Second time trying to get off Tramadol

My symptoms included sudden spike in blood pressure, rapid heartbeat, sweating, chills, panicked attacks, anxiety, constant feeling of pending doom, fear of being in public, restless legs and feet at night in bed. Worsening insomnia, tremors. Took 75 mg. 3 times daily for over a year. Then I began adding nightly intake of alcohol which I didn't at all for the first year. I am a mess and can cry at any given moment. I found crying and praying to God has helped before, but this time feels worse.

Are you taking any other SSRI, or any other type of antidepressant? It sounds like you may have serotonin toxicity (aka, serotonin syndrome).

Going sideways a bit here...

What surprises me IS the fact doctors are prepared to put everyone on Tramadol, I don't understand why. Yes, I have been on them, they did not agree with and I was given something else; made feel even worse so I was given something else.  Eventually I was prescribed a pain killer that worked, unfortunately I cannot take a full prescribed dose because I work, but, what I am getting at is if my GP can take the time to treat me as a patient, with patience why can't others. I have gone cold turkey, I used the excuse of my daughter being off sick for a week. Absolutely pure hell, I didn't know if I was Arthur or Martha, but at the end of it I knew my pain was real. What I am getting at is you have to read the piece of paper that comes with every packet/bottle of pills. These pills are not pain killers in the real sense of things. They are manufactured to trick the receptors in your brain in thinking your are not in pain.  Here lies the issue.  When you try to withdraw, the receptors fire off all sorts of warnings, hence the feelings of despair that you feel. It's not your body, but your brain.  Any type of serious pain is treated this way, if you are planning on stopping, do it under the guidance of your GP, that is what they are there for. Instead of cutting back by a whole tablet, cut one into pieces and befor you go to bed at night, take the smaller dose (how much is up to you). You may feel a little crappy int he morning, but not as bad if you took thet same dose during the day and then have to get on with everyday life!  Don't do this alone, get back to your doctor, it won't be the first time they have seen this, they know what to do.  If they don't/won't then badger them.  Your life just cannot stop, it's ok for those that have the time to go to a detox clinic, but the majority of people cannot.  Don't give up fighting.  Everything you are feeling is those beep beep receptors firing  on all cylinders.. The more you panic, the more you panic. You know you are having withdrawal symptoms, that is a positive step.  If youo are in pain, take someting else (stronger than paracetamol), but remember there is nothing on the market (or in a pharmaceutical) company today that can stop chronic pain.  There is one thing that can help, TENS, there are so many on the market, I am sure Boots do one or two, but Lloyds appear to have the most choices, some of them are the size of a packet of playing cards, some even smaller, some of them are sticky pads, others pinpoint specific pain areas. they are affordable and if you have nerve pain, jumpy legs, then try it.  Speak your local pharmacist, let them guide you.  Obviously you can't do this all day long, but............ Try going to a Chinese doctor, I certainly do not recommend their pain killer recipe (yuk, disgusting, stank the whole house out), but they do know their/your pressure points. May seem witchcrafty or other worldly, but they have been at it much longer than the drug manufacturers..  At this point you have nothing to lose, give them a go, if nothing else you may feel better.

Apologies for going on so long x

I began taking Tramadol 18 months ago after major shoulder surgery. It relieved the pain and I felt great. Upbeat, good mood and even lost 2 lbs. Then in June of this year, it was making me feel awful. So I stopped cold turkey. First week was hell then I was fine. But two months later pain returned, so I began taking it again thinking, "Maybe it wasn't the Tramadol that made me feel like crap the first time, but I was dead wrong. So again stopped cold turkey this past Saturday and now in day three of HELL. But after reading some of these posts, it encouraged me to tell my spouse and how ashamed I am thinking it was self inflicted. He is okay and offered encouragement and told me if I chose to check into a facility, that our insurance covers it and to do as I needed. That alone has eased some of the anxiety. That sh*t is POISON! LORD HELP. US ALL!!

I am sorry I used a minor swear word in my first reply so it may be deleted. But I was using it to describe the poisoning effect of Tramadol. Wish I never started.

You should not drink while taking Tramadol or if you are going to dont do it together. So you are taking 225 mg of Tramadol a day? That's not that bad but sounds like you need to stop taking it sooner the better. Talk to Dr about stopping.

First off, YOU HAVE DONE NOTHING WRONG.  I seriously don't think your should was self-inflicted!!! So why are you apologising to your husband, get back to you doctor and ask for something different.  You don't need to check into a facility (Don't forget insurance companies keep this information forever).  You know you got over it before, albeit painfully.You will do so again. Take something else, for all your doctor, or whever prescribed this to you, is aware, you are ok taking it.  How are they to know all is not well if you don't tell them.  There is no fun in pain, and there most certainly is no fun when you are poisoning your system with something you don't have to take.  Drinking lots of fluid (I don't mean wine, vodka, gin etc, though does help in "small" doses) will help flush out the toxins. But please stop blaming yourself. It is just one more thing to stop you feeling positive. 

You can tell your Dr about this or just tell him you want to get on an antidepressant an one that helps pain signals like Cymbalta. That's just an option or idea to deal with this anxiety an depression. Research the different antidepressants. Tramadol increases serotonin an norepinephrine so one that does that is probably bed t not just one that increases serotonin. Do you have an anti-anxiety med?

Yes, but I can't tell anyone too much because I purchased the Tram online when my prescriptions ran out and am ashamed. I felt great and lost a well needed 20 lbs. and my husband loved that. I have two children. One teen, one adult and don't want them knowing Mommy is a self-inflicted junkie. That's how I feel.

Sweetie, you did what you had to do.  Buying scripts online is pretty dangerous, that is the stupid thing. But hey, you have a house to run and kids to look after!  Stop kicking yourself.  Your husband is still there.  The kids are definitely not going to be leaving home for a while and you are feeling down, in pain. Being in pain can wear you right down to the ground.  It is with you 24/7. You managed to get off them once, you can do it again.  The withdrawal is a B** but you can do it.  Find a health spa or even a clinic that does acupunture. Although they use needles, they are so fine, you can't feel them.  After, it will leave you feeling good, make a couple of appointments, then, if you feel yourself losing it, go to them.  It will help with your pain as well, so a double win. Please don't beat yourself up.  Hold your chin up. Look the world in the eye. Change your diet and get your husband to give you more hugs (the kids can give you hugs as well, they are not to old).  You don't have to tell the kids, that will make you really depressed, blame the pain xx

How many 50mg pills were you taking? Are you out now? Are you in the U.S.? Tramadol is now a controlled drug on Level 4 controlled substance. You can no longer get it online (that's what I was doing an spending about 300$ a mnth an praying they arrived on time so I didn't go thru withdrawals! )its against the law here. Only by seeing a Dr in person an a real prescription. An can only get refills 2 days before your out according to how script was written. So did you run out an thats why you are going thru withdrawals? How long has it been since you had a pill? See, your not the only one that was getting it online. Thousands were an now here in US people are an were freaking out because the new law went in effect Aug of 2014. Im glad I quit the horrible thing of taking soooo many a day! 15-20 is nutso! That's where I was in May of 2014. Now I take 5 a day but thinking of stopping an getting on an antidepressant. Not Zoloft. I can't take it. Makes me sick. Lexapro was ok but wasn't on high enough dose. An it made me sleepy all time an gained some wt. Im thinking of trying Amitriptyline So many have sideeffects like raising bloodpressure or to low. The reason you feel so low moodwise is because of stopping or lowering the Tram. Remember it acts like a antidepressant. Iv been fighting depression an anxiety since I stopped back in May of 2014 but Im also in the middle of menopause an my hormones are low. Had them checked by saliva. So that can cause depression,heart palpitations, etc. So battling 2 things AND Im caregiver for my 80 yr old parents. Neither drive so I go get everything an take them to all appts an load pill boxes an etc...they still live in their own home but its huge an they no longer can keep it up.I have a family to care for to. So its very depressing an argue with my Dad that they need to go to assisted living an he is dead set against it. I cant keep on taking care of 2 homes an all their medical an groceries..my sister doesn't help much. She lives 1 1/2 hrs away. But she has the convenience of thinking.."well Zio is there an she'll handle it!" An she goes on mini vacations an I can't! But I love my parents but it's slowly damaging my physical an mental well being.

I hope you get to feeling better. Remember you can lie to Dr an say you are depressed feeling an anxiety an get him to write prescription for something. You don't have to say you are tapering off or cold turkeying. But DON'T take Tramadol an antidepressants together. Can cause Serotonin Syndrome. Look it up. 5-htp is a natural serotonin booster but don't take it with Tram. After couple days completely off tramadol, you can get the 5-htp an start it if you want. It takes couple of wks. Sometimes it doesn't work for some. Exercise helps to. Your brain just has to heal! A good app on phone Im using is called "Ginger.io" its for depression an go to narcotics anonymous meetings. Or see a therapist.

Goodluck an God bless. Your NOT a bad person,wife or mother. Your smart to recognize you needed to stop.!

Yes to all of the above. But no, I am not out of them. I stopped because they were not doing the job anymore. But I began consuming alcohol this past spring/summer almost nightly and that's when my troubles started. Now I have stopped both and today is day five and so far so good. Alcohol makes the Tram so much more addictive and I know that now, but didn't know then. I am done with it all.

Doesn't that just go to show you are:

A good person

You are not an addict

You are stronger than you think

You are extemely brave

I could go on but.....

I don't need to.

Every day is a hard day

You are just taking it one day at a time

There is a light at the end of the tunnel

And at the end of every rainbow, there is a pot of gold

Stay strong.  Put the pills in your mental cupboard and throw away the key.

The school motto where my daughters used to go to is "Be strong in understanding"

You understand, now you can be strong x