him half a Benedryl at night to help him sleep and now started giving him B-Compex to combat his extreme fatigue.

He wants to be DONE but I don't want to hurt him.....Is this slow enough for a long time user?

[Girlfriendthatcares]

Thank you for your response FourJays!  Yes, he is down to 1/2 tablet (.25mg) once a day. I've been carefully addressing his symptoms as they arise. I did read about the likelihood of depression that follows.. and it might sound silly but for now, I've been putting on our favorite sit-com marathons to keep up laughter to increase any natural tranquilizers, pain relievers and endorphins. Whatever it takes....

Thanks again~  I really do appreciate all YOUR support!

[Girlfriendthatcares]

Thank you so much dominosarah!  This is all very new and quite scary to me.. I'm REALLY hoping that his own tolerance of the symptoms and some patience can be our guide.

He does tell me everyday how grateful he is that I am supporting him. He ran the risk of me not wanting to deal with it and for that courage, I too, am grateful.

[dominosarah]

Hi and welcome.  We cant give tapering schedules on the forum.  All i will say is make sure this is done slowly.  You have done your homework on Tramadol so you know the dangers.  It's a shame his doctor wouldnt help him wean down.  We have many members who have successfully gotten off tramadol and they will see this post and respond so keep checking back.  He is lucky to have such a great support with you!!!