WD from 6 yr low dose oxy use, is my pain real and can i use tramadol?

It is very hard after you have been on narcotic pain medication, but you build tolerance and you require more and more to get the same effect for the pain. I have a back injury that at this point gives me moderate to mild pain regularly everyday. I was on pain meds for over 10 years. I eventually decided to quit taking them including various anti inflammation medicines as they tore up my stomach and i had bleeding ulcers. I went on Tramadol, it is not addictive and it helped me with the pain with no side effects. Now, i seldom take anything, i deal with the moderate pain and i just do exercises, use analgesic ointment and balms and a heating pad. The meds cant cure the problem, they just help deal with the pain , once they wear off, then you have to use more. its a never ending cycle. I am not against using them if you feel there really is a need, but if you can use something not as strong like Tramadol, then i suggest you switch to them instead of strong narcotics. The long term effects of those narcotics is just not good!!!

when you went off the narc, how long did it take before you were rid of the withdrawal symptoms? I am starting to feel better but today I will start exercising and see how I feel. have you ever tried to just take one when you had a day of bad pain? I have days when we are on vacation and are walking all day and that is really tough on me even with pain meds. not sure how I will do for vacations and things without it. but am afraid to try even one. and I am not an old lady, I have little kids and am active. I started running again last year. my doctor told me no running. but I used to be a runner and I was aching to do it. I entered a short race and loved it. so I have been doing them since. noting too long but was really hoping to do a half marathon. I really dont know if I could do it without. many days when i go out to run it really hurts at the start but then the meds kick in. but i have heard that endorphins do the same. i guess the only thing is to wait and see if that and tramadol will do it. my doc told me to do yoga and walk. I was doing that and it helped but in the winter i always feel more pain. I dont know if this is fibro orjust the pain meds working on me.
thanks for the response.

When i got off narc, i had withdrawal symptoms for about 3 weeks, i was very irritable and moody and among other symptoms but i started to get better by the 4th week. I think it depends on the severity of your painand if you should take the oxy on as needed basis.But for me, that just makes the narc pain med cycle start all over again. Since the side effects and the toll it was taking on my body was so major wanted off.

Bambie I am going through the same thing! Everything you have said sounds like I wrote it. I use to only take very small doses of the Percocet. I have never been prescribed any Percs that were over 5 mg. I began taking the Tramadol and that has helped decrease how many times a day I take the Perc. I have been taking 5mg Percocet and 1-2 doses of 800mg Ibruprofen for almost 6 years. I usually take 1 1/2 Perc twice a day. When I wake up in the morning my legs feel so heavy I can barely walk. I tryto wait until the absolute second that my body tells me I can't take the pain anymore. I also feel as if I can't get the energy I need to walk out the door and take my children to school or go to work. About 3-4 hours after my morning dose I take another 1 1/2 pill. This seems to last longer than my first dose. Around 4-5pm I take two 50mg Tramadol. I have found for me that one 50mg tab really does not have an effect on me. Once I take the two Tramadols around 4-5pm I do not need anymore meds until about an hour after I wake up the following morning. I found that the 200mg ER Tramadol would wake me in the middle of the night and I would have body twitches constantly. I did read that a possible side effect was seizures. It also seemed to take longer to take effect. Every once in a while I may take a 50mg Tramadol right before I go to bed if I have had a strenuous day. I have found that I don't seem to need the pain meds daily for my bulging disc in my neck and herniated disc in my back. Now I need them more for the all over joint pain associated with my FIBRO. I have tried every medication for my FIBRO and the only meds that help are the Percocet and Tramadol.I have tried Cymbalta, Lyrica, everything, you name it, I tried it for the FIBRO. I am getting ready to try and just take a 1 1/2 dose of the Perocet first thing in the morning and take the Tramadol the rest of the time. Most of the time if I take the Tramadol right before bed I may not need to take any additional meds several hours after waking. I sometimes feel embarrased when people ask me what I do or my pain. I feel so "dirty" that I have to take pain meds to function for my family. I don't feel "normal" if I don't take them. I am not sure if has helped you in anyway. I do feel as if the Tramadol is going to be my "lifesaver". One other thing for the Tramadol for me is I feel as if it has helped me maintain my weight after I lost 12 pounds. I used to be a very social wine drinker and drink wine every night at home to unwind. It did not mix well with the Percocet. I would get indigestion and just feel awful th next day but when I took the Percocet later in the day, which at the time I was taking a 3rd dose to get through the rest of my day before the Tramadol. My body seemed to want the wine and unhealthy foods.at night every time I took the Percocet. Now that I take the Tramadol, I have ZERO desire to drink any type of alcoholic beverage and my appetite has decreased tremendously. When I do eat, it is very small meals. Now my body does not crave the wine or the unhealthy foods. I eat 3 small meals and snacks in between. I cook very healthy meals for my family. The Tramadol also gives me a very natural form of energy without the euphoric feeling. My body feels very "light" and "normal". Not sure if this makes sense or not. When I take or need the Percocet my body feels heavy and not normal. I would love to find out if you try this and if you have any luck with this. I would really love to be off any and all medications but as long as the Tramadol does not have any negative side effects I am comfortable with this for now. I also have been seeing a Doctor for my pain who offers Laser Pain Therapy and I have felt better than I have in years!!! I have only had 2 treatments and I feel as if there is a light at the end of the tunnel!! I have 4 more sessions and I really feel as if this could be my cure to this deep rooted pain. Once I get reevaluated I will let you know the results. All the deep burning pain in my neck is gone for the most part. I feel 80% better. Now we are going to focus on mylw back and then I am going to concentrate on trying to get relief from the FIBRO which seems to be the TRAMADOL. Good luck with your road to recovery!! I look forward to hearing about your progress!