Tramadol my story Beginning to freedom
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I injured my neck in Feb 2017. I went swimming for the first time in years and totally over did it. I am also a beauty therapist so lots of bent neck and repetitive moments via massage etc.
i am also hyper mobile (super bendy). I was 46 that February so body not as resilient.
Anyway I had an MRI which showed a bulging disc c3/c4 and loss of fluid in that disc. Surgery was not an option. So began trial and error of drugs. Gabapentine (useless and awful). Naproxen also useless. Diclofenac so/so but not great for asthma. Codeine took the edge off but that was it. I was in pain 24/7. I went to a chiropractor and then osteopath. Both helped to some degree. In August I was so depressed with the pain the doctor put me on 50mg tramadol 1/2 tablets upto three times a day. Of all the meds this helped the most but left me tired, prone to sudden limb spasms and reduced pain by 50%.
As a AA and NA person with 10 years clean I was not happy taking 4 to 5 tablets a day. By January 2018 I started to feel suicidal because of the chronic pain. I paid privately to go to a pain clinic and had steroid injections in my neck. This helped enormously and the pain started to come back after 3 weeks. I then paid privately to have the nerve burn out. Again a series of injections in the neck but they pass a current through the needle. At first my muscles were in spasm and the pain worst, but this is normal. Around 3 weeks later I was ready to come off tramadol. I was on 4 a day at this point.
Step 1) one day 4, next day 3, one day 4 next day 3 for a week
step 2) one day 3, next day 2, one day 3, next day 2 for a week
step 3) one day 2, next day 1, one day 2 next day 1 for a week
step 4) one tablet a day slowly increasing 24 hours, 36 hours and 48 hours for 3 weeks
step 5) return to chiropractors once a fortnight
step 6) took 1 Valium diazepam at night for 3 weeks until no tramadol for 2 weeks. Do not increase diazepam/Valium
this is worked for me. The breakthrough was getting the nerve burnt out. It lasts up to 2 years and while I am hopeful it won’t come back, if it does I will have it burnt out again as the nerve can grow again.
Hope this helps
0 likes, 2 replies
swmoore53 helenfmw
Posted
I have Fribromyalgia and Tramadol has been my saving grace. But I had to go thru lots meds before getting on tramadol. As an Alcoholic in recovery I had issues taking Tramadol but at that time I was in so much pain I would taken anything to stop the pain. So I have stopped taking it a few times but always go back because nothing else works. So if I go off it again I will know how to ween myself off. I don't recommend cold turkey. I thought I needed a break. I was Miserable to say the least. 1yr. Later I went back on Tramadol.
swmoore53 helenfmw
Posted
But i also wanted to say that I have nerve damage in my lower back and cortisone shots didn't last long enough, So i had the nerve ending burnt and it was heaven for about a yr. And I did it again. But now that I'm on Medicare my doctor is trying different meds again to see if something works. Starting over again i guess.