Tramadol Withdrawl

I've been on tramadol for a few months now. I take about 150mg per day. Some really bad pain days I take 200mg and on a lower pain day I only take 100mg, but it averages out to about 150mg per day.

I normally pop a 50mg pill first thing when I wake up, then a few hours later I will take another. And then usually after dinner in the evening, I will take my 3rd and final pill.

Anyway, I keep reading these nightmare stories about the withdrawl, so I decided to give myself a little test and stopped taking it for a 24 hour period.

I felt nothing. Didn't feel sick, no headaches, no restless legs. I had some sinus issues (which I heard is common with tramadol withdrawl) like a runny nose. Are some people just perhaps immune to the withdrawl? Have I not been taking it in a high enough dose for a long enough period of time to suffer any major withdrawl?

As an aside, I used to be a heavy drinker (I'm sober now and haven't touched alcohol in 4 months). I drank a 12 pack per day for over a decade. Got my liver checked out during an ultrasound for adominal pain (this is what I take the tramadol for) and my liver was healthy with only some mild fat buildup. Blood tests also came back clean. I figured I dodged a major bullet, thanked my lucky stars, and swore off alcohol right then and there!

When I quit drinking cold turkey, I suffered no withdrawl symptoms. Even my doctor was surprised. I had a very mild headache and was very irritable for a week or so, but that was it! I expected much worse.

However, I still feel the abdominal pain I am experiencing is related to my heavy drinking for many years. While my liver might be okay, I fear I have irrirated my stomach and it may take quite some time to heal. Thankfully, the tramadol helps keep this pain at bay on most days.

Just curious to what you guys think. Are some people just immune to withdrawl symptoms? I still plan to taper when my doc takes me off the tramadol though because even if I'm not feeling anything physically, I still believe it's the safest way to quit it.

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