Is Tramadol withdrawal hard?

i found a bottle of trams and i was taking 600-700mg every morning for like 4 days and it was amazing now im out and im having all these sad sad thoughts and insomnia im so tired but i cant sleep or get comfortable and bad bad anxiety just from less than a week of abuse

I have never experience anything like coming off of tramadol.  I have been taking it for about 4 years.  I started with about 1-2 50mg pills a day and ended up taking anywhere from 10-15 50mg pills a day.  I received monthly refills from my doctor for back pain but when that wasn't enough I was able to easily order them off the internet.  To be honest they really didn't do much for my pain, but they did make me feel good.  It is a very scary thought for me to think about not taking these pills anymore, but I have decided that I need to stop.  My boyfriend and I want to get married and start a family and I know I have to get off these.  He knew I was taking them, just not how many.  I told him everything and he is very supportive, I'm very lucky.  I weaned myself down to 4 a day.  Naturally now that I have decided to quit these and wean myself off my doctor denied my re-fill.  I was so scared I would have to stop cold turkey!  It has happpened a couple of times over the past years and it was unbearable.  Couldn't sleep, couldn't hold still, my head had a horrible rushing sound and my anxiety was so high I could hardly function.  I called my dr. and went in and told her everything.  She re-filled my script and is now monitoring my weaning.  She said I should not quit cold turkey as that can be dangerous with any long term drug.  She also told me that they will probably be making tramadol a "controlled substance" as they should.  I am now taking 4 a day for the next 2 weeks, then down to 3 a day for the following two weeks and so on....

When I started these pills I had no ideas how they would change and control my life.  I was so happy to find something like this and read about others struggles and triumphs with this drug.  It is so hard and scary!  It is so important to have people to talk to about it.  Thanks to all for sharing your experiences.  I am feeling ok finally with 4 pills a day, even just weaning down was hard, but I feel hopeful because I am adjusting and doing ok.  I'm nervous about 3 a day but feel determined and ready to move forward.  My thoughts and prayers are with anyone out there struggling with this!!!!

I had a microdisctemoy on Wednesday 4th April and had decided preop to try to come off my Tramadol as I had noticed the cold sweats and diorhea whenever I had reduced my medication. I injured my back in May 2010 and then again in August 2010. Initially I tried chiro and physio and was prescribed Narpoxen and Cocodamol. Over the next 18 months symptoms deterriated and I eventually ended up on Tramadol in January this year. Worked wonders for a few days but had to take more and more until I was on the maximum of 400mg/day by middle of February. Anyway op worked wonders and I took no morphine from the drip and though I ached quite badly was able to bear this quite easily so opted for just Naproxen and paracetamol for pain relief. Please note that I had not done any research about Tramadol withdrawal just been advised by my nurse wife that it might be a bit unpleasant. Anyway

Day 1: Very restless, tossing and turning, only slept short bursts all night. Appetite fine
Day 2: Very sensitive sense of smell, appetite diminishing, a little lethargic, great bouts of sneezing (not great after a back op), dull ache in the kidney area, restless legs. Very little sleep.
Day 3: Had to force myself to get up and to eat. Sneezing continues. Ache in kidnies is extreme, drinking loads of water and peeing loads. Decide to look up Tramadol withdrawal at 3am whilst suffering extreme insomnia and anxiety. Spend the next few hours wondering whether I should give in and go back to Tramadol as I dont know if it is worth it. But somewhere I find the strength to hold out as it seems from these forums that for those that have dared - 3/4 days are the worst symptons.
Day 4: Short tempered, but kidney ache is easing. Manage a couple of naps. However quite severe anxiety attack that last for about 1 1/2 hours, but I managed to fall asleep 3 times after 1 am and get about 4 hours sleep.
Day 5: Lots of discomfort from back op, feel queazy and heavy headed all day. Still no appetite. Sleep for an hour thill 11.20 then awake till 12.40 but then I sleep until 7.00 with only 3 small short breaks :)
Day 6: Today I have woken up after the above sleep feeling much more confident. Have a headache and feel incredibly tired. Still sneezing but much more optomistic - will update you all tomorrow

Good luck to all of you

I am still taking 4 pills a day.  But this Friday I go down to 3 a day for a week or two, depending on how I feel.  Even while I'm still taking them, just weaning down I feel like I am constantly sneezing, it drives me crazy.  Along with the rushing feeling in my head.  That is at its worst when I first wake up.  I'm feeling more confidant, like I can do this but am really scared about not having anymore pills to take.  If i'm feeling like this now how bad will it be when I'm all out?  it will be worth it though.  I'm so disgusted with these pills.  I really hope everyone is doing well and staying strong! 

Alida77 please continue to post your progress. Your posts are very helpful for me. Wolfie1968 do I understand you to say you have only been doing trams for about 3 months? Yikes, I've been taking 100 - 200mg for 2 months and already wake up at night sweating and reaching for the pill bottle. I'm thinking I will ask the doctor for some xanax to help take the edge off while I taper. Does anyone out there recommend this strategy?

   I did take a xanax here and there for the first week when it was really bad but ended up having to cut them in half because they made me so zombie like.  I honestly never thought I would be able to only take 4 a day but I am doing it and I am feeling better and better so I know I will be able to do this and so can anyone else.  It is so important to talk about it though, I am happy I found this forum and I am also lucky to have home support. 

Hello all,

I hope that someone can use my experiences for their own successes.  I am currently stopping tramadol for the 4th time.  The first two times I stopped cold turkey.  Cold turkey works but man it sucks.  All the nasty withdrawal symptoms for well over a week and you don't feel normal for a few weeks after that.  I have to travel for work so I just waited until I had to leave the country for a few weeks and made sure I didn't have any pills with me when I left.  Worked and all but my problem is that I have a migraine problem that I need meds to deal with it.  I get migraines for sometimes a week at a time.  I would go off tramadol then I would have to take them for the damn migraines.  Short story is I couldn't take anything else for the pain due to drug allergies, sensitivities, etc. 

After the second time coming off tramadol, I didn't take it for the better part of a year and then the headaches came back and couldnt' get through the day with out tramadol.  Boom, one pill leads to 500, then 500 leads to another 500.  You all know how that math goes. 

The third time I tried to go cold turkey but a personal loss made it even harder.  I ended up using ambien for sleeping and just powered through the days.  I told myself not to use more than a half of a 50 mg in a 6 hour period, then dropped to a 1/4 pill, then to none.  It worked.  It sucked, but it did work.  It isn't easy, the depression for me was awful.  A half a pill when you are at your worst can really help sometimes.  THe days went by and finally I stopped totally.

Again, the damn migraines came back.  I got hooked again.  Made me feel like i couldn't win.  I finally went to see a new neurologist and he gave me gabapentin to help stop the migraines.  It has helped a ton.  Made a migraine seem like a little headache.  He also told me to try acupuncture.  I couldn't believe the difference it made.  I haven't had a migraine since then.  Made me feel fantastic.

Now the tramadol.  I am down to my last 4 pills and man I am starting to crawl out of my skin.  I am that time again when I have no idea what the hell I am going to do.  You would think the first 3 times around I would have tried something different for my damn migraines but it was sooo easy to go back on tramadol.  Well, now I have to go through it all again.  It seems worse this time but I am hopoing it is all in my head. 

Well, I think i will go and try to get some sleep tonight.  Last night was a no sleep night so tonight hopefully will be at least a few hours. 

I know it sucks to come off this stuff but it can be done.  Stick with it everyone and take care.

Moonthrax.

 

I just wanted to quickly add that although xanax can help somewhat it doesn't fix anything and can also be very addictive. I don't take them anymore and I'm really trying to get through without anything like that. There are a lot of supplements and vitamins that are helpful, i've heard people talk about the "thomas recipe". I know potassium really helps with the night thrashing. I take melatonin to help me sleep and it seems to help too. Hang in there!!!

Day 6 continued: Morning was a bit dodgey with heavy head and aching body (sometimes difficult to seperate the post op pains with the withdrawal) Anyway got out of the house and walked 1/2 mile in the rain and spent the day at In-laws, very chilled out and relaxed. Went to bed at 10pm feeling physically tired as well as mentally tired but much more optomistic.
Day 7: Woke at 6am not too bad a night. Went to sleep not long after 11pm but woke briefly every hour or so - however no real problem in getting back to sleep. No restless legs, a short bout of anxiety. Still got a mild headache, don't know if it is just that I havent had a real good nights sleep for 6 nights or if once again the dreaded DTs. Anyway have been for another walk. Still get teary very quickly but feeling much more like my normal self and more optomistic - basically the symptons (especially the sneezes) are now little more than a mild inconvenience rather than dominating all of my day and night.
I will be back again tomorrow to let you know

Once again good luck to all of you and it can be done

Hope everyone is hanging in there.  Nothing much here has changed, still on 4 per day but going to 3 this Friday.  Thanks to those of you that have posted your progress, it is so helpful to hear others stories.  None of us are alone in this and we will all get through it!

Day 7 cont: Still sneezing, and sensative sense of smell, but otherwise almost no oher symptons - apart from maybe a bit of lethargy. However managed to walk for 1/2 mile twice today - which for someone who couldn't walk 10 yards beore I had my op was liberating.
Day 8: YIPEEE full nights sleep (11pm until 7am) God does that feel great!!! Still got a very small headache and have sneezed a few times this morning but everything else seems to have returned to normal.

For all those of you who want/need to come off Tramadol I can only offer the following.

1. In MY case the firtst 4 days were intollerable and I needed the support of mywife to help me through. After that it all got a lot easier very quickly.
2, If you can get some advice and help (i.e. sleeping tablets) from the doctor it may make the transition a little easier.
3. If you are trying to do it by the slow reduction method and it really isnt working in that you are still having to endure some of the symptons of a rapid withdrawal then seriously think about going cold turkey. Yes it is hell for 3-4 days but it is soon over. PLEASE NOTE I WOULD ONLY SUGGEST THAT YOU TRY THIS IF YOU ARE OTHERWISE RELATIVELY FIT AND HEALTHY, otherwise please consult a doctor first.

Good luck to all of you however you do it you will need to be strong. I will check back in from time to time to see how you are all doing.

Given my research the worst of the Tramadol withdrawal when quitting cold turkey can last between 4-7 days, after using 200-500mg every 24hrs anywhere from 3wks to a few years. Insomnia and less severe depression can last a couple weeks, but the worst is over after 4-7days of complete abstinence.

I took 350+mg of T for two months. I weaned for about a week, just taking it at night, starting at 100mg, the next night 50mg, and then skipped a night, then 25mg--this was the most intense withdrawal I've ever experienced.  It has now been two nights without anything. Very light sleep, about 6hrs and kidney discomfort, but I am feeling more of a sense of well being today and subtle waves of joy.

I think the weaning process I described above actually prolonged the withdrawal and I would be further from the woods now had I not weaned at all. You all know this but, Tramadol is a compound non-opiate that has many of the characteristics of an opiate but actually works on different receptors. It also contains an SSRI (anti-depressant), which makes the withdrawal a dual situation. A process of rewiring must take place, making absolute cessation a more difficult and prolonged task than that of a true opiate.

I have also withdrawn from Hydrocodone 30mg/day and Methadone 25mg/day, after taking the medication for almost two months. The Hydro/Metha withdrawal was concise-- very, very intense depression, zaps and insomnia for three days and then done. Tramadol withdrawal is more abstract, sticky and longer-termed.

Suggestions: Get up in the morning and have coffee, exercise, get out and talk to a friend, eat well--lots of fresh greens, fruit and whole grains, get things done around the house, carry on with chores, lighten the load of worry and dread by paying bills or make progress with your career in some small way, write the bad sh*t in a journal, write emails to family but don't send them, listen to music, play music, make something and don't worry about it, read a good book. Be strong and take all you can from the experience-- if you are going to go through this dark and horrendous transition back into life get something out of it, whether that’s a sense of accomplishment, endurance or even empathy for people who actually have these symptoms naturally, etc. Think of it as your initiation into the depths of humanity and psychological perspective. Tell your doctor (if you were prescribed Tramadol) your experience with the drug so that they have more of an understanding of the situation they are putting their patients in. Remember that the pain management folks and doctors that are prescribing these medications have never experienced withdrawal, and until you have experienced withdrawal you do not know what it is. Remember the the pain relief Tramadol provides is insignificant, it just calms the body and mind which in turn makes pain more tolerable, however eventually Tramadol like all addictive drugs destroy your quality of life, relationships, harm the body and then kill you. If you are in pain take 600mg (hopefully less) of Ibuprofen every 6 hours. Figure out how to get the surgery or procedure you need to get healthy. Most importantly remember that this will pass. Be okay with not being okay for a while.

Discouragements: A little weaning is okay, but do not take other medication, sleeping aids, etc. Do not be hard on yourself emotionally, but be strict with yourself physically (diet etc.) and a steward of your body and recovery.

You will be so happy and thank yourself on the other end, see you there! 

I've read through a lot of these, and I thought I might add, first, my gratitude to everyone for sharing and supporting each other, including me, and second, my personal experience.

I have been using opiates since I was 13.  I found some tylenol 3 in the medicine cabinet and I've had this love affair with drugs ever since.  I've used opiates (vicodin, morphine, lortabs, oxys, methadone, etc), to benzos (xanax, klonopin, valium), to illegal drugs (cocaine, ex, LSD, pot, etc) and never had an issue with quitting any of it.  No matter how much I did.  I even had a drinking problem that got so severe I gave myself an ulcer, but never really had a problem quitting that.  I would have one night of really bad shakes, sweats, restless legs, maybe some depression, but I never had an issue quitting.

The first time I took two 50mg tramadol, I felt great.  And I just kept taking them until I was up to around 2500mg a day.  That seems  impossible, even to me, but that's what I was doing. I had at least one grand mal seizure (you don't really know when you have one unless someone sees you...at least I didn't), and I could barely speak without stuttering after taking 6 or 7 at a time.  I tried using other opiates to quit, but I was so far gone, even morphine didn't touch it.  I had been taking it for the better part of three years.  So I quit cold turkey. 

I didn't do any research before I quit, and so I can tell you what I experienced was NOT a result of self-fulfilling prophecies or anything placebo.  It was hell.  All the side effects you hear about are very real (unfortunately), and very painful.  It does feel a lot like the flu, and it's hard to imagine a flu that could hurt that badly, but it did.  The restless legs and feeling like I wanted to rip off my skin or, as one writer on here put it, "break every bone in my body," was the worst part.  The insomnia was also miserable.  I actually thought the hallucinations were one of the better parts of the withdrawal.  At least there was something to take my mind off of the misery I was in.  The worst part lasted 3-4 days, then it was just a matter of anxiety, insomnia, and depression.  It took me two weeks to get back to work on a regular basis, and I took a lot of benadryl to sleep. I was already on Ativan, so I used that for anxiety.  Eventually, it all passed.

And, as so many do, I relapsed.  And when I did, nothing hit home quite like Tramadol.  And nothing was quite as easy to get, either.  But I never got back to the epic doses I was at before, so this last time I decided to taper, alternate with some methadone, and then quit. 

Having done this twice now, I can offer a little advice.  Or, rather, reiterate, since I'm sure someone here has already mentioned most of this.  First:  TAPER!  If you can get away with it, if you have the self control, taper as well as you can.  How much and how often depends on what you normally take, but it helps more than I can say.  I managed to get a little methadone (only 4 or 5, because they are addictive as well) and I used it while I was weaning off.  Also, get up and do as much as you can.  You have to beat the vicious cycle of I'm tired--->I'll lay around all day--->Now I can't sleep--->Now I'm tired.  I did a lot of push-ups and stretching.  Also, showers help so much.  I don't know why.  If someone can give you massages, it helps with the restless legs.  Benadryl to sleep and for the allergy issues.  Immodium for the diarrhea.  There is also a drink I found at 7-11 that seems to work for me a little--it's called neurobliss, I think.  IBUPROFEN!  I should have bought stock in that company before I quit.  Also, no alcohol.  That made things worse for me.  Do what you can to take your mind off of what you are going through--read, drive, whatever you are capable of doing.  As far as the depression, just know that it is in your head.  Eventually, and this is the part I haven't read to much about here yet, you will wake up and actually be able to feel the world around you again.  It's like coming alive again.  All of a sudden you can see and feel and you just kind of...emerge.  And that's what you have to look forward to.

The second time I quit, I didn't have any days where I was completely incapacitated.  I could function (including being able to eat) the whole time.  Not well, but at least I could take care of myself.  Not so much the first time.  But this is just my experience.  I hope this helps someone. 

I'm a 35 yr old mom of 3, was in a car accident a few yrs back and got very addicted to my pain meds. I had to have 2 major back surgeries and at my worst I was on percocet, fentynal patch, ocycontin, lyrica, & lortabs. (spelling isnt right sorry) anyhow after checking myself into rehab and kicking my habbit which was brutal I stayed clean for a couple yrs and at a check up with my family doc I was prescribed tramadol for the still there back pain, BIG MISTAKE. A week ago I decided enough was enough so I weened down a bit but pretty much quit cold turkey. I was taking 13 50mg tablets of tramadol when I woke, another 13 tablets around noon, another 13 tabs around 4 or 5 pm then another 13 before bed, I took them for so long that is the amount I needed to feel "normal".
Well today is day 6 with no tramadol and not taking anything else except a tylenol for pain and over the counter sleep aid which does not work at all. I experienced the sweats, anxiety, depression, crawling out of my skin restlessness hell. As I said today is day 6 and in 6 days I have slept a total of maybe 8 hours altogether in 6 days, the not being able to sleep sucks so bad and makes the night very long which gives you alot of time to do nothing but think. I kept a journal of these last few days since I have quit taking these evil things, I have done this so that next time I decide ohhhh doc says its non narcotic so how bad can it really be, I can remember just what a living hell it was getting off these and never touch them again. I went from being a person that was the life of the party (without meds) to someone who was just existing, never going anywhere or doing anything except making sure I didn;t run out of this med. That became my whole life, do I have enough to get me through tomorrow and do I have enough money to order more online, which is about 130.00 dollars for 180 pills which would last me maybe 4 days if I was lucky. So here I sit day 6 of nothing and I am finally feeling like my old self and I love it all except for the still having trouble sleeping. When I started this 6 days ago I was here reading all these and was very helpful to know that what I was feeling from these so called non narcotic pills was normal, everytime I moved my eyes it felt like cymbals being crashed together in my head. So anyone else fighting your way through the same thing I wish you luck and just hang in there cuz the end result is sooooo worth it. My fiance has been so supportive and lastnight he hugged me telling me how much he has missed me and that he is so very proud of me, he said he felt like these meds took me from him and made me a person he did not even know, still this man stood beside me supporting and encouraging me through this whole ordeal. So very hard to get off these you ask, it is complete and utter HELL, but please keep fighting through and telling yourself tomorrow is a new day and you have got to be stronger than ever and you can do it also. I hope maybe this helps even 1 person because reading these helped me through my withdrawl. Good luck to anyone out there fighting this demon, just remember you can do it if you fight hard enough.

Tramadol ultram is the devil. I'm on suboxone now top try yup hey of of it! It tsps on the brain receptors at a much higher rate than other drugs and the sad part is I started taking it cause out was supposed to be non narcotic and safe!!! It's horrible! My advice is too stay away!!!