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Help Me With Tramadol Withdrawal?
[45 yr old suburban Caucasian female. Dx'd eight years ago with ankylosing spondylitis (severe back pain) and Rx'd Indocin and Tramadol. Felt fine on Indocin alone, no side effects to this day...but took Tramadol for a headache seven years ago and got the Rx and have been on it ever since.]
Hi. Last week I started my tapering off of Tramadol. I was taking 200mg/day for the past seven years. I stopped taking one full 50mg pill every late afternoon about six days ago, so I'm now just doing two pills in the a.m. and only one pill around 4pm.
The only problems I have had so far were some mild occasional brain jolts, and for the first two days I woke up at 5 a.m. jonesing (sweating, hot/cold, insomnia, jolts), so I'd stop the wd by taking my usual daily morning dose (the two pills) at 5 a.m., rather than 8 or 9, then go back to bed. I'd get up around 8 or 9 a.m., and then take my one pill by 4 p.m., as scheduled. Only a few brain jolts during the day.
So, in a nutshell, down from four 50mg pills per day to 3 pills per day...over a period of six days.
As of today I am feeling okay. I don't know when to start taking away one of the morning pills. I don't know if I'll cut it in half, or just remove the full pill from the pill schedule. Haven't decided yet. No ideas on when to even do that. I'm just so happy to be doing so well (better than expected) on only taking the three pills, down from the four!
I've quit cold turkey in the past and it was terrible. I felt so sh*tty that I couldn't last a week, just said, "screw it" and started up on the four pills per day all over again.
On a few other occasions I tapered down to one pill a day by cutting slivers of my pills off little by little and cutting away more every three or four days. I thought taking away tiny bits would ease me off, but then by the time I got down to one pill I freaked out and just started taking all of it again.
I'm now in the throes of perimenopause. I am having migraines for the first time in my life and I just want to get off these pills!
So, anyway, I appreciate that this support is here and I am ready to hear anything from anybody willing to put in their two cents here. I just need to talk about it and stay on track. Thanks.
Hi. Last week I started my tapering off of Tramadol. I was taking 200mg/day for the past seven years. I stopped taking one full 50mg pill every late afternoon about six days ago, so I'm now just doing two pills in the a.m. and only one pill around 4pm.
The only problems I have had so far were some mild occasional brain jolts, and for the first two days I woke up at 5 a.m. jonesing (sweating, hot/cold, insomnia, jolts), so I'd stop the wd by taking my usual daily morning dose (the two pills) at 5 a.m., rather than 8 or 9, then go back to bed. I'd get up around 8 or 9 a.m., and then take my one pill by 4 p.m., as scheduled. Only a few brain jolts during the day.
So, in a nutshell, down from four 50mg pills per day to 3 pills per day...over a period of six days.
As of today I am feeling okay. I don't know when to start taking away one of the morning pills. I don't know if I'll cut it in half, or just remove the full pill from the pill schedule. Haven't decided yet. No ideas on when to even do that. I'm just so happy to be doing so well (better than expected) on only taking the three pills, down from the four!
I've quit cold turkey in the past and it was terrible. I felt so sh*tty that I couldn't last a week, just said, "screw it" and started up on the four pills per day all over again.
On a few other occasions I tapered down to one pill a day by cutting slivers of my pills off little by little and cutting away more every three or four days. I thought taking away tiny bits would ease me off, but then by the time I got down to one pill I freaked out and just started taking all of it again.
I'm now in the throes of perimenopause. I am having migraines for the first time in my life and I just want to get off these pills!
So, anyway, I appreciate that this support is here and I am ready to hear anything from anybody willing to put in their two cents here. I just need to talk about it and stay on track. Thanks.
All of your comments and support are still with me. I had a talk with my daughter and she is being very supportive. She suggests I maintain my current dose of two 50 mg. doses a day until the end of Saturday, and then throwing away the bottle Sunday morning. I have my reservations about that, but I am committed to getting through this. The cravings are lessening. But how will I feel Sunday morning when I can't get my morning pill? Luckily, the place where I volunteer every Tuesday has closed until after Christmas so I have no excuses for maintaining proper functioning!
Thank you for sharing that. Knowing the unkown gives me a better grip on this. Last night my husband became stern about money and I became very upset. It was NOT the way to end the night. Of course everything is completely fine but I had wd symptoms all night long-- the worst so far. And then I finally fell asleep at six this morning when I had my first dose of the day. And guess what? The man wakes me from my first decent sleep of the night to tell me he had made a simple accounting mistake and everything is fine. Ugh! And now my son is using a brand new bath towel every time he showers. Which is twice a day. I'm going out of my mind. First world problems, I always remind myself! But whoa! I called my husband this morning to remind him of the severity of the realness of this experience of quitting. At least he understood. He really is supportive but OH MY GOD the extra stress right now.
I completely believe you/ understand the basics of quitting altogether vs. Tapering. Tapering DOES suck, and the symptoms are EXACTLY the same as what I remember cold turkey to be, and what you say it was for you. I feel like I am extending my misery.
What a great Christmas present to myself if I can throw all my pills away today and be over the worst of it by Christmas. A good way to start 2013 (unless people were right about the Mayans, in which case none of this will matter) LOL! I'll think about this today. If I can get through lunch with my mother then anything is possible. That will mean that my resolve is wicked strong!
I completely believe you/ understand the basics of quitting altogether vs. Tapering. Tapering DOES suck, and the symptoms are EXACTLY the same as what I remember cold turkey to be, and what you say it was for you. I feel like I am extending my misery.
What a great Christmas present to myself if I can throw all my pills away today and be over the worst of it by Christmas. A good way to start 2013 (unless people were right about the Mayans, in which case none of this will matter) LOL! I'll think about this today. If I can get through lunch with my mother then anything is possible. That will mean that my resolve is wicked strong!
Cray Cray? LOL I have been told that before! hahahaha Honestly, it wasn't too much worse than the times I had ATTEMPTED a taper before that. I was just as sick when I reduced my dosage as I was when I stopped completely. Except when I reduced my dose and still had pills left, I was in super depression, because I KNEW that those pills would put a stop to it. AND that's what I did! Honestly, It's hard either way, but you can get on an AD and help it a little bit. I was put on one, I'd say, about a month after I detoxed and finished up. It's a personal choice and something that everyone has to decide on their own. Even though I didn't taper, I have the utmost respect for anyone who can. I wish I would have had the self control to do it at the time, but I look back now, and it's hard to be sorry about the way I did it. It was over quick, and I'm still clean. Either way, the important thing is that you're stopping. That's all that matters!
To answer the question about going on about my daily activities. I got lucky (blessed) there. My husband helped with my 18 month old. There's no way I could have taken care of kids at that time. My older daughter and stepson were at their other parents that week, so that worked out well. I didn't want to do it when they were around. I was sick and testy. The very worst of it was over in about 5 days, a little longer than opiates, because of it's longer half life. When I detoxed 155 times from Vicodin/Percocet etc, it was over in 72 hours. Well, it was basically over by then. It got better every day after day 5 with tramadol. The only thing that lingered for a month for me was insomnia, depression and low energy. Even if I didn't go on an AD, I wasn't so depressed that I couldn't handle it. My doc just wanted me to try one. I stayed on it about a year, and that was all I felt like I needed. One day, I stopped it, and that was that. I haven't had to have it again, and I have been fine. As with anything, mindset has a lot to do with success. That......and some sort of aftercare. You have to have that, no matter what. I thought I was the exception to the rule and never would even try it, but this time I got sick of my cycle of drug addiction and withdrawal, so I gave it a try. (Mainly because I didn't have anything to lose!)
The most important thing you can do is keep yourself hydrated and move around as much as possible. I didn't do that myself for a few days, and once I did, it made a huge difference. : )
To answer the question about going on about my daily activities. I got lucky (blessed) there. My husband helped with my 18 month old. There's no way I could have taken care of kids at that time. My older daughter and stepson were at their other parents that week, so that worked out well. I didn't want to do it when they were around. I was sick and testy. The very worst of it was over in about 5 days, a little longer than opiates, because of it's longer half life. When I detoxed 155 times from Vicodin/Percocet etc, it was over in 72 hours. Well, it was basically over by then. It got better every day after day 5 with tramadol. The only thing that lingered for a month for me was insomnia, depression and low energy. Even if I didn't go on an AD, I wasn't so depressed that I couldn't handle it. My doc just wanted me to try one. I stayed on it about a year, and that was all I felt like I needed. One day, I stopped it, and that was that. I haven't had to have it again, and I have been fine. As with anything, mindset has a lot to do with success. That......and some sort of aftercare. You have to have that, no matter what. I thought I was the exception to the rule and never would even try it, but this time I got sick of my cycle of drug addiction and withdrawal, so I gave it a try. (Mainly because I didn't have anything to lose!)
The most important thing you can do is keep yourself hydrated and move around as much as possible. I didn't do that myself for a few days, and once I did, it made a huge difference. : )
That's good advice. I am going to split my last two pills into two doses, instead of taking them together. THANK YOU for that!
The best taper is lil amounts verses larger doeses at one time due to the influx of endorphins with larger doses and how they affect the brain. U r doing great !! Congrats
If a person takes 9 8 pills a days, one who take 1 pill every 2 or 3 hours, will usually have an easier time letting go than one who takes 4 pills twice a day. Just food for thought.
U shld be proud!
If a person takes 9 8 pills a days, one who take 1 pill every 2 or 3 hours, will usually have an easier time letting go than one who takes 4 pills twice a day. Just food for thought.
U shld be proud!
So, thanks again everyone for still being here. I need this! My experience as of late is that yesterday I stopped taking one full pill. I only took my two pills in the a.m. (100mg). This morning I woke up at 3 a.m. (thinking it was 5 a.m.) and I stuffed two pills in my mouth because I was jonesing bad. I went back to sleep. I got up and had breakfast with the family, feeling fine at 6 a.m., but knowing that my dose for the day is already in me. I can't take any until tomorrow morning, so that means I will push myself to suffer through another early morning and make myself wait until at lease 6 or 7 a.m. for my daily dose because I know I cannot go from 3 a.m. today all the way through until tomorrow. This *****. I'M GONNA DO IT, THOUGH!!
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