tramodol withdraw?

[momof3bigguys]

ok i have been on tramodol for almost 2 months..slowing increasing the does from 1-5- 50mg tabs a day..at my peak dose i decided that i dont like the way they make me feel..i was SOOO sleepy!! almost like a 'painfree zombie"...so i stopped taking them sunday afternoon..by sunday night i have had the worst migrine i have ever had..here it is wed 3 days without tramodol and ive been told im going thru WITHDRAWS!! what the heck?? i would have never ever even touched that little evil pill if i knew that not taking them could cause this?? i have neasua,throwing up,a headache from h*%^!! exhaused behyond what i have ever had before! my dr said that tramoldol has a LONG acting agent in our bodies,so the withdraws are ROUGH!!! and i should have tapered off it instead of just stopping it all together!!! UGH!! any one else have this problem?? this is day 3 and im just miserable! she said it can last up to 2 weeks!! bad enough i have PAIN now i have withdraws and feel like CRAP!!!!

[ezer]

Tramadol has been extremely useful in my case. You shouldn't quit suddenly. It is hard on your body and there is absolutely no need for it. Just taper off slowly and I can assure you, it will be painless (Under medical supervision of course). Give yourself 2-3 weeks to slowly reduce the dosage.

[momof3bigguys]

thank you,but i havent taken it since sunday and today is wednesday...i really dont want to go back to them to slowly wean myself off them..i figured i got a few days in and hopefuly after a few more i should be somewhat done with it!! i personally do NOT like them now..;( the withdraws are HORRIFIC! (maybe because i did it cold turkey)!!

[ezer]

If you are too uncomfortable, you can always split the pills, go to a tolerable level, and then taper off from there. I see no need to suffer but some people prefer to go cold turkey and get done with it as fast as possible.

[momof3bigguys]

i had NO idea this medicine had this kinda effect on ppl. my dr told me its a non narcotcic pain reliever!!! then i fill it and see it has opiate respetors in it?? i have taken oxycotin,vicodin ,percocet, other narctics in the past for post surgery pain and NEVER one time did i ever have withdraws from not taking them..after my rectocele repair i took a narctic for almost 3 months..then when the pain was easier to handle i went right to motrin! no issues?? im a little upset with me dr that i was not warnerd about this drug,and i will NEVER take it again!!! i have 3 full days in and although its much better this morning its still bad the headache is HORENDIOUS! its a like a migrine that will not go away! at least the stomache pains are gone and i can keep stuff down..just feel a little fustrated thats all! ugh wish there was a medicine i could take because im still in pain an ill i have is motrin..dr called in lyica,but after this expereince i really dont want to take any more drugs!!! i think i have a chemical sensitivity issue with all MEDS!!!

[HerMajesty]

I was fooled the same way. technically speaking, all opiates are plant - derived, so they get away with telling you tramadol is not an opiate / narcotic because it is synthetic. It works the same way, causing tolerance and physical dependence and narcotic-type withdrawl symptoms. Thank you for posting because it is an additional red flag to other patients who don't want narcotics and are given tramadol "instead". I weaned and so I suffered less - sounds like you already did it the hard way but for anybody who doesn't want to do that, it takes 2 to 3 weeks to wean.

[HerMajesty]

...Also I strongly suggest you not decide this is a genral problem you have with meds and just suffer on motrin. Chronic unremitting pain has its own side effects, causing dominance of the sympathetic / autonomic ("fight or flight") nervous system and brain changes which are difficult to reverse (central pain). I did very well with a non-narcotic combination regimen once I figured out that tramadol was not going to treat me better than a narc. the 4 meds that I took before surgery are in my signature (down to 2 now), and while none should be stopped abruptly they have not caused any tolerance or other issues associated with narcotics. I got on this regimen by trial and error, trying things that have worked for others and some did not work for me or I could not tolerate the side effects. So you have to build a regimen, 1 med at a time, that is right for you. Especially when you look at mine I would say the majority of people probably do better with Cymbalta than with nortriptyline, but I could not tolerate cymbalta or any other SSRI. Again I do encourage you to try some of the TRULY non-narc meds instead of deciding based on this experience that you should live in pain.

[momof3bigguys]

thank you yea, i think im just a litte 'gun shy'..this was and is a HORRIABLE expereince and i never want to go thru this again...i work part time cleaning houses and mon-wed i was vomiting in the toliets i was cleaning..no way will i do this again..i will just stick to ALL NON-narctic meds!!!! the pain is BAD,but going thru any withdraw on top of dealing with the orginal pain and i am very upset with my dr as to how he has mislead me to thinking its a safe drug..although it is when taken but to not know that if you abrutly stop the withdraws are PRETTY bad!! i really had NO idea and just woke up one day and said ok,im done with this sleepy pill!! boy was i wrong.. please anyone considering taking tramodol be careful ..it works well,but after awhile you need more and more and when you stop its tough..;( maybe for others its a wonder drug and thats wonderful,but for ppl that are not so lucky use this medication with caution..
i am just waiting for this uglyness to go away then i will call my dr and ask for something else to take (non-narctic)!! and trust me i will google,google,google the heck out of it to make sure it is!!!!

[HerMajesty]

You will always find personal negative experiences with any med when you google, but the only meds I am aware of that cause this serious physical dependence / withdrawl are the narcs and tramadol. Most of the others DO have potential to cause issues if you stop abruptly, but you can take them for years at a steady, reasonable dose withut losing therapeutic effect (tolerance) like you do with narcs.
I agree with ezer that if you are still very uncomfortable you might want to go back onto a small doese and wean. I was taking 4 per day and cut out the middle 2 easily, but when I tried to cut to once per 24 hours got very sick. I wound up having to take a half every 12 hours, then a quarter every 12 hours, then a quarter every 24 hours, then every 48, before I got off without being sick. total was almost 3 weeks but i did not have the horrendous experience you had, only a couple of episodes of shakes and vomits when i misjudged and pulled the dose back too fast. There is really no need to go through the full blown withdrawl and depending on how bad you still feel you might want to restart a small dose and wean, don't worry you WILL get off it either way since you are not psychologically dependant. Sorry you had to work while going through acute withdrawl and PN

[momof3bigguys]

i had no idea there was such a withdraw with this drug so i just stopped..now im so worried if i go back on it even if its just a small dose ill be back tracking..im going to ride this out...im off tomorrow so i can just hang out at home..hopefuly in a few more days or week ill be done ..im just THANKFUL i stopped when i did and didnt figure this out yrs down the road..this little pill really likes to really hang on!!
thank you for your kind words..