I was on the nasty Tramadol/Ultram Aceto because the Doc didn't want to give me Hydrocodiene or anything. For the past week I have had the most horrible anxiety (non stop) crying spells been jerked awake from sleep panic attacks knots in my stomach nausea confusion depression etc... I thought I was going CRAZY! The worst part is... I had just quit smoking, just transferred to the same job but in a different city, I'm away from my Husband and have been thinking about going back to school. I had no idea what was happening to me until I read this forum. About a month ago a Doctor had prescribed me 250 Ultram/Acet because she didn't want to give me anything "hard" for my pain. Ive been in hydrocodiene for extraction of teeth, fractured bones etc... and when they were gone, the withdrawels were nothing to the HELL of running out of Tramadol. I thought it was anxiety from quitting smoking! I almost had a panic attack in front of my boss and I think I'm on the verge of possibly losing my job which I was very secure with and good at. I used to be the one that would always make the office happy and be encouraging to everyone around me. Anyway so I went another Doctor who asked me if I was Bi-Polar because of my extreme moods. I was like I don't think so, maybe I'm just having a breakdown. So he put me on clonazapine and cymbalta. I have been like this for 9 days (today is the 9th and I'm finally able to semi-concentrate not have the creepy crawlees and nausea and paranoia able to write this. I tried to run the otehr day but it didn't help much until after I read these forums. I went for a very long walk with my dogs. Ok so I'm rambling, I know but I just want to get this out there as hope for people who feel that they have lost their minds! I only took it for like a month. I felt like I just had waaaaaay toooo much adrenaline with NOWHERE TO GO! Shaking and nights tossing and turning and being jerked awake from my sleep. I'm sorry if I sound like a blathering id**t I just barely started feeling a little better.
I've been addicted to Perks before in the past and i thought THAT was rough...until i was introduced to TRAMADOL. i remember how damn happy i was when i ran out my perks and moved to another post and couldnt get em off my friend anymore. it took like three weeks to get through but afterwards OMG i felt so alive!!!! and now the only motivation i have now is to feel that way again. i remember i started drinking caramel frappes from mcdonalds when they first came out and would drive 4 hours to see my family on the weekends, sipping on it and singing my heart out and felt so great bc i knew i knocked that addiction. a few years before i kncoked alcohol and to this day i am still proud to have quit that as well.
I know trading one addiction for another is not the way to go but when you have an addictive personality it is of course, bound to happen. The reason i feel so frickin'positive about quitting this time (Tramadol) is bc i have vics i can fall on and i KNOW those are nothing to get off of compared to Tramadol. I slept 3 hours between yesterday and this morning but it's like an exhaustion and dull headache more so than any other symptoms ive had before trying to quit it. I havent seen anyone mention this yet but my worse symptom is having "butterflies" in my stomach and crotch. can you relate?
Anyway, wondering since your post is 6 months old if you are still clean or if youve gone back to the "devil"? i took Mylan 25mg yesterday and a vic a few hours after and finally i was so sleepy i slept for 3 hours as i said earlier. ive been up since 9 p.m. last night and it is now 10:17 a.m. the next day. i'm tiredddd but here i am still alert enough to type this. my chest is kinda hurting though bc i am a smoker and of course vics make me wanna smoke lol
I wanna go to the VA clinic and see if i can get some sleep pills but im afraid they will think im an addict bc the last time i tried to quit they gave me 20 tramadol and told me to taper down and i havent been back since and that was over a month ago. so of course im sure its in my medical records that the dr. told me to taper down so im afriad to go back over a month later and say "hey can i get something for withdraws?"bc they'll probably think im drug seeking. but i really am not this time. i have melatonin but it doesnt work for me. yes it makes me drowsy but it wont put me to sleep and that makes it worse with two kids that are needy lol last time the dr. gave me xanax and it actually helped me calm my butt down! i'd love to have a few for the next few days but as i said, i don't know how to go back to the doctor without the guilt of what they'll think. hell they should be ashamed for addicting me to the c**p. everytime i tried to convince them to switch meds they would just give me more tramadol!
okay i'm now getting sleepy by writing this so i think i'll try and lay it down before the kids come home from school this afternoon. i think your post was the most relatable for me and this is why i replied to you. if you dont reply back that means youve kicked the habit and havent looked back to this site which is great, but if you still check your messages on here id be very appreciative if you'd reply back and let me know how your month of detox was. my hubby said it took him a month or so to feel a little normal again. let me know how long it took you bc we both took high doses for long periods. thanks again, SheenaC
Horrid can't imagine quiting Cold Turkey. But I wein off and it is the SAME withdrawl. Horrid. My GP was going to put me into the hospital to get off Tramadol/aka Tramacet that is how bad this pain killer is. Why is it NOT a NARCOTIC - it is worse than a NARCOTIC for withdrawl. I am on Endocet and Zoloft to try and get off the Tramadol.
My, oh my...Tramadol. I have had withdrawal symptoms(i.e. anxiety, crawling skin, sensitivity to touch, sweats, lethargy, generalized weakness, and the PAIN is sometimes intolerable). I appreciate reading the above posts as it makes me think I might not be crazy(well, that is up for debate some days). I work in the medical field, so you would think I would be well-versed to the side effects....but those only seem viable in the brochure! I have stopped Tramado several times only to start again after an average of 14 days when my neck/shoulder feel "on fire" again. I think, and this is my own opinion that if I stayed off it a bit longer...I could move past that pain. I think I am going to try it this time, and suffer through it. I am 5 days off now, and I think I will just keep going. I will keep you all posted as I get through it day by day. Emotionally...TOUGH as this is a "feel good" pill that helps with mood as well. I am still trying to figure out which reaction is me, and which is the withdrawal response to the Tramadol. Hang in there everyone...hope my posts helps someone out there! Be well friends!
I think there are people on hear who are kidding themselves, it is a very good point to mention this is a "feel good" pill, how many people are taking this to maintain a happy mood once the physical pain has gone? Quite a few I would say. I know because I was one of them, it makes it easier to stay off them if you accept the real reason you continue to take them. If you have been taking them a long time to elevate mood or for pain, I have been on them 12 years on and off; it will take you a while for the post-acute withdrawal symptoms to subside, months or years depending on dose and time on them. Google PAWS and you will have an understanding of your condition. You will have to deal with normality again, feelings will come back after being snuffed out by tramadol and you will have to face the trials and tribulations of life without your quick fix crutch. You may need help for PAWS or support from family until you get back to some normality. I have been off six months now and am only now starting to get back to normal. Don’t confuse PAWS with the acute symptoms you get when you go cold turkey that will last 5 or 6 days and then don’t confuse PAWS with the acute symptoms you get when you go cold turkey that will last 5 or 6 days and then subside. Good luck and after a while you will realise you don’t need them to be happy.
I was taking 3-4 50mg tramadol a day, along with Zoloft, Xanax, and Vicodin/norcos when I could get em. I was addicted to suboxone for about 5 months, before I started taking the Vicodin/tramadol. I know ! Backwards right.
Anyways, I could always get pills easily and depended on them for years just to get out of bed in the morning!
Then SURPRISE, my fiancé and I find out that I am pregnant.... I am currently 6 1/2 weeks and 15 days clean and sober. this is my first pregnancy.
Needless to say this was ABSOLUTE HELL. I had no insurance, and am still in the middle of trying to get Medicaid.... So I had to do this alone. no doctor to help. and Obviously I could not take anything to help with the withdrawals, and they were torture.
I went thru 5 days of no sleep, horrible diarrhea, nausea, anxiety, paranoia, pain, depression, horrible mental breakdowns/hyperventilating and that terrible "skin crawling" feeling everyone knows too well! I was hallucinating from no sleep, and my fiancé, who was also quitting a heavier addiction then me cold turkey, was helpless to help me at all. PLUS I had all the not so fun pregnancy symptoms at the same time !! I was worried about my baby experiencing the withdrawals but that's why I quit, cold turkey as early as I could!!! (I was about 4 weeks)
There were times I really did just want to give up and die, but thanx to my fiancé, reading other peoples success storys and my little one growing inside me I made it through. And I can honestly say it was one of the hardest experiences of my life. And I am proud I did it. If u would have asked me if I was strong enough to endure something like this a year ago I would have laughed.
I now get nauseous if I even think about tramadol.... after what I went thru I truly think of it as pure poison!!
And I know after going thru that, that I can do anything!!! And if I did this pregnant, ANYONE CAN get through it!!!
I would have loved to use Xanax and Vicodin to get me thru the tough parts, but I couldn't. I did use benedryl, which only made the hallucinations worse at the beginning.
I am 15 days clean and still am ABSOLUTLY exhausted, have insomnia and still get that skin crawling feeling when I first wake up in the morning, but I know I am getting past this demon!!!
my question is how long does it take for our brains to begin producing our own seratonin again after quitting this?? And when will I ever get some energy bak? (I gotta save up what little energy I have now just to take a shower everyday!!) it's depressing and sometimes I still cry and want to give up, but as my fiancé pointed out, we have a REASON to do this now. And I know this baby may have saved my life :)