Hi,
I just found these boards and I thought I'd introduce myself and ask for some tips on trying to get off ultram/tramadol without major WD. I first tried it for menstrual pain about a year ago when I realized the little "boost" I got from it. I also take Lexapro (antidepressant) so I think that gave it even more of a kick to my seratonin levels. At the time I first got hooked, I had quit drinking alcohol for a year. So, I was only abusing the ultram at that time but it got to be pretty bad...was taking up to 10 or so a day to try to keep that "floaty feeling".I took it for about 45 days. I finally decided to quit and spent a weekend alone in withdrawal hell, sweats, aches, depression, anxiety...all the stuff you hear about. Of course I swore never to take the stuff again after that. Well, I resumed drinking and it's become a problem for me again, so I thought I'd try ultram again to try to get off the wine. Yeah, great idea huh? Nope. I have now been overdrinking AND taking ultram. My ultram use is not nearly as much as before though. I maybe take 5 a day, max. (Though I also take it when drinking so it may be more some nights.)It's terrible because I take it first thing in the morning to alleviate the bad hangovers from drinking..what a frickin rollercoaster! I tried to go off on Labor Day w/e because I ran out, but the WD was started in after day 2 and was awful so I succumbed and got another 120 pills. My plan now is to taper down. I am thinking of 3 per day for a week, then 2 per day the next week, then 1, then 1/2. I just hope I can stick to it!! I'm scared I won't be able to.
I am also going to try not to drink, but one thing at a time I guess...
I will say that I had thought drinking would help my WD pain...no help at ALL.
I'm sure it made it worse because of the dehydration, but I so badly wanted to be outside of myself.
I posted in reply on another thread so this may be a bit repetetive but thought I should introduce myself in a separate thread.
Thanks so much for any help or ideas.
MsMinn

:confused: why have so many looked and no replies or support??

MsMinn,

Get off the booze first. You did it for a year so you know how to do it.

Does your Dr. know you are an alcoholic? Have to told the Dr. that you are hooked on Ultram?

If your Dr. knows this and still prescribed 120 Ultram it is time to find a new Dr. To help with the addictions.

Al...

Welcome,

Ususally the boards are slower on the weekends then pick up again during the week so don't take it personally. I have to comment on the first response you got...first huge assumption to say that you are an alcoholic (and by the way I am in the mental health/substance abuse field although I come for myself to these boards and try to keep the two seperate it's hard when I see wrong info.) Anyway, there is a difference beside "problem drinking" and "alcoholism" and that is up to the individual to decide, or a qualified professional or long term recovering AAer.

About the ultram, it was not my drug of choice so I am not a lot of help but there is a ton of info in the archives of these boards. When I first started I went back and read over all the old posts. There has been a great deal of wisdom shared over the years here. It doesn't have to been just current responders but I am sure you will get some of those too. In the meantime start reading all the old posts on ultram/tramadol, that should keep you busy for days.

Good Luck!

Thanks KeeponGrowing, I will do that. I did find a few but I'll go back even further and look up old posts.
And thank you for not oversimplifying my problem. Al, no, my doc did not prescibe the 120 ultram. Unfortunately it is way to easy to get otherwise.
MsMinn

My doc wasnt ultram but I have heard some horror stories on this board of how hard it is to get off them. I'm so suprised that this arent controlled a little better like a controled substance. There are others who have been where you are. I know at the peak of my addiction with hydros I would have a couple of drinks seemed it made my buzz better soon it was like I would take them with a beer. I tried to reach that first stage of buzz that I initially got off the pills. I would stop with the booze fist and then wean off the pills. When your drinking you crave the pills more cause you want that buzz. I know this wont be easy but even cutting out one pill a day for a week then another and another that way your body adjust to the lower dosage and you wont have such bad w/d's if you want to taper. I heard the ultram w/ds are worse than the hydro w/d so I know this wont be easy but if you really want to do it you can. You will be uncomfortable for a few days but soon you will start feeling better and you will be able to function without them or the alcohol. I wish you luck. Kim

If worse comes to worse you can always try detox. I had to go in for seven days after three or four bad attempts to get off of pills. The withdrawal can be severe. Although it doesn't sound like you are taking anywhere near as much as I was, it can still be very hard. As far as the alcohol goes they have that questionare from AA that can answer if you have a drinking problem. I hope you can get the help you need. Today is day 29 for me and I am feeling good but a little anxious.

Thanks Shell1,
Were you taking ultram? How many per day if so?
Thanks!
MsMinn

I did take Ultram, Oxy's, Norcos's and anything that I could possibly get my hands on. Mainly through my drug use it was Norco's and then Oxy's at the end. When I took Norco's I was probably up to about 30 a day. Oxy's were way more stronger and expensive, $25 a piece especially the 80's so I probably took 3 or 4 of those a day. I had to go to detox, there was no way I could do it on my own. The thing is they are all opiates/narcotics and they are all hard to get off of. Although it can be done. Maybe if you are not succesfull with your tapering down, then you could go to a detox. I will pray for you. You can do it!

You might try some support, like AA. If you talk honestly and openly about it you should get some help. Ask for people's phone numbers so that you can call them when you're getting squirrely.

Another option would be to tell your doc and get a recommendation for a therapist. Doing this alone is really hard...

You can do it! I think recognizing the problem is a huge first step.

Welcome,

Ususally the boards are slower on the weekends then pick up again during the week so don't take it personally. I have to comment on the first response you got...first huge assumption to say that you are an alcoholic (and by the way I am in the mental health/substance abuse field although I come for myself to these boards and try to keep the two seperate it's hard when I see wrong info.) Anyway, there is a difference beside "problem drinking" and "alcoholism" and that is up to the individual to decide, or a qualified professional or long term recovering AAer.

About the ultram, it was not my drug of choice so I am not a lot of help but there is a ton of info in the archives of these boards. When I first started I went back and read over all the old posts. There has been a great deal of wisdom shared over the years here. It doesn't have to been just current responders but I am sure you will get some of those too. In the meantime start reading all the old posts on ultram/tramadol, that should keep you busy for days.

Good Luck!

I also have to comment to your post to the first responder to the OP. I am not here to judge but the OP comment about going to "try not to drink" stuck out like a sore thumb. This alcoholic (me) tried not to drink lots of times. It's my experience that "normies" dont have to try not to drink, they just dont! Not to the extent of us alcholics anyway. Only the OP knows if she has a problem or not. If she truly doesnt know, going to one AA meeting may give her the answer.
Good luck in your quest OP. If you want it, its there for the taking.

Your Friend,
Marilyn:wave:

I am so sick today I want to die. I drank too much and still took ultram yesterday. I want off this rollercoaster!!

thank you marilyn and you are right. I don't like AA but do want to quit drinking. Sorry but I just have an issue with the whole step thing and that it is so hard on my self-esteem. I already hate myself enough.

True, AA/NA is not for everyone. They are great programs, but not for me either. There are so many different ways to kick the habit-working out, counseling, music, eating, blah blah blah. You just need to find out what works for you.

thank you Tim, I am so glad to just be listened to. I am really scared about my situation.

I agree about each person finding their own program and what works. I also have gotten support in the past with WFS (Women for Sobriety). They told me not to go back "out", but I thought I could "moderate" my drinking. Yeah, that's worked out well for me.....
Isn't it strange that we don't want to really hear the right answers most of the time?
Is that the addict in me?

Honestly, I personally think the term addict is way over used. In my situation, my use of the pills was out of control. Do I consider myself an addict-No. The experience was an eye opener for me. It is like being in a car accident and living. I have a total different outlook on life. I will drink a beer or 2 and not feel guilty at all about it. The diff here is that I do not need it every day, dont think about it all the time and I am perfectly fine with just having 1 beer with dinner. Just try not to be so hard on yourself.

wow thank you so much. So your DOC was pills then? And you did think about that all the time? How did you get off them?
I can see what you mean about having a couple of beers if you don't think you need more more more. I do, however. want more. I could easily give up the pills if I was not so scared of the withdrawal and of the horrific hangovers I get from alcohol...thus the cycle I am on. I'm like a lab rat.

Hey MsMinn,
I too have a problem with the Ultram. I quit them cold turkey(God, that saying just sounds brutal) and am now at the 3 day point/72 hrs *** ever. I find myself counting in hours now instead of days...go figure. The strange thing about it tho is that before the pills came along I drank beer ALOT. Every night after work I would have up to 6 and then on the weekend I would prolly kill a 12pak on Fri. and Sat. nites. Once I started the Tramadol (I have always know them as that but I guess its all the same), I found my desire for the beer subsided. If the Tram (shorter), did anything good for me at all it got me thru the withdrawals of the alchohol because I never noticed them at all. I have a very nasty tendency tho towards anything that can take me away from reality and make life easier to deal with.

I have a bad case of Degenerative Disc disease/syndrome whf ever and the pain had gotten so bad I told my doc that I needed something stronger than the anti-inflammatories they were giving me. I was like" ***? Are ya'll afraid to give me any real drugs? These things arent worth a f---." Well, I guess I should have been careful for what I wished for. Now I still have bad back pain but the only kicker is now I also have a pill problem and cant take them anymore. Now I am screwed. I have never been one to take lessons from others. Always had to screw up for myself to learn anything and this was no exception.

I dont have any advice for anyone here. I am here seeking advice. I just thought I would share my bs story for anyone interested. I will deal with the pain in my back before I will go back to those things. I cant control them. Its quite the other way around. I may have to have back surgery in the future so I cant label myself as a pillhead to the docs or I will be in agony following the surgery. I am just going to have to deal with what lies in the future when it comes and not worry about how I will react until the time comes. I will have to be CLOSELY supervised. The biggest problem I have had is that I live alone so I can do what I want when I want and that has enabled the hell out of the whole thing. I guess the just of the whole deal is that when you take them when you dont hurt, you are going to get a buzz and then it is all down hill from there. If I hadnt done that I wouldnt be here now. I hope this whole stream of bs is making some sense because I am just typing thoughts.

My withdrawals are pretty bad, mainly at night when its all quiet and there isnt anything going on. I never knew what it was like to want to crawl out of your own skin, but unfortunately I do now. Its the sickest thing. This past Friday night I took the last of the pills so Friday nights sleep was normal. Saturday night's was a whole nutha story. I wouldnt even call it sleep. The closest thing I can compare it to is like someone torturing you form out of sight. I took 4 melatonins and 3 somas( I dont have the good fortune of some valiums or bars laying around), and it seemed like it did NOTHING. Just the minute I would start to fall asleep, my whole body would just jump and I would get this aweful stinging in my hands and feet. Then I would be awake. I would be getting these hot flashes that would start in my midsection and wash over me, very nasty feeling as well. That would be the precursor to the violent outburts and the stinging and so forth. It was like something evil was just sitting there waiting for me to become perfectly still and almost get to sleep and just hook up the electrodes and let me f'in have it. This lasted all night up until about 4am when I finally slept until 730 am and was then wide awake and couldnt even begin to think about sleep.

I apologize for the latter. I just havent had anyone to talk to that could possibly understand what I have gone thru the past 3 days and I thought maybe here, someone could relate. I have some friends that have gotten off the regular opiates like vic's and such but they said they never experienced anything of that kind and actually didnt have that much problem in the sleep department. This must be something exclusive to the Tram. I dunno. But its nasty and I dont like it...:)

The good news is that I havent had a night like that since. Sunday night wasnt nearly that bad although I did still find it a probem getting to sleep. After the melatonin and the Somas didnt work, I hit the local CVS at 1230am and got some unisom and some nyquil. I think that may have done the trick because I remember a little bit of the same happening, but not anything like saturday night. I suppose I could get some xanni's or some valiums but ya know, I just dont want to go down that road. I am suffering a great deal and it might make it easier but what happens if I like the Valium? what happens if I like the Xanni's? I dont even want to go there. Its bad enough that I am having a couple of beers per day agian to calm my nerves down. I dont want to fall off that wagon again either tho.

Honestly, I am a mess right now people and in need of advice. Thanx for listening.................out

trying to delete double post...thanx

Hey there. Yes my doc was pills. percs and vicodin.

Today is day 2 of 3 per day...managing to stick to it so far.
Thanks for listening.
Any input is appreciated.
I have cut way back on the alcohol but it seems to take the edge off so I can't seem to stop altogether.
Minn