Heavy Tramadol User Kicking Habbit

[droop75]

Hello all. I am new here but not new to addiction. I have had a major addiction to pain killers but for the past 4 years it's been mostly tramadol. A co worker has been basically given a "lifetime" supply by his doctor and he doesn't take the meds so after ayear or so of vicodin(which came to me) his doctor put him on tramadol and I have bought every prescription from him since. The tramadol started off under the prescribed ammount for a while and then each month and each year the dose grew and grew. A year and a half ago I discovered I could get them online as well and did that every 2 weeks from multiple sources. In the end I was taking 1250 mg's a day.

April 28th I had a seizure. I had taken 1500 mg's that day. I won't go into the story of it happening but I was amazingly lucky I wasn't in my car when it happened because I should have been. God was looking over me and that was the wake up call I needed.

After 32 days I am currently down to 200 mg's a day. The day after I dropped right down to 950 mg's and I could feel it. I have been tappering off ever since then at a pretty rapid rate. Basically 21(50 mg) trams in 32 days overall. The only wd symtoms after the inital 300 mg drop has been restless legs and not be able to sleep. My sleep has been better the past 7 days or so but the restless legs haven't left yet.

I'll be 33 next Saturday and wanted to be completely off of the tramadol by then but now I don't know if that's possible. Looking at this forum I can see where people advise tappering off about a half a pill a week or so which I have accelerated the process. I have been surprised that the wds haven't been worse. I don't know how much one's immune system affects the wds but being almost 33 last month was the first time I used my insurance card for the company I have been at for over 11 years now. I didn't know what our co pay was because, luckily, I never had to go to the doctor(lol).

Like I said I am down to 200 mg's a day now. After I got down to 300 mg's I started taking all the pills at once every 24 hours so I could still get the buzz. This was the dosage I was most concerned about because any less than 4 trams I won't get my proper "buzz". I still look forward to the high which scares me. I'm proud of how I handled this up to this point but does anyone have any suggestions on where to go from here?

Sorry this was so long winded but I needed to put this out there.

[Phoenix]

Originally Posted by droop75

I'm proud of how I handled this up to this point but does anyone have any suggestions on where to go from here?

Hello droop,

I would suggest the ER or your family physician ASAP.

Don't do this alone.

Take care.

Phoenix

[kellibear]

hi , i just wanted to add to your tramadol post--what happened to me. i had a total of 6 grand mal seizures on tramadol i was up to 40-50, 50mg pills a day. gettin them off the net--although they were first prescribed to me by a docotr who knew i was a recovering opiate addict. said they were "safe and non-addicting" BS!!! thank god i was never driving during the seizure, but 5 of them happened at work and all ended up in an ambulance trip to the er. i split my upper lip in half after crashing face first into a concrete floor, the next time, the back of my head got stitches, plus numerous other injuries. at first i tried to say it wasn't the ultram, cause i sure didn't want to give them up. i found out that many people have had seizures on just NORMAL doses. this is a very dangerous drug, and even more dangerous if you are mixing it with certain anti-depressants. the withdrawl for me was just as bad as when i withdrew from 80 10mg lortab a day. the anxiety was worse with the ultram. i cringe everytime i read that a recovering addict is prescribed ultram--especially when the dr. knows about their previous addiction to opiates. at the end i was taking the ultrams with more lortab and had to use suboxone. a decision i am still ambivelant about . yes, the sub stopped the withdrawls and cravings, but now i've been on sub for 4 months and am trying to taper off--and that is NO EASY feat!! i would say keep tapering your ultram by 1 pill a day--that would probably be the best way. but if anyone is taking ultram--i hope you read this!! this is a dangerous, addictive drug!!

[droop75]

Phoenix, I think I can finish this process off without any help. I think.

kelli,

Good to hear you kicked the habbit after taking that many a day. During this process I have filled out a form 4 or 5 times to get flexeril to help with my taper on the same site I was getting the trams but have never convinced myself to hit enter. Not having any other substance to help with the taper has probably made it more difficult. However, I know I can't stay in this rut for long and have to finish this off and get it over with.

[reachout]

Hello Droop

Good job on working the dose down. I tapered off the opiate Oxycodone. When I was done, I moved into a taper from Xanax. What I learned for me in both tapers is that as we near the end, the cuts need to be smaller. I tried to keep in the 10% range on cuts and at the end of both tapers, I was taking crumbs of the tabs as I finished. Like you, I chose not to add any other narcotics to the mix as I tapered. I did, however, use some of the suggestions found in the second thread on this board, "Sample Home Detox."

I would start breaking one of the tabs into halves or quarteres and decreasing by that amount at this point. When your body and mind level off, make the next cut. Slow and steady wins the taper race.

I wish you continued success in your plan, but need to share a big concern with you....To truly get out of the bondage of addiction truly takes more than just getting off the pills. We need support in the needed changing in our thinking. The changes involve more than just "Don't do drugs." We need to discover what in our thinking allowed us to seek the overkillmof the drugs' effects. From that starting point, we can work to change all the thinking that causes the triggers and sometimes, sadly, relapse.

Any plan to stop he abuse needs to contain an aftercare plan. We need others whether peers or professionals, we need other live, 3-D people in our total plans. This is not a luxury to our plans, but a necessary component. Once off the pills, we need help in learning to live again in a restored state of being. It does not just happen; it takes a lot of work.

There is a state of excitement in withdrawing, a kind of euphoric high emotionally that we are finally tackling this burden head on. Similar to a kid's excitement as Christmas approaches, you know? However, we need to plan on how to handle life after the withdrawal is accomplished. NA, private therapy, whatever our personal choice might be, it needs to get put into place. Think about it, okay?

In the meantime, congratulations again on working to find recovery and restoration in your life. Stick around and share your journey, your thoughts, your questions. This board is a place of hope.

Best wishes
reach