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weaninTramadol for opiate withdrawals
I am on day 4 of a hellish detox and yesterday I was lucky enoug to talk my doctor on the phone after office hours (I know this is rare but he know's my situation) He said in tougher cases like mine putting me on a weaning dose of Tramadol would alleviate alot of the symptoms until this is over. He said he would put me on a 5 day weaning dosage to get me to about day 10. He has had me on Tramadol for pain and I never came close to getting addicted to it...just not my thing I guess so here is my question has anyone had experiences with this...it is not one addiction for another as I will get between 10 and 15 pills and he has been my Dr. for 20 some years...I trust this man with my life...HELP PLEASE
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i think maybe i read this post wrong, so can ya help me out? did you say that your doctor told you that you never got close to being addicted to pills, even though you went to him saying you were and you wanted to get off of them?
sorry -- pretend it's monday. monday is always my excuse for reading things wrong. hehe
sorry -- pretend it's monday. monday is always my excuse for reading things wrong. hehe
Hi and Welcome... There are alot of people who came off the med you are on. The taper is the best....Great DR you must have...I will just say hang in they will roll in and out. It seems to be quite right now. We can help you with our experience on what to use natual or otc if you start to feel funkie..So come back to this same question and it should feel up with info..
GREAT JOB !!!!
vickie
GREAT JOB !!!!
vickie
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I would not question your doctor's treatment and competency based on what a stranger on the Net says about his or her personal and nightmare with the drug.
Your doctor sounds great and what I would do is ASK the doctor about your concerns related to his prescribing Tramadol. Your doctor knows his patient best. Moreover, you know your limitations, weaknesses, and attitude about certain drugs. It sounds like your doctor is working with you, taking into account what he knows about you.
Very generally, from what I have read, opioid taper plans fail because people can't deal with the withdrawal process. So if a doctor can prescribe things to lessen discomfort and help assure overall success, that sounds reasonable to me. Additionally, from the limited prescription it sounds like he is making sure you don't go from addiction to abuse or dependence of another drug.
(Note: As I understand Tramadol, you don't get addicted to it, you develop a dependence to it.) This distinction is similar to the Ambien I take. One does get addicted to Ambien, meaning if I don't take an Ambien my body is screaming for more. But I do have a dependence to it, where I need to take an Ambien at some point to get to sleep.
Regardless of medical terms, my understanding is that when going off Tramadol one suffers withdrawals too. But AFAIK suffering withdrawals does not medically escalate a dependence into an addiction. So this is why you may have never felt addicted to it, because it is non-addicting. And it may be what the doctor meant by it being non-addicting, if he said that.
Again, this is just my understanding, but when you say Tramadol does not do anything for you and it has never been your thing, IMO that's because Tramadol is not a drug that gets one high or gives a buzz. It is a pain killer that works differently than the strong opiates (Oxy, Vicodin, etc.)
Note: I have seen people, and myself, use "addiction" and "dependence" interchangeably. Although I tell people I am "addicted" to sleeping pills, I know that my Ambien use is a dependence. (The luxury aspect of a dependence is that if I don't take an Ambien I will not suffer WD symptoms, unless laying bug-eyed in bed unable to get to sleep is a WD symptom ;)
That Tramadol is not medically considered an addicting substance is indicated that the federal government does not treat it as a federally controlled drug. However, some States have passed laws or regulations listing and handling Tramadol as a Schedule IV controlled substance.
Hope that helps.
(Note: Getting rid of a dependence on Tramadol can be physically uncomfortable too. So I would NOT want to go from one set of WD symptoms to another. So you are right to be concerned. Then again, if your doctor prescribes Tramadol to help you handle the opiate WD process, that looks like a good plan.)