Our son (37) came last night and told us he has been on tramadol for 7years and is quitting cold turkey. (source dried up) He is going to stay with us through this challenge since he is single and I have been scrolling through this forum to see what we are up against. Your post brought tears to my eyes. Anything you can tell us that would be helpful or any advice or encouragement to give him we would appreciate. He is also posting and receiving help but as parents we are completely caught off guard and need help. Thanks for anything you can tell us. From what I understand he was taking quite a lot of pills a day. We are reeling from the shock.
Firstly, don't be angry or disappointed with him, embrace this as a way to change his life. I'm guessing he's embarrassed and is going to go through some tough physical times, so he doesn't need people against him when he's feeling bad and is trying to improve. Understand that he'll be edgy, emotionally wrecked and physically hurt. It'll be upsetting for y'all and him, but each hour of the withdrawal is one hour closer to being clean.
Some people say Ibuprofen, Tylenol, benedryl or whatever helps. They may help some, but I don't think they did much of anything for me. Some say that Katoral or whatever it's called helps, but I didn't use it. I don't think there is a magic helper.
He will sweat, he will be tired and just almost pass out for hour naps here and there, he won't be able to sleep at other times, he'll feel like his body is 3x it's weight (like more gravity), he'll feel like his whole body hurts, he'll cry, he'll get angry, he'll poop a lot and God only knows what else. My 2 biggest memories were actually feeling and hearing my eyes move back and forth, as well as feeling like my spine was being ripped out.
The first day is hard, days 2-4 will be harder, real hard. But there is a turning point and it's different for different people. I had 2 rough weeks, but did make it through while working, being a dad and only my wife knew what was going on. Eventually I beat it and it's much better on this side. I've been clean 2 years and it's much better on this side.
He'll think the people on this site are hypocrites and have no idea what he's going through. I can guarantee that there are people that were way worse than he was and we've all experienced what he is about to go through. DO NOT GIVE UP
Xmas is 2 weeks away. I think he'll be in pretty good shape by then and it will be a Merry Christmas for all. Don't be mad at him, and I'm sure Dad might get mad, but help your son as it's the most important thing you can do. A strong family is worth more than gold.
Good Luck.!! I get the replies as an email and will hopefully see his progress.
Keep me posted and like I said, Christmas will be a good day I think
Order some kratom on line it is perfectly legal. Take heaped tea spoonsful when you feel you’re getting the withdrawal systems and you won’t get hardly any symptoms. Put the powdered leaf under your tongue and wash it down with a juice like orange or any juice. People use Kratom to come off much stronger opiates than tramadol including heroin so it’s not some useless homeopathic concoction. You will not get addicted to Kratom in five weeks let alone five days it just makes your Tramadol withdrawal a piece of cake. A previous post said there is nothing that really helps withdrawal from tramadol. I can assure you if you get some good Kratom from a good source you will be pleasantly surprised.
I took Tramadol for about a month...started at 2-4 50mg tablets a day for the first 2 week and then upped it to 6-8 50mg tablets the last two weeks. So I wasn't on it a very long time. I decided to stop cold turkey because I wasn't on it very long. I had pretty bad restless leg the first night, and a tad bit nauseous the second day and some more insomnia (I did manage to get 6 hours of sleep last night). Today is the 3rd day and I'm feeling pretty ok. I'm tired and slightly twitchy, but nowhere near as intense as some people are describing. I guess it really depends on the dose and length of taking the drug. Guess I'm lucky, I'm still never touching this c**p again. I hope by day 5 to feel like myself again! I found that herbal tea, fresh fruits and veggies, plenty of water and some Tylenol PM really helped me through the worst of it, then again, my symptoms seem pretty mild compared to most...guess I should consider myself lucky!
Though i was never on tramadol quite as long as 7 years I have been on and off it for a few years. My biggest withdrawal symptom and the one that i fear most is the hollowness/emptiness I feel for a few days after quitting. My mind tends to focus on negative things and finds sadness in everything. Be sure to engage him in conversation even if he doesn't want to because an idle mind in this situation I have found is terrible.
People will have different reactions. I take this stuff constantly (200 - 300 mg per day) for pain, but always come off for a period of two weeks a year. I get very irritable and get the chills, but for me it last two days. The best thing I can recommend is to work out if you can. I walk, and while it doesn't eliminate the symptoms, it helps to reduce. The other thing I do is have a couple drinks. Not to get drunk, but it does take the edge off. I'm now just past 48 hours from my last 100mg and I feel fine.
Your friend should reduce to 50-100mg per day for at least a week before quitting. I also have Xanax which helps with anxiety but I don't experience that when I quit Tramadol. Would be great to have if needed.
How is his recovery going?. It's been about a week and I was wondering how he was doing
Tramadol withdrawl is actually more intense and worse then regular opiate withdrawal. Very , very common misconception. Tramadol withdrawal last almost two weeks and can severe withdrawal effects like Seizures. Its very dangerous. They market it as a low opiate, but with any addiction, usually someone is taking more then prescribed, often with tram because some doctors still think its safer then most pain killers, but it is not, by far.
I have been taking Tramadol for the past 3 years and 4 months after the birth of my daughter. I had a few complications during labour and then no support from friends and family, and with the pain I started developing post natal depression. I initially started taking 50mg a day to help with the post labour pains and the happy feeling it gave me but started taking more, in the end I would take up to 200 to 400mg a day. On top of this, because of the headaches associated with this my dr prescribed me panadeine forte. It became a case of going to the dr and telling him what script to write me.
I am now 5 days after quitting both cold turkey. The 2nd day was the hardest, with constant vomiting and diarrhea, stomach cramps, heart burn and fevers. I couldnt sleep that night. I went to see my doctor and told her I didnt want to be taking any of this c**p again. I was prescribed valium to help me get through and meds for the heart burn. That night I slept fine and day 4 I woke up feeling a bit better and forced myself to be a bit more active. I still had the chest and stomach pains but by the evening they subsided and I even managed to have a glass of baileys.
Day 5 I am feeling a bit flat and emotional. Should I start feeling better soon? I slept a full 5 hours unbroken last night, but was up just after 5am and couldnt get back to sleep. I would really like to hear about positive stories.. will I feel heaps better in a few days?
I am so upset with myself for letting this drug rule my life. I owe it to my daughter and my partner to be the person I used to be. This is my 4th time trying to come off this and this is the longest I have lasted without using the excuse to slowly come off it just to get more meds. Ive told my other half to keep anything like this away from me.
I really want to make it work this time... I cant go through this again :(
hi!
congrats for quitting, and i know exactly what you are going through! i was addicted to tramadol and vicodin before i found out i was pregnant in october. i obviously knew i had to quit as soon as i found out. i quit cold turkey the day i got the positive pregnancy test which was at 4 weeks pregnant. and was already experiencing morning sickness and allll the fun things that go along with pregnancy as you know!
plus i couldnt take anything to help with the withdrawls and didnt even have insurance yet to go see a doctor. it was pure hell for about 5 days. i didnt sleep for 4 days straight, was having such bad anxiety from lack of sleep i was hallucinating (my bf was also quitting with me and i felt so bad he had to deal with me also!) I was SO sick for days.
but today i am 66 days clean. and i am starting to finally get my old self back! It took me a good while to even be able to leave the house, be around people or even just leave my bedroom and do something other then sit and cry all day. i know being pregnant didnt help!!
but i am letting u know i did it!! with no other medications or anything but support from my boyfriend. it is so great you are doing this for yourself AND your daughter and partner! you made the right choice. stay strong and you will feel better i promise!!!!
Thank you. and congrats to you and all the best in your pregnancy :) I am feeling ok atm, just a few tummy cramps but im getting the dreaded restless leg syndrome. We ventured out for a drive around the country today and my legs and hips were aching, I asked my other half to go get me some mild pain killers but then I decided against it. Im pretty sure it cant get any worse than this. We are lucky here in Australia that we don't have to pay to go see a doctor on some occasions, and scripts are pretty cheap. Would u say I should start feeling better after a week? Im joining the gym next week, so hopefully I can start feeling better and get my high through natural avenues. Thank you for your feedback. It's hard dealing with this kind of stuff, esp when you're so ashamed to talk to your friends about it :)
Mine took a few weeks to be totally clean and it's been 2 1/2 years clean now ( I posted my story above on here about 5 weeks ago). Life is easier when you don't have to plan it around taking pills. I think there is a lot of good advice on this site and you can listen to people that have actually lived it and been through it.
Good luck and post back when you are better