Hi All - big news to update - turns out the Tramadol really was doing something after all so to anyone who is taking that as a comfort med please know that it may feel like it's not doing anything because there is no "feel" of it doing anything but it is in fact - doing something. After I ran out I was still taking one or 2 a day. Last Thursday I took my last 1/2 pill and within 24 hours I felt like total crap. I mean I've been worn out, exhausted and still freezing or sweating all the time but I've felt like I've had the flu since then. Yesterday was a week. Today I am up but still in my jammies. I went to the store and felt like that was a huge thing. If I had meds I would have put in a 10K by now.... ugh. BUT - I feel okay. I'm tired but I never threw up or anything. I am taking about 3 showers a day - still. It sure feels like it's taking a long time but it's good to know it's over. I have an annual in a few weeks and it will be the first time I've told my doc I stopped taking the meds. I want to tell him what a jerk he was for prescribing them in the first place but I should have known better. I still think wistfully about how nice it would be to be pain free and have energy but I'm determined and know I will never go back. I do have some kratom and a little mj which I have never tried before but I am probably going to toss it. Neither of those things will help me at this point and all I can see is it will slowly get better over time and with any luck I will start getting my energy back soon. Please God let me get my energy back soon. I've already used every excuse in the book for work these last few weeks so I need to get back in the swing of 12 hour days and non-stop stuff. For now I am happy. Happy I'm done, happy I don't have to think about it any more, happy I'm not counting anything or thinking constantly about how much I have taken, how long till my next refill, happy, happy, happy. And really tired... but still happy. I will keep checking in every so often and let you know when (or if) I ever start feeling normal again but for anyone still battling this issue I have one thing to say - Stopping is totally worth it and not as hard as it sounds. Yes - you will feel crappy for awhile but even though I am still in the middle of crappy I wouldn't change a thing. I can 100% honestly say that if someone handed me a pile of pills today I would toss them in the trash and not think another thing about it. This was the best decision I have made in the last 3 years and I will never go back. I never want that life again no matter how bad the rest gets - those crappy pills only make things worse. At least for me. If anyone is still reading I'm still here - still doing okay and still determined. No going back. Ever.