Tramadol withdrawal, please help

First of all, SO PROUD OF YOU for stopping!  You are obviously very strong, you have got this! 

I quit cold turkey  (though I have never been above 200 mg and take for chronic pain), because we were going to Las Vegas and I wanted to drink.  Holy crap, have never been SO SICK!  I was sick for about a week.  I had cold sweats, flu symptoms, and horrible restless leg issues.  I also  wanted to harm myself-- and I am normally not someone who has thoughts like that and they were so strong  However, the bright side is after that week I felt 95% better.  I got short boughts of nausea and that was it though.  I had been taking them, at that point, for about a year I think.

You can't undo what is already done, but you can change your future and you are doing that!  Good for you!  Taking higher doses of Tramadol makes withdrawl terrible and you can have seizures at higher doses.  You are doing the right thing to shake it free!  Keep us posted and best of luck to you <3>

@lin06321: Thank you SO MUCH! No one knows about my addiction and I really needed those words from someone. It all feels terrible. The cold sweats, flu symptoms, and the insomnia, but I know it will all be worth it in the end. Realizing that addiction isn't a normal thing is hard because the drugs make you so blind, and there's no one to tell you otherwise because no one knows!

Tramadol, although some people may argue otherwise, to me, is evil. It made me ditch school so much I got suspended for a semester, all those abscences just because I craved the pills so bad I needed to leave and buy them. It made me focus only on them and when I didn't have more for tomorrow, I was literally living day by day for them.

It's terrible. I now realize the harm I've done my body both mentally and physically. I would hate to see people I love go through this.

This experience has made me realize I don't want to experiment with drugs anymore. I wouldn't be able to take it. I don't want to know.

Thank you for your reply. It really helped me. I was up all night just waiting for something. Thank you. 

well done. Do not go backwards! I just did this myself. I had been put back on tramadol after a year off it for post op. My body went into total dependence and wanted more each day. I had to stop cold turkey. I am six weeks from stopping. YEs, it is tough. It is not real flu. The hardest sympoms are the panic attacks and crying in the evenings feeling like all is despair - that still happenes, and I tell myself just to cry and it will pass. It does pass. I can set a clock to 60 mins. And the lack of sleep from  restless legs is really really bad. Get up and walk. Do something interesting and try sleep again after an hour. Just do NOT use any electric light. Restless legs is low dopomine and you need candlelight or firelight not to decrease dopomine even more. Take antihisimines if you have to for sleep or itching, but they lower dopomine too, so best not. Best things is lots of chewable vitamin C, a chewable multi vitamin - take double. 

The nights are the worst. Do not sleep in the day. You will not get a full nights slepp at night for a few months, but the nights will get progressively better. Your brain has to adjust. It will only adjust over time. Give it time. I do so sympathise as I am still weeping with tiredness at night, hit with misery I can't descibe, my legs need pummeling, and I get so tired I feel life is not worth it. But I keep reminding myself it is not real, will not last and I will get better. Epsom magnesium salts in a bath with candlelight and a good book day or night is the best remedy.

Do not quit. Keep reminding yourself this will get better. By day 5 many people suddenly feel better. It took me to day 7. Think of it as if you have a virus that will pass. It will pass, I promise. It can't not pass. The only way you can keep this going is to take drugs to prolong it. Please, cry and weep your heart out, but stay off tramadol. You will be able to get through this!

Day three and four you might find you are seeing movement at the side of your head that goes away if you try to see what is there. Nothing is there. It is not real. It will not last. It is nothing, believe me. If you start to feel like it is all just too hard, go find someone to help you. It would be so much better if you had someone to be with you day and night.

I was not allowed to use an anti-depressent after tramadol. This is because the brain needs to start making/using it's own chemicals - seretonin, dopomine, norepinephrine. It will not be able to make the recovery if it is always being given a substitute. Particulalry the SSRI anti-depressents I was told to avoid for a year or two. But taking a dopomine re-uptake inhibitor for restless legs and anxiety can be acceptable - although these drugs are often hard to tolerate and the side effects can be worse than the problem. If you find you are not getting sleep from restless legs, then get help, as sleep is vital, and the sleep aids you can get ahold of will all mess with dopomine even more. Do not use valium or night nurse or antihistimines or alcohol or nicotine. They will all make it worse. Please be careful not to go looking for a magic pill to help you cope without the tramadol pill. You will need to learn to live in a world that is greyer than you would like, and to look for the glimmers of colour as they come. It will get better. If you feel too low to cope - get help and make sure that help knows everything. 

I am taking calcium and magnesium tablets from the health food shop and they seemed to have an instant effect. I was two days no sleep, one night of hallucinations, hot and cold and flu like symptoms and restless legs during the day and especially at night and an overwhelming feeling of irritability (emotionally and physically). I was told to take 2 x 500mg tabs in the morning with breakfast and 2 x500mg tabs early evening, so I started them yesterday and last night I slept right through the night with no RLS symptoms. Felt great.

Give them a try, they won't harm you cause it's all natural and they might even work. Good luck

Carol

Your heart rate should settle, but not even a heart surgeon can predict that for sure. You are putting your body through a lot, so your organs will be effected. Adrenalin speeds up the heart. If you can be kind to yourself and stop taking tramadol and do not substitute with any other drug, your health will improve. Get rid of the tramadol so you can't take it. Get some rehyrdation drinks and potato chips and fruit and lots of yogurts.