Tramadol How Addictive

Posted , 63 users are following.

I was prescribed tramadol 6 weeks ago, but having read in the forum how addictive they are I am considering stopping them, although they do help with my back pain. Has anyone being given an alternative to these drugs, and if so are they effective. I will appriciate your replies.

Thanks

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  • Posted

    I'm luke,  I'm 18 years old and heavily addicted. I had been taking tramadol recreationally for 3 years. As high as 600 mg per day all the way down to 50mg.... I stopped for the first time yesterday cold turkey because I'm so tired of being a slave. I feel so week, so tired, and I have the worst headache imaginable.  I keep hearing to wean off slowly but then I just get back into the cycle of taking more again and I can't bear to do that. I'm okay at home but at work I feel like I need it to even function.... next month with be interesting. 
  • Posted

    it's very addidictive. Stop now becasue you are only doing 6 a day. I'm doing 40 - 50 a day. Now I can't stop cold turkey, but at some point I have to reduce my intake. I am worried about it because it has affected several things. Libido for sure, memory, ability to smell....I guess these are pretty serious, but I cope because I just feel so balanced and positive when I take the tramadol.. It acts as a stimulant for me, but if you want to sleep you can easy sleep for for as long as you like, for 24 hours or more......amazing dreams. A long time ago I got hooked on Oxcycotin. When I couldn't get get it anymore a guy told that methadon would be a good substitute, What a mistake, I got so hooked....after a while it didn't even make me feel good. I finally made a stand after one year of using it and went cold turkey. I don't want to scare anyone or change your mind about stopping the use of a drug like tramadol but when I kicked methadone it was horrible. Pain, no sleep, shakes, jerking ( like Parkinsins), wide temperature swings, sweaty then cold. At one point I hadn't slept for so long, several days that I took a pillow and placed it at the top of a hills. I wanted to fatigue myself. All nigh I would run up that hill, really pushing it. When I got to the top I fell down and was able to sleep for about 15 at a time and then the pain came back again. I don't know how I did it ,but Narcotics Anonyomis helped a lot . I went there in the beginning to see if anyone else was doing this or had done it, so I could get an idea of how long the pain would last. I met some people who coached me. It took about two weeks for the pain to stop and to be abe to sleep through the night. After a month I was okay. I swore to never take opiates again. When I moved to Thailand I had a motorcycle wreck busted some body parts which were very painful. They gave me the tramadol and I ask if it were an opiate and they no....they were wrong and I wanted to believe them. Needless to say I started taking them all the time. It felt so good. I cannot believe I allowed my self to get back in this same situation. I seriously can't believe it, but I guess that's a statement of how good it made me feel. Not like high but a feeling that everything is copasetic. I would buy them at the pharmacy for about 30cent for 10 tablets...So cheap and legal. Now it's been  5 years and I am scared about coming off this. I'm 63 years old and I sometimes think f*ck it I will just continue, but something inside me wants to stop. So I am in a daily dilemna with myself.... I am sooo stupid. I am an addict no matter how you look at it. I was so anti-drugs to my kids and it worked but wow I really didn't listen to myself very well.... Please stop now....You can make it through the pain, I guarantee, and it won't be too bad if you are only doing 6 - 10 a day. Oh by the way the Pain is the penalty for bullsh*tting yourself that it was okay to start taking this stuff....lol... Pain is the best teacher most people  ...except for me....I must be a sadicist Good luck my friend, but you have to take the punch. You will get back up and fight somemore. I promise you. Do it do it do it... Love you bro....

    Emis Moderator comment: I have edited this post due to the swearing. These are open forums so as per the T&Cs please do not use offensive language in posts otherwise they may be deleted.

  • Posted

    I have a question, my daughter had what we thought was an allergic reaction to her abilify. My question is, what are the symptoms of over dosing on tramadol? I think that's what she did.
    • Posted

      People have died from overdosing on even very small doses of tramadol. Even 50mg of the drug would cause me to stop breathing if I tried to sleep. That is the most serious side effect of tramadol; repiratory arrest. I was okay taking it (never took more than 3 x 50mg in a day) so long as it was at least 10 hours before I needed to go to bed. I therefore never took it after 1pm.
  • Posted

    Hi, iv been on tramadol and codine for a sliped disc and muscle pains in my back for about 2 years. Went to the docs 2 days ago, she just stopped my meds out rite?? Is this normal?. There has been no cutting down or anything mentioned by the doc. Im now on my 3 rd day off them from 400mg a day (50mg x8 ). It is horrible iv had restless leggs ,imsonmia, sweats, massive mood swings, fits of rage and feel like iv been hit by a bus i ake that much. I feel like im cracking up. :'(.any advice would be helpful as its making me question my sanity as i have suffered from depression from a young age.

    Kind regards and thanks in advance for the advice.

    James

    • Posted

      No that isn't right at all. I really don't think many doctors are aware of how addictive tramadol is. If I were you I would go back to a different doctor and explain the situation. Or if you can't get to see theem quickly, go to A&E and tell them you are in pain and that you have run out of tramadol. Then use those to wean yourself off them slowly.
    • Posted

      Hi evergreen, thanks for getting back to me so quickly. Iv spoke to pharmacists over weekend and they are appalled at what the doc has done. Im going to go back to her and tell her to wean me off them. This weekend has been hell. Its been like that scene in train spotting.!! Lol. Iv not slept since thursday night and its now sunday nite. Im so tired but i carnt switch off. The only way iv coped is by keeping busy. That is hard when ur lower back is hurting that much u wish that some one would do something more painful in a different place so u dont have to think about it.
    • Posted

      hi, ive been on tramadol on/off for 3years now tried the slow release didnt work,i now take 2 four times a day= 8, as well as pre-gabalin 150mg 2 times aday for chronic after op nerve damage in my stomach,what i want to know is there something else i can try instead of tramadol,because the pain now is present all the time,looking like my bodys used to it by now ,i have tried a few other drugs ,cant remember which though ,i never get told to come off them slowly either ,im just given my new tablets and told to take them ,
    • Posted

      What ever you do it is essential that you come off tramadol very slowly. It is very hard to get off of. I now take cocodamol 30/500 as and when I need it. I know that this too is addictive and so I am very careful with it and only take when absolutely necessary, when I am in a lot of pain. I have sacroilliac dysfunction and shoulder tendonitis as well as a herniated disc in my neck. Personally I don't find codeine so addictive as tramadol.
    • Posted

      i have to take 8 and its got to the point that im in agony ,i have been told thats the highest dose im allowed to take,im back at pain management next week ,i do want to come off tramadol, but what i go on is a mystery,i keep getting fobbed off when i go and ask for something else, dont know about co codomal dont think it would be strong enough,thinking about morphiene tablets ,ive tried the patches n did start to work but i got reaction to the glue . 
  • Posted

    i have to take 8 and its got to the point that im in agony ,i have been told thats the highest dose im allowed to take,im back at pain management next week ,i do want to come off tramadol, but what i go on is a mystery,i keep getting fobbed off when i go and ask for something else, dont know about co codomal dont think it would be strong enough,thinking about morphiene tablets ,ive tried the patches n did start to work but i got reaction to the glue . 
  • Posted

    some reason i replied to you instead of evergreen apologies, a newbie unfortunatly i will get better smile

     

  • Posted

    Hi, my name is lucie, ive just turnt 21 and I've been taken tramadol 100mg with 1000th paracetamol every 4 hours frequently, I used to be on tramacet which was 32.5mg tramadol with paracetamol. I've been taking them since I was 1, I have arthritis, suffer migraines and have sususpected vasculitis.

    I have no problems taking tramadol, no addiction at all, but my doctors have warned me how addictive they are.

    I try to suffer with my pain as long as I can, I used to be on cocodomol when I was 15, a high dose of that(30/500x2), I took them every 4 hours nearly everyday to cope with my pain, I did this for over 2 years, my body became immune to them so they stopped working. So after that I suffered for a year and half in pain all day every day, then a friend gave me tramacet for my serious chest pains, then I went to my doctors and was prescribed it.

    I'm rambling, but like I said, over 2 years taking them now and no problems although I had to have my dose upped slightly. I'd see how you get on, if it's working for you, be thankful you have something that works.

    I hope this helps, despite the rambles.

    • Posted

      I meant I've been taking tramadol/tramacet since I was 18
  • Posted

    Hi, my name is Colin, and I am an addict….I started using Tramadol in December 2014 for back pain which was related to liver failure which I was experiencing as I have been living with “alcohol liver disease”, and “Portal Hypertension” for aver 3 years now. For those who do not know, being an addict, and have a life threatening disease does not often result in people becoming clean overnight, even knowing that each drink they are having could kill. I lived as an alcoholic and drug addict (using Cat – similar to coke) for almost 15 years.  I have went to rehab in 2010 and stayed clean for 9 months, and then tried on my own many many times thereafter where the longest I could stay clean for was about 3 months. I.e., long story short, I was between a rock and hard place!What I found in December, because of my severe and life threatening liver test results, this would be the time I would stay clean for as long as possible. However, I was taking Tramadol from the day I became clean and sober, and noticed after a few weeks while still taking Tramadol, that my craving and withdrawal symptoms from the drugs and booze were GONE! So was my back pain by the way, but I carried on taking Tramadol for 6 months, between 500 & 700mg a day, as it gave me a familiar feeling to the hard dopamine stimulants which was hooked on being the drugs and booze, but what I got from Tramadol was 1000 times milder, but sufficient for to very easily stay off booze (note that I have excluded being clean of drugs at this point as Tramadol is a drug, even though it’s not a street drug).On the one hand I feel that I have found a miracle drug, and in this case, it was as I am still now 7 months sober, I have absolutely NO desire to drink again, and I am completely comfortable to sit with friends in a pub and drink coffee.On the other hand, I have had to use my addict talent of drug seeking behaviour to get hold of the Tramadol as the withdrawal was severe! I suffer severe paratheasia as withdrawal from Tramadol which leads to anxiety which leads me to seek out more Tramadol to relieve them, and if Tramadol is not available, my mind leans towards alcohol or street drugs.The good news though is that after my 6 month sober anniversary, I treated myself to a visit with a psychiatrist to help me from this point on, as I know the ground work has been done to keep me clean and sober, and I now used with living without drinking and drugs, don’t socialise with my old friends who did, I am attending church again and my lifestyle has certainly improved. I told my psychiatrist what I was doing with the Tramadol, and even though it was not ideal, he agreed that it had a positive effect on me. He has put me on Anti-depressants, given me sleeping tabs and a couple tranquilizers and told me that that he was not actually concerned about the Tramadol AT THIS POINT and has allowed me to continue using it until his meds he gave me take effect and then we will taper off the Tramadol. He was also concerned that if he stopped me from taking Tramadol at this point, it could trigger a relapse for me. He told me that my main problem is that “my thing, drug that I seek” is any dopamine stimulant (booze, cocaine, even Ritalin, etc, etc), and that Tramadol offers that type of effect which explains why staying sober for 7 months was so easy for me.This is where I am now. 7 months sober, a brand new good lifestyle, and in my opinion thanks to my mother who I live with for her support, my faith, and my Dr’s and psychiatrist, and well as the Tramadol…?I  am preparing to taper off the Tramadol soon which I will discuss a plan with my psychiatrist when I see him again to do that, and I pray that whatever other meds he has given me will help me with my anxiety problems which were the foundation and root to my addiction.I would not recommend using Tramadol as I did as a way to stop drugs and alcohol, as I discovered this accidently on my own while being treated for back pain, but  I pray that this information may help someone in some way.   

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