I am withdrawing from tramadol. How long will this last?
Posted , 6 users are following.
It's been 13 days and 12 of the longest nights I have ever had. I have been through all of the symptoms.. Chills, sweating, tummy disturbances, fuzzy head, brain zaps, anger and tears. What is bothering me the most is the restless legs at night. I have tried everything. I am barely sleeping and it is literally making me delirious. I was weaning down but it just seemed like prolonged torture so I decided cold turkey was the way to go. At this time I just want to give in and go pick up the tramadol from the pharmacy. The only thing stopping me is how far I have come. I honestly could live with anything except restless legs and lack of sleep.. I have come so far and I don't want to let my family down because they have been here every step and to ever go through this again would just be ridiculous. Any word of advice on how long it lasts or encouragement. I feel like I am at my lowest point and how could going through the withdraw process be better than using?
Non addictive my hiney!!! I have become an addict and honestly had no idea it was happening until I decided it wasn't working so why take it. Tramadol is poison..
2 likes, 10 replies
evergreen nikki81572
Posted
nikki81572 evergreen
Posted
I am too afraid to go backwards.. I just don't think I could go through stopping again. I want taking too much. Only 150mg daily. Under that it felt like withdrawal. Weaning felt like I was slowly dragging out the torture. I had no idea about protracted syndrome. And the prescribing Dr is no help because she told me to just drop off I didn't want to take it. When I told her I had withdrawal symptoms she asked me what else I was on. I have never taken anything stronger than Tylenol before this. I don't even drink alcohol. Just praying for a night without pain or jumpy legs. I feel like even one night would renew my spirit...
richieboy22 nikki81572
Posted
yea, cold turkey is tough , you didn't say how many Mgs per day you were taking--I was at 800 mgs PD and it took me 2 months to wean down to none--this stuff is addictive in more ways than 1 / My mom takes it ( only 100 mgs per day) and she'll get the chills if she even misses 1 dose----you can do it , you've done the right thing by telling your family and right you don't want to let them down. Try extra Vitamin B12, and herbal remedy's to help you sleep -------stay strong
nikki81572 richieboy22
Posted
I was taking 50 mg three times a day. I did get hot flashes like my internal organs were on fire if I was late. I noticed different things like I didn't want to go out anymore or I was watching the clock to not miss it. They didn't help I just noticed I was taking them to not get sick and that isn't the life I want. Sleep yes definitely but not pill assisted. It's nighttime and I am feeling the anxiety surrounding sleep these days. In the plus side I have energy during the day and I have been bored. I was never bored because I just slept. Wish me luck tonight is night #13...
nikki81572 richieboy22
Posted
richieboy22 nikki81572
Posted
Yes, it was tough..but my wife helped me stick to the plan. No residual symptoms now though. It's been over a year since my last dose.
duracell_dave nikki81572
Posted
I've been on tramadol for 18 years for severe nerve damage in both legs ,I'm not addictided to tramadol I'm dependent on it and without it due to severe nerve damage along with gabapentin I would not be able to lead a normalish life with my family,I was for 16 years on 400 mg tramadol and 3600 mg gabapentin a day but couldn't stand being off my face permently so I decided to reduce to see if I still need both tramadol and gabapentin,I am now after 2 years on 100 mg tramadol and 1800 mg gabapentin a day and I now have a little more pain but I am comfortable with life,it's been hell reducing the tramadol and my sleep patterns are 3 hours in bed the 1 hour telly followed by an hours sleep,then 40 minutes in the day (not nice),yes this is a pain in the arse but against nerve pain thats absolutely fine.
So I'm dependent on tramadol but need it for pain and am completely happy with this drug that's given me an excistence with my pain.
A lot of people talk of addiction to tramadol ,tramadol is the devil keep away blah blah blah but people saying this forget this is a medical chat site to find others with simular problems to them selves and maybe help and solutions to there illness and even just to chat, if people want to share just remember there are young and old on here and some are scared and vonrable and don't need a further dose of fear.
I reduced the tramadol with help from my friend a bottle of liquid tramadol drops,the drops are 12.5 mg a drop so it takes the edge off withdrawals and also is good to take more on those bad days,the changes in me are still happening and the last reduce that was 3 months ago but each week I am better so hang in there.
have a nice weekend ??
nikki81572 duracell_dave
Posted
Zio10 nikki81572
Posted
Tramadol is very hard to come off . The withdrawls suck. But your not alone ! You CAN do it. Don't go back to taking. Its been already what 14 days! Way to go! That just shows your strong. Im a recovering Tram addict. I was taking up to 20 a day after taking it off an on for 8 yrs (?). First introduced for tibial stress fracture. Ortho says" theres a new pain pill out an its not addicting!" I wish I had never taken that first pill. The thing about Tram is (an Iv done 2 yrs of reading on it!)its also a antidepressant or antidepressant qualities along with an opiate. So the withdrawls are actually like stopping an opiate an a antidepressant. It increases Seratonin an Norepinephrine in the brain. I had palpitations an skipped heart beat so went to ER (usa) in 2014. I had to come clean on how many I was taking which was like lifting a load off my chest! Turns out I was severely dehydrated an had stsrted menopause (im or was 46!) So thats why palpitations. Low potassium. But I decided to get off that crap. So ER dr prescribed Klonapin for the anxiety you get fr dropping or stopping it. Its an anti-anxiety med. I went to a detox facility for 5 days. It was pretty bad first 2 days but Klonapin started helping. Turns out I was using Tramadol to control my depression and anxiety. I saw a counselor an we figured Id had anxiety all my life. I look back an see the signs. Our daughter died in 2000. Then in 2002 we had our Son Seth. Then in 2004 is when I broke my tibia. So fr there I was hooked off an on. See it made me be happy (not high) an wanted to do things. Not lay around with depression. People say .."why was she depressed? She had two sons an married!!" But thats the thing with depression an anxiety. You cant just switch it off. So my usage escalated due to getting use to doses. Then ended up gettin off Internet. Big no no. But it was before it became a controlled substance. The main things that helped me in detox an after, because one symptom is blue mood an increased anxiety an can last months, was Klonapin (Clonazapam generic) an hot baths or shower. Stay hydrated. Magnesium. B-12, Vit. D3, Vit C. . Then the depression started an anxiety about 4-5 mths later after stopping. But I was on a very high dose though so it might happen to everyone. Iv tried 4 diff antidepressants an no go. Side effects or it didnt help. Im still taking Klonapin but whenever necessary. So in my opinion I would not go back on it if its been 14 days. You might could talk to your dr an print out info about Tram an its antidepressant effecys an let Dr know you are having restless legs which is a form of anxiety. I wouldn't take Requip either for that. Dr may say it. Klonapin or Xanax or Valium can help calm down legs an help sleep. Even taking half a lowest dose or a quarter of a pill. Just my thoughts. Goodluck!
elisha1428 nikki81572
Posted
Hey Nikki first I just wanted to give you a huge congratulations on surviving this and coming so far so fast. It sounds like you're almost in the clear please dont give up. I was prescribed 50 mgs twice a day when I was 18 years old for stomach pains. Needless to say, 2 years later I was knee deep in addiction and worked myself all the way up to 200 mgs 3 times a day for 3 years straight. I was miserable and needed to prove to myself that I could do this so I finally made the decision to go cold turkey. It was the absolute worst, most gut wrenching experience Ive ever been through and I mean ever. I literally felt like I was crawling out my skin!! You know that feeling? The restless legs were so bad that I couldnt even stay still for more than 10 seconds at a time; I drove my partner crazy. I tried to get help with the withdrawal but when I went to the hospital they just laughed at me and sent me back home with tylenol. I knew that it was my fault why I was in that position in the first place, but I guess I just assumed that people would be a little more understanding when it came to addiction especially since I was at a hospital with professionals..but after about 15-20 days I could finally sleep normally without restless legs and the feeling of crawling out of my skin also went away around the same time. For me it felt like I was going through withdrawl hell for so long I seriously didnt think that it was going to end and then suddenly it was all gone and I returned to the person that I was before all of this. But I really hope that my this helps you even if it's only a tiny bit. You can do this and you're almost there please let me know if you have any questions or anything I would really love to help in any way I can thank you so much for reading this I'm sorry it's so long!