tramadol experience

Sorry me again i forgot to say that im a gardenar and a tractor operator for my local council and although i get throo the day thats about as much as i do in a day as when i get home im no use to man nor dog,sleep and rest is all i think about and cant be bothered with anyone or anything.aslong as my job is done the bills are paid i will plod on to i get better enrgy reserve which i what i really want . thanks again for reading my bleeting and moaning. good health and good life to you.

HI Stuart,

I had taken Tramdol for around three years and as they do not work I am back on co-codamol, which do not work for my pain also, so I am having to rely on my tens machine........ My GP changed me back to co-codamol after being on tramadol, he did not suggest however that I can take both, so I am concerned that you are? I am no doctor to say the least but as Tramadol is an opiate and so is Co-codamol I do not understand why you are on both....... this is why you are feeling like you do I predict, as whilst I began taking Tramadol they worked ok at first with anti-inflammatories but I did get side effects as I did do with co-codamol as I felt totally spaced out and sick and my skin crawled like you describe so taking the two would not be a nice experience, I would go back to your GP and explain your experience, as he/she should be aware of your feelings?

I do hope you feel some what better soon,

Kind regards

SES x

Im really surprised you were not throwing your guts up taking co-codamol and tramadol together when i was changed from co-codamol to tramadol myself i had taken my morning dose of 50/500 co co then took an afternoon dose of tramadol and all i did was vomit, when i spoke to the pharmacist he said i should have been informed that neither should be taken in the same day because of this

Tramadol is a very nasty drug. I think it should only ever be precribed for very short term pain relief of less than a week. I took three 50 mg per day for my back pain as I am unable to take anti inflamatories. I thought they were excellent as they seemed to give me more energy and make me feel elated as well as ease the pain. I was on them for two months before realising how addictive they were, and must admit I was tempted to up the dose just to get that elated feeling (as it had begun to wear off). Then one day when I was due to see the specialist about my back, I decided not to take any so that I would be able to describe the pain more acurately. I had the most terrible day of terrible fatigue and aching all over like I had the flu and had a panic attack whilst driving. I did not realise these were withdrawal symptoms from tramadol at the time. Not until I took a pill when I got home and the symptoms gradually disappeared.

Once I knew I was hooked I would panic if I couldn't immediately locate my pills and become paranoid that my husband had hidden them. I turned the place upside down looking for them and was at screaming point by the time I found them. That was when I knew I had to get off these evil pills. It took 3 months to wean myself off them. I am still shocked at how relaxed doctors are about dishing these things out. I have come off oxazepam, tramadol and given up smoking. Nothing came even close to coming off tramadol.

I agree with evergreen, short term use only. I would say longer than two weeks at doses above 50mg daily is taking for trouble. I was on them for SIX YEARS off and on daily with many attempts to stop and relapses. It's been a battle, even now, six years on, I still feel tempted to take it if I feel down or lethargic, and do take small doses of 10-25mg sometimes, but I don't feel good if I do, so I think I'm finally free of it.

evergreen, to prove your point about how complacent GP's are, I told my GP last week (and the hospital that was treating my PVNS) about my Tramadol dependency and how it felt like a miracle drug at first for symptoms I had of depression.. but how in the end, it causes more problems than it solved.. and the hospital prescribed me Tramadol on leaving, and my GP offered them! They just have no clue how for some people how habit forming they are. But I'm wondering, if the people who struggle the most (like myself and maybe yourself) to stop, are those with underlying depression?

See I never took doses higher than 50mg daily (only one or two weeks once at 150mg max) over a 6 year period, with some months being off them now and again.. but all the while I was on them, I felt just more functional, more alive, energetic, like your describe. Immediately if I didn't take any, I would feel lethargic and just very down, within 48 hours.

I think it's like this:

50mg/daily = anti-depressant type withdrawal symptoms and minor opiate

200mg+/daily = full-on classic opiate withdrawal symptoms

The longer you took them, and the higher the dose, the more severe withdrawal is if you stop suddenly. And also, not to be underestimated, even once you get beyond the withdrawals, and free of them..there's the psychological effect, you feel you need them again.

Hi I would just like to add my experience here as ive been lurking on the site for some months now :-) I have been taking tramadol for 4 years now & was easily up to 20 pills per day & started buying them from the internet to top up my regular prescription from gp. However back in october a new gp started at out surgery and took over my care, when I put in my repeat script as usual I got a phonecall saying that I had to make an app to see her & i completely panicked. However when I went I have to say she was fantastic not the slightest bit judgemental & really positive towards me so I opened up to her & she came up with a taper schedule for me. The first Few wks I cut down by 2 tablets per day every week until i was on a normal dose of 8 per day and it was much easier than I thought. When I got to 8 per day she changed the plan and now i have to cut down 1 pill per day every 4 weeks which is very slow & really effective as at the moment I am finding it really good as when I drop 1 pill i have a full 4 weeks to get used to that dose. This may seem really slow to some people but her idea behind it is that it will hardly be noticable. As I say when I got that dreaded phonecall I was terrified but now I am in the middle of this process I would encourage anyone who has a problem to try & speak to their gp they may be pleasantly surprised as I was.

Well done millie, it's a brave step to admit you have an addiction problem with a doctor and to try to tackle it.

I've had mixed responses from GP's.. Some can be understanding and supportive, others quite harsh and rude in the past.

Although I finally got free of Tramadol after years of dependency (and buying over the Internet like yourself), I haven't yet got fully free of dependency.

I'm taking Subutex now (got down to a very low dose 200ug daily) which stops my craving for Tramadol and other opiates. After I started getting negative effects from prolonged Tramadol use, I moved onto more potent opiates briefly, but saw the danger in this and stopped before I crossed the point of no return.

I took Subutex as a way to ween myself off and get detoxed without withdrawals, but it's turned out to be a longer process than I imagined (been on Subutex for 9 months).

Subutex doesn't really effect you like opiates do (no euphoria or feel good factor, just a normal emotionally stable feeling. It blocks the opiate receptors and stops you craving them or them even working, that's why it's given to heroin addicts, so it's a good treatment if all else has failed and you keep relapsing as I did, after stopping for months and even years.

I take 8 x 30/500 co codamol per day & 400 mg tramadol per day & various other medications for chronic shoulder pain & degenerative disc disease top & bottom of spine, I also work on acute paediatric ward 40 hrs per week and although I have regular operations for therapeutic purposes on shoulder and still have Vast pain and regular steroid injections I have No side effects from the meds but pain is still chronic, but without I cannot use my arm so.......

hi I would like to share my experience with tramadol. ive been on tramadol for 6 years and I'm still on it. if I dont take them I can sleep the clock around, I have no energy or anything it's awful. I am wanting to come off them as im only 27 and dont want to rely on hem for the rest of my life. but im scared to. can anyone give me any advice, thanks x

Stacey90458 the only advice I would give is that your dr needs to set up a "weaning off" plan so you slowly reduce the dosage you take over the next few months until your off them. Obviously this depends on the pain

Your in and what you could take instead of tramadol, but you need to do this with your dr.