Hi,
I have finally decided to stop taking tramadol 3-4x a day for the back pain. I had a 2 level TLIF almost a year ago, and think I just got in the habit of taking it. I stopped it completely Saturday night (2 days ago), and definitely can tell I am going through withdrawal. Any advice on how long it takes? I feel very wierd, which makes work hard. It did help with the pain, but I felt like a different person while taking it, and it made me very sleepy.
What are your experiences? I am just looking for support while I wait for this to pass....looking forward to a life with less medication!
-Katie
Katie, you should never stop any medication like that cold turkey...tramadol is known to cause seizures in people who suddenly stop. What you need to do is taper off them slowly. If you were taking 4 a day, drop to 3 a day for 4 or 5 days, then to 2 a day for a few days. At that point you should be fine to take l for 2 or 3 days and then stop.
Carol,
Good point. I did try that at one time, but then went back up on my dosage for some reason.
-K
Quote:
Originally Posted by carol632
Katie, you should never stop any medication like that cold turkey...tramadol is known to cause seizures in people who suddenly stop. What you need to do is taper off them slowly. If you were taking 4 a day, drop to 3 a day for 4 or 5 days, then to 2 a day for a few days. At that point you should be fine to take l for 2 or 3 days and then stop.
Never suddenly stop taking Tramadol. (That's the generic name for Ultram, by the way.) My husband was on Tramadol last year for the ruptured disk in his neck. After 6 months, his pain was finally subsiding, so he decided he didn't need to take it anymore so he stopped. It threw him into the worst depression I've EVER seen in a man. He was crying for days on end. Not from physical pain, but intense, nearly suicidal sadness. He could barely function. Apparently, this drug messes with your serotonin levels...so basically, when you stop taking it suddenly like that, your brain doesn't know it has to make it's own serotonin again.
So, after about three days of pretty much non stop crying...I told him to go back on it, and gradually wean down. He weaned off over the course of a month, finally getting himself down to a half pill a day, and then off completely. I figured slowly weaning would be best for his situation since he had such a strong reaction from coming off of it.
