I'm in uk trying to stop taking Tramadol .wondered how wide spread this problem is. Would love to hear from people from other countries to get an insight the scale of this problem.
I'm in US. tried weaning from 400 mg per day.when I got to 4 1/2 tablets a day and 50 mg tablets I was sick sick sick so now we're trying methadone. this makes me a little nervous but I'm at my wits end don't know what to do and want the tramadol's gone so second day on methadone first day with no tram at all at all doing OK little sickly today but not terrible. Good luck to you God
God bless
Some people take tramadol for pain, some get addicted AFTER the pain, stay on the tabs and sometimes increase the dosage. The trick to coming off any addictave drug is by increments, as small as possible. If you stop by a whole tablet then your body is going to rebel big style. It is do-able, but you have to be strong enough in yourself. If you are still in pain and just want to come off it, then switch to something else,but remember whatever you take as a substitute will be addictive. With all addictions, including smoking, you have to want to. Some in the UK go to rehabs, try doing it yourself, it does work. You can do it, have faith in yourself, keep busy. Good luck
I understand everything your saying its really difficult.dont loose heart man.im four days in going cold turkey, from 8 tablets daily to zero.first 3 days hell..but a small improvement today. Very hopefull things will turn soon. I hope you get well soon. Let me know how you get on.dont give in.
Stay strong, your poor brain must be fizzing all over the place. Keep busy if you can. Another week and you will turn the corner. Will still take a long time before your body recovers. Good luck
Hi sueisobel thanks for reply. Four days into cold turkey. First three v unpleasant to say the least..will stick it out because I can be v stuborn.hopefull things will turn out ok. Stay well.
Hi! Tramadol recovered addict here! Fr Texas in U.S. I had taken Tramadol (they come in pills of 50mg or come in slow release tabs of 100,200,300)50 mg pills or tablets for 7-8 yrs. In 2010 I really started to get up there on how many I was taking a day. They started to not effect me so took more a day. Iv had a siezure on them as well because I took 3 at once. I stood up an the siezure hit. I fell straight into corner of my parents t.v. cabinet. Big cut on head. Took by ambulance to ER. Did that stop me ? No! After couple months I started again. Anyway got up to 15-20 a day. Getting off Internet (you can't now in U.S. Tramadol is a controlled substance now.) So in May of 2014 I went to ER with heart palpitations an skipped beat. I thought it was fr Tramadol. Turns out it was that I was so dehydrated . Potassium criticality low. Potassium an magnesium affect the heart. So had to come clean about how many I was taking. Left with Klonapin rx an 2 days later went to a detox hospital for 5 days. So Tramadol is very addicting like every other opiate but it has a added problem of antidepressant effect also. So effects mood an anxiety when with drawing. Withdrawls are horrible. Klonapin helped (anti-anxiety med) im on my 3rd antidepressant,Cymbalta. Lexapro an Zoloft didn't work out. Iv read on here people fr diff countries going thru withdrawls even Australia. Don't take them or taper off. Cold turkey was only way for me. Its not for everyone. Goodluck
Steve from Derbyshire UK. Thanks for reply.that sounds like one hell of a story,as well you did something about addiction before it killed you. Also going cold turkey as we speak day four , after 18 months of taking Tramadol. Having a hard time with withdrawl symptoms had most things but no sleep is very bad ( as you can tell its 4 am here) but have seen small improvements today so very hopefull things are on the up. It won't beat me we English are very stuborn. How long was it before you started feeling well again I know it can vary.....
Hello Stephen60577,
I live in the United States in Ohio. My doctor put me on this nasty drug telling me its only a little stronger than Tylenol. I had only went in for a check up not asking for pain meds. He looked over my records from my previous doc and saw I have a herniated disc and a slipped disked and Generalized Anxiety Disorder and PTSD from being stalked and beaten for almost a decade. I feel he sould have known better then to put me on something that if I try to stop taking it would put me in anxiety hell. I've concidered lawsuits even.
Hi dawn, that's a sad story girl. Your right it is a nasty drug when your trying to get off it, but I have to say it helped me keep working with constant shoulder problems ( now ok after two lots of surgery). But I did not expect the terrible withdrawl problems (explained in earlier post) that's what's got me, maybe I'm at fault a bit for not researching drug a bit more but it did give fantastic pain relief when I needed it. It's a fine line. Are you free of drug as we speak.
No I'm not completely out of the woods. It has been a lot of bad nights and worse days along my road to recovery. I incorperated a few percicets as they don't really cause me withdrawls like the tramadol does. I was taking 8 to 10 tramadol a day every four hours just to keep the anxiety off. I got to the point where I don't even care to go through the pain anymore. The pain isn't as bad on me as the anxiety and panic attacks are. I'm currently down to 2 pills a day and only once a day I take the two before I go to work. About mid afternoon I take a half a xanax, and the other half before bed to keep the anxietys at bay.When I first started I had a night in hell. The withdrawl was at it's strogest and I had restless leg syndrome all over from my head down to my feet. I took 6 sleeping pills, and three hours later 5 benadryl. That didn't help at all. At 4 in the morning I ended up in the hospital. They gave me 1 mg of ativan and it worked for about 15 minutes and I was right back up. The emergency room doc gave me 20 ativan perscription. I got it filled, went home and took 4 pills, that was at about six a.m. I slept like a rock. Now it has gotten a lot easier. I'm glad ot not go through 200 tramadol pills a month any more and to have my sanity back.
have you or anyone else used Methadone to get off of Tramadol.
It has helped by doing away with almost all withdrawal. BUT...my concern is getting off the methadone. Doc said i should level out, then wean slowly for months. I am worried i will go thru hell weaning off methadone. Does anyone have experience with it?
Hey Zio10, the heart skipping a beat is from the tramadol!!!!!! I had the same thing and it scared me to death. I went to the hospital twice and they would blow me off saying it was a panic attack. I told them no it isn't I have suffered with GAD and panic disorder since age 11. They would give me buspar or something stupid that didn't do anything to help, I would just have to wait for it to stop on its own. I even asked my doctor and he said Tramadol doesn't cause that to happen. You are the 4th person that I have talked to that said they had skipping heart beats on Tramadol. Doctors don't know everything, and sometimes I feel like they are only out to make money and could care less what they are doing to us.
Well I was taking Alot more than you a day back a yr an half ago. 20 a day an dehydrated so my potassium was critically low. That causes heart issues. An I was sick with a virus at same time. So all that combined I developed heart palpitations an skipped beats fr low potassium. But it was a wakeup call an I had been praying to God to help me get off the Tramadol. So went to detox center 2 days later. It causes anxiety. At least it did to me.
Dawn you are doing good. In your pharmacies, is there a divice you can buy that cuts tablets. They do exister over here, but I can't remember the name. Anyway by using this device you control how much meds you take when cutting back. You do not necessarily discard the excess (so long as you remember how much you have cut off). If you do this religiously you will find that withdrawal is not so painful and mind numbingly awful. Withdrawing by stopping a full tab at a time is almost medieval in this time of modern medicine isn't it. Capsules are harder to control, but, if you have a good pharmacist or doctor, there will be a way round it.
I have cut back my meds this way after talking to, and being guided by, my GP, otherwise I would not suggest this. Good luck and keep going.
Please help me , I'm 44 live in the uk and I've been addicted to Tramadol for about 4 years I take about 20 50mg per day ! To say that's a lot is an understatement, if I run out I lie to different doctors and ask other users for some if there's , it's horrendous, I've not had any for 3 days and I'm in hell , I can't sleep , twitching , head aches , my muscles are in spasm , I'm literally sat here sobbing out of tiredness and desperation and needing the pills , I don't know what to do I'm in 2 minds to go to the docs and get them or tell the truth , I'm petrified the doctor won't give me any thing if I tell the truth , please help
I was takjng 15-20 a day for 2 yrs. Before that I was taking it kinda normally but increasing amt lowly. It's a tricky drug. Not only are there withdrawls fr an synthetic opiate but also antidepressant withdrawls. Tramadol increases Seratonin an norepinephrine in the brain. That's where the low mood an no energy comes fr. I had to go to a detox facility here in Tx. USA. It was 1,800$ for 5 days. My Mom paid for it. (Humiliation!) But she along with my family (after I told truth about my addiction)wanted me to get well. So I went cold turkey in detox. I was given Klonapin for anxiety an restlessness an restless legs. Also anti-diaherra med. An anti-nausea med. I never really got sick stomach wise. The restlessness was the worse an at night. If you can go to your Dr an explain that you need help with withdrawls from Tramadol an that you feel very sick an extremely restless (tell about the legs at night an no sleep) maybe he will help an give you a wk or 2 worth of Klonapin or anti-anxiety med to get u thru worse part an at least be able to get sleep! Drink lots of water an electrolytes.. Vit D an Magnesium tabs. B-12 for energy. There's really no way of getting out of withdrawls. There going to happen but if you had help it would make it a little easier. Ibuprofen an Tylenol can help with flu like symptoms. It will prob start letting up in about another 3-4 days. But watch out for depression. Iv been battling low mood since Nov of 2014. Im now fixing to try my 4th antidepressant. Prozac. If you could talk to someone about all this or go to a Narcotics Anonymous meeting it would help. Also hot baths with epsom salts help. Someone said real tight socks that go all way over knees helped. Some say vicks on bottom of feet with socks (?). Everyones diff. Exercise to. Just try walking a little at a time. Caffeine might make anxiety worse. An DONT take Benadryl to get sleepy cause it gets worse, the restlessness. Goodluck an praying for u. Dont give up your almost thru the worse of physical symptoms.
in the US, tramadol easy to get though now it is DEA regulated still easier than other narcotics....I heard a story on radio the other day that docotr was complaining that 15 years ago doctors were accused on undertreating pain...andignoring pain as the "fifth vital sign" and now they are afraid to write any scripts...whcih si why until last year tramadol was givne out like water...so i suspect a high addiction rate...no one knew and even now many dont believe how addictive it is and how painful it is to come off.....of course now in US we have people who cant get their prescriptions filled so they switch to illegal drugs like heroin.... I heard 70% of heroin users started with precriptin meds....but they may not have been prescribed them....i dont know....but doctors are slamming the door on tramadol now too...as well they should...i think it is a horrible drug and such a horrible long withdrawal...vicodin is bad but over quick
Lisa,
I think you need to 'come clean' with a doctor - pick one you really trust.
I know what these things are like, I only had them for about a week, and then just 4 per day following a hip replacement. I was getting withdrawl symptoms about 30 mins before each dose was due. Anyone who has not experienced it just cannot imagine what it is like, but for you on so many, this must be truly awful.
I was lucky, because of the small amount I was taking, I was able to do cold turkey (and yes, it's awful) and flushed them away.
Best Wishes
Graham - 🚀💃