My experience of Tramadol
Posted , 5 users are following.
August 2017 I was prescribed tramadol for a neck trauma because I have hypermobility and the pain was sometime complete body. I took x2 50mg three times a day for a month and then reduced to 1 50mg tablet x3 daily for a few months. I was improving thanks to regular osteopath visits and in November 2017 i had managed the odd day on 2 tablets a day. I then went on holiday and my neck pain was so bad I had to increase back up to 4 or 5 tablets a day. When I got home I went straight to the osteopath and iced my neck as much as i could for 3 days. I was pleased that I got back down to 3 a day but did wonder if maybe taking the larger doses was causing the pain. Sure enough as I dropped back to 3 a day my pain got less and so I tried 2x 50mg tablets a day. I am now on day 5 and each day the withdrawals are getting worse. The worst of which are very like coming off SSRI's. As tramadol has a half life of 6 hours I was shocked by this. Today I am feeling very low and I have been having serious problems getting to sleep due to aches and pains that do not warrent going back up to 3 tablets. It is just that my body has gotten lazy and stopped doing it's job while tramadol did it for them. I called my doctor today and she has prescibed me a small amount of Zopiclone to help me sleep and get through this and said not to reduce by another 50mg until I level out on 100mg a day. Even if this means being on 100mg for 10 days or more rather than the recommended 7. I have ordered the following vitamins which will arrive by Monday which are meant to really help
Dl phenyline 50mg
L glut 50
L tyrosine 50
5 HTP 2x50
all at once
Has anyone tried these?
In an attempt to reinforce my determination to stay with the withdrawal and get off tramadol I rented Requiem to dream and cried a lot. Going to watch some comedy now to counteract it. I have a long history of addiction and a long and successful history of recovery, 17 years cigarettes and class B, 10 years alcohol by going to AA and doing the 12 steps. I have been very mindful of taking tramadol and it did help me a lot. I am just miffed that I am yet again going through the physical and psychological trials of coming off a drug that my body has become dependent on. Stopping drinking was hard but I did not have anything like these kind of side effects, it was mostly cravings. I do not crave tramadol in the same way, it is more a case of unwanted side effects and time to move on as when I get through to the otherside of this the pain will subside again.
I have been reading other people's posts and they say that other drugs are far worse to come off. All I can say is wow I take my hat off to those who have been through each of Dante's hells to do that. You rock.
0 likes, 7 replies
Guest helenfmw
Posted
Hi helenfmw
Claiming other drugs are far worse is just not right. The European Union, i believe will soon classify Tramadol as a class A drug. Just google "tramadol news". On boxing day, an English girl was jailed carrying 300 tabs of tramadol into Egypt for her boyfriend, it is on BBC. tramadol is outright illegal in Egypt and other countries. you can google that too.
about 8 weeks ago, i had been taking 1,500-2,500 mg of tramadol a day and took a trip to Sydney, Australia to try to go cold turkey. i forgot to mention i'm a person in long term recovery and try to attend NA as often as i can. i dont work the steps and i dont have a sponsor. having said that, on my second day in Sydney, i had 4 seizures over a couple of hours and lost all short term memory, physical and cognitive abilities. my liver functionality rate dropped below 10% and my kidneys almost failed and the doctors were ready to perform dialysis. i was hospitalized for 3 weeks. so everyone, has a drug of choice (DOC) and it is not fair to say cocaine, heroine, meth, so on, maybe more addictive. i've been clean for 8 weeks now (i was on other substances as well), the longest in a decade i think.
back to your question, no i've not had the vitamins that you had mentioned. i admire your long-term sobriety. what's 17 years compared to 8 weeks. pales in comparison. if you were able to say that tramadol was doing the work that you did not do, then you are clearly conscious of your situation. i guess speaking to a pain physician and a substance abuse physician may find you a holistic approach to managing the pain. the cliches would be yoga, mindfulness, good posture, quiet time, forest bathing. Zoplicone is a z-drug ie. a sleeping tablet just like Zolpidem (brand name Ambien) which has a very short half-life and can be addictive as well. You might end up depending on Zoplicone to put you to sleep just as tramadol is managing the pain for you. i'm only 8 weeks sober from a decade, its not my place to say or advise. i hope the vitamins will help you and please do try out holistic methods. You are the one who rocks, coming out from cigarettes and alcohol AND maintaining long-term sobriety. laboratory technicians can see my liver scars now from the long term consumption of tramadol. doctors can perform dialysis on kidneys, however, nothing can be done for a failed liver. as the same for you.
You can't keep what you have by not giving it away.
helenfmw Guest
Posted
Hi there, apologies for any upset regarding my theorising about which drug is harder to stop when it is very personal and i do not have any experience of stopping beyond smoking both cigarettes and "special roll ups' (definitely not special in the end), alcohol and now trying to stop tramadol. I have taken other things in the past as prescribed and stopped when told to without problems (sleeping tablets, diazepram). The accumulative worsening of pain and bouts of intense depression has surprised me and knocked me sideways.
I do gentle yoga, meditate and the take K2, magnesium and have lost 2 stone in an effort to reduce the impact on my body. The vitamin combination I mentioned comes from the osteopath I see weekly. I also have been to a physiotherapist and do my exercises/stretches every day. I can hand on heart say I have tried so hard to recover from the C7/T1 trauma and even had to cut back work to 1 day a week as it is massaging people and I am looking for something new. I have just had a neck hammock delivered and so far it is helping.
So sorry to hear about your experience in Sydney. Bless you how awful.
I was aware of what happened to the lady who went to Egypt and so did research before taking it with me to Thailand. The rules tend to be no more than 30 days worth and in the original package with your name on. I got the pharmacist to give me a copy of the original prescription as well just incase but all was fine. I feel for the lady who is now is prison in Egypt, would not want that to happen to anyone.
Any way apologies if my post offended you and a massive congratulations on 8 weeks.
Guest helenfmw
Posted
No apologies needed there. No offence was done and none taken =) I guess we are all in the same steaming hot boat. prayers go out to you that yoga, meditation, supplements, vitamins, exercises and stretches will help you in the long run. i truly admire your long-term sobriety, i can only live by the hour. just thinking of tomorrow is a huge trigger. =~(
cathy17098 helenfmw
Posted
Aww this brings back bad memories but also reminds me of my achievement! After a period in hospital with prolapsed discs I was on 400mg Tramadol daily and then over the years I reduced it to 200mg. Then I was diagnosed in 2016 with Epilepsy and told that I needed to come of these pills completely so I started to reduce the dosage and when I got to 50mg twice daily I was aware that I was only prolonging the inevitable and binned the rest of my tablets. I took time off work and pre warned my family what was going to be happening and that I was going to be needing their support and patience. Cold turkey was hard; it hurt as my body told me I needed the tablets, I was emotional, I didn't sleep and generally felt like crap. However, just as I felt like that I couldn't do it any longer the withdrawals start to lift to a level that is manageable and it did get easier. Every day that passed was a great feeling of freedom for me as I had been addicted to these pills for 10 years. I am now over a year free from Tramadol. I felt that the support from people on this forum was invaluable to me in getting through the hard times as they know exactly what I was going through. Good luck Helen, you will manage this!
helenfmw cathy17098
Posted
many thanks for your reply, gives me hope and really nice to hear from someone who has had the experience. A whole year off Tramadol must feel amazing! Huge congratulations.
Helen
ronanwil helenfmw
Posted
My experience of using Tramadol pain killer was really good.I was going through really bad acute back ache and I wen through many pain killer medication without consulting my doctor and i had to go through their side-effects.I consulted my doctor and he prescribed me Tramadol 100mg along with long direction of the medication.Within a week I was able to overcome my pain and also didn't go through any side-effects.
helenfmw
Posted