Tramadol and fainting

[GoldenLovely]

I posted in this forum a few months ago when I was going through withdrawal from poppy pods. If you remember I was in agony. Though I tried to go cold turkey, I was just terrified the WDS. When I was going through them before I had some tramadol and it helped greatly. It pretty much made the WDs go away. When I was out of tram, the WDs came right back. I really didn't want to go back to poppies, I was taking such a large amount by the end and it was so expensive, not to mention the other issues with it.

I found a way to get Tram and its been helping me. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to keep off the pods completely, but I take them alot less now then before, once or twice a week at most instead of twice a day. At my worst, I was on 3.5 half pods a month. Now I've had the same 3.5 lbs supply for over two months and I've used maybe half.

Before, the only side effects I had from tram were constipation, which was the same as pods and I guess most other opiates. Also I didn't have much appetite, but I didn't see that as a bad thing. I was afraid of gaining wait and this helped me keep the weight off, so I was also using it as an appetite suppressant.

But today, it finally caught up with me. I was some place, some place public, feeling fine, when all of a sudden, I felt the sensation of people pulling on me. Next thing I knew there were all these people around me and one of them was asking me if I was OK now. NOW? I didn't know I wasn't ok. He told me I passed out, but I was so disoriented I barely understood him. I couldn't drive home, so I had to ask my father to pick me up and my brother drove my car home. In addition to passing out, I found I couldn't urinate for several hours. Tram seems to make it harder to go, but I can usually always go eventually. So this scared me, but after a few hours I was able to pass water again. Anyway, now I'm nauseous, I have a headache and my back is killing me. Not sure if its from the fall or from people dragging me up from the floor.
I think this may have been seiuzure, but that's never happened before ever. One of the people who helped me asked my dad if I had epilespy. I don't, I knew what it was from, but I couldn't say anything of course. Let's put it this way, the people that were around me were "official" types, if you catch my drift.

Anyway, not sure what to do now. I was developing a tolerance, and was taking more and more. I was probably being reckless, thinking well if nothing's happened yet, it wont happen. I realize that's very stupid and arrogant, but when you're dependent on something, you make up excuses.. But now I'm scared. Tram was helping me maintain and now I'm frightened to take them again. Has this happened to anyone else? Any Advice?

 

[Ixchellian]

tramadol IS a type of opiate.... but with a few other tricks and side-effects that makes it atypical. That it has an antidepressant capability is one.

I have heard of it lowering the seizure-threshold in some people, but iirc this is uncommon when attributed to tramadol alone. It could be your body just said "Nicht recht!" and you fell out due to a combination of fatigue, a transient WD symptom (low BP, etc), a drop in blood-sugar, etc...

But I'd definitely suggest you get a head exam anyways. A fainting spell and bouncing your noggin off the floor is nothing to take lightly.

I also had problems urinating while on tramadol. Usually just drinking a little more water would make it a bit easier, or lightening up on the dose for a day. But that was a highly annoying side-effect, and it didn't go away until I stopped taking tramadol.

But also be aware that tramadol WD has it's own special beast..... i.e. crippling depression..... quite unlike any "normal" depression from typical opiates.

 

[theseeker]

How much tram do you take daily?

 

[captainballs]

tramadol IS a type of opiate.... but with a few other tricks and side-effects that makes it atypical. That it has an antidepressant capability is one.

I have heard of it lowering the seizure-threshold in some people, but iirc this is uncommon when attributed to tramadol alone. It could be your body just said "Nicht recht!" and you fell out due to a combination of fatigue, a transient WD symptom (low BP, etc), a drop in blood-sugar, etc...

But I'd definitely suggest you get a head exam anyways. A fainting spell and bouncing your noggin off the floor is nothing to take lightly.

I also had problems urinating while on tramadol. Usually just drinking a little more water would make it a bit easier, or lightening up on the dose for a day. But that was a highly annoying side-effect, and it didn't go away until I stopped taking tramadol.

But also be aware that tramadol WD has it's own special beast..... i.e. crippling depression..... quite unlike any "normal" depression from typical opiates.

I agree with this diagnosis. Tramadol use, daily, will eventually cause you to become malnourished in a very serious way. I tended to get very, very sick on occasion during my addiction to tramadol, and a couple of times this began with just "falling out."

Watch out for the withdrawals. I have withdrawn from heroin and xanax, and tramadol is worse than both in severity and in the case of heroin worse in duration.

 

[Bojangles69]

Pretty similar reason to why I didn't last on tram it just wears you away and tram stimulates you when you're high so you become very malnourished while burning calories and reving up your adrenal system at the same time.

I think I told you before Golden but on tram I was thrown into a severe hypertensive crisis. If you can't take the tram, and are trying to stay away from pods, maybe go see a sub dr? Sub has been a blessing for me. Haven't used pods in a long time neither tram and feel very stable/calm most of the time on it. None of that dirty shit tram causes or withdrawing in the middle o the day like pods caused.

Either way if you need to chat you got my email.


edit: also one more quick word. But depending on where you get your tram I heard even in the US people have been getting really "dirty" pills and although they may look legit and feel legit someone mentioned to me the possibility that they are being manufactured in a UGL and might contain heavy metals. Only reason I say this is because I've had tram from several different suppliers and it seems although they were all dosed the same, every single one gave me a different type of effect. Some dirtier than others. Not to worry you, just make sure you're getting clean stuff and blood tests every few months don't hurt either.

 

[GoldenLovely]

Thanks for your advice everyone. There's not really anyone else I can talk to about this except for the people here, so I appreciate it. I hate to admit, but I take alot of tramadol. At least 10 to 14 pills a day and each one is 50 mgs. so that's about 500 to 700 mgs. I know that can't be too good, but when you develop a tolerance, you increase your dose so slowly you barely realize how much you're taking except when you start to notice that your 200 pill supply that you got two weeks ago is getting really low. I don't take that much all at once, but through out the day.

Bo, I remember you telling me about what happened with tram and you. I was watching out for that, but for a while I seemed to be ok. Sometimes I'd feel a little jumpy with them, but lately even that had gone away. These tram aren't exactly domestic, so its a possibilty that they were dirty pills, but I've been getting them from the same place, so it may have just been a side effect of the drug and not eating. When I came to, they made me eat a banana that I had and even that was difficult. I manage to eat half...
This is actually worse than pods. With pods the only side effects I had were WDs when I stopped and pretty much being broke because they were so expensive. Oh yeah, and constipation. But I don't want to go back to a 3 or 4lb pod habit a month anymore.

I probably will eventually try suboxone. I'm better today. My head still hurts a bit, but its getting better and luckily I'm off from work today so I'm going to relax at home and try to eat something.

 

[theseeker]

Thanks for your advice everyone. There's not really anyone else I can talk to about this except for the people here, so I appreciate it. I hate to admit, but I take alot of tramadol. At least 10 to 14 pills a day and each one is 50 mgs. so that's about 500 to 700 mgs.

This is entirely too much tramadol. I'm down to 4 trams a day and I NEVER took more than 5. When I'm tapering- it's inevitable that I'm going to feel at least SOME w/d. I let myself stabilize and then drop the dose again. So next week I'll be down to 3.5 (provided there's no more perc binges). You really have to be careful with tram: it's not harmless (no drug is really). ALSO- are you taking any other meds? Be wary of interactions!!

I take just enough tram to keep the w/d at bay and allow me to sleep. There's AT LEAST 9 hours between doses. IMHO- you might not want to take tram anymore. Like Bo said- you might want to look into sub. It will be MUCH more safe than taking 10-14 pills a day.

 

[GoldenLovely]

This is entirely too much tramadol. I'm down to 4 trams a day and I NEVER took more than 5. When I'm tapering- it's inevitable that I'm going to feel at least SOME w/d. I let myself stabilize and then drop the dose again. So next week I'll be down to 3.5 (provided there's no more perc binges). You really have to be careful with tram: it's not harmless (no drug is really). ALSO- are you taking any other meds? Be wary of interactions!!

I take just enough tram to keep the w/d at bay and allow me to sleep. There's AT LEAST 9 hours between doses. IMHO- you might not want to take tram anymore. Like Bo said- you might want to look into sub. It will be MUCH more safe than taking 10-14 pills a day.

You're right, I know its way too much. It just sort of built up over time...I started with four or five, then it became more and more. Its not always that same amount, but I don't think its been less than seven or eight for a while. Not at the same time, but over the course of the day..four or five when i wake up , then more in the afternoon, then some more in the evening. It was only a matter of time until my luck ran out. I will probably try looking into sub, looks like its going to be the only thing that saves me from this cycle of going from one opiate to another.

 

[captainballs]

That's the same dose I was taking, just about. I would take 4-6 in the morning and then 6 at lunch and six at dinner. It evened out to about 18 pills a day on average, and one bottle lasted two weeks because I would withdraw on the weekends to save money. It's funny: everyone else was going home to have a weekend, and I was going home to be tortured.

Tramadol, even at such a ridiculous dose, did allow me to save a lot of money because it is cheaper than other pills. Never going to a sub doctor was my biggest mistake. I didn't do it when I could afford it. Ime, however, going to any doctor for anything after you've essentially been guilty of eating too many pills will yield very limited results. You're almost better off arriving with smack in your system and acting like a victim.

 

[Ixchellian]

Whenever you decide to kick just remember that the longer the taper, the more likely it'll become an indefinite one. The sad part about tramadol though, is that going on a CT kick is plain nasty & can be risky, so it kinda forces one into a long-taper off of it.

 

[Missykins]

I think this thread may be better suited for "Other Drugs."

 

[Bojangles69]

Thanks for your advice everyone. There's not really anyone else I can talk to about this except for the people here, so I appreciate it. I hate to admit, but I take alot of tramadol. At least 10 to 14 pills a day and each one is 50 mgs. so that's about 500 to 700 mgs. I know that can't be too good, but when you develop a tolerance, you increase your dose so slowly you barely realize how much you're taking except when you start to notice that your 200 pill supply that you got two weeks ago is getting really low. I don't take that much all at once, but through out the day.

Bo, I remember you telling me about what happened with tram and you. I was watching out for that, but for a while I seemed to be ok. Sometimes I'd feel a little jumpy with them, but lately even that had gone away. These tram aren't exactly domestic, so its a possibilty that they were dirty pills, but I've been getting them from the same place, so it may have just been a side effect of the drug and not eating. When I came to, they made me eat a banana that I had and even that was difficult. I manage to eat half...
This is actually worse than pods. With pods the only side effects I had were WDs when I stopped and pretty much being broke because they were so expensive. Oh yeah, and constipation. But I don't want to go back to a 3 or 4lb pod habit a month anymore.

I probably will eventually try suboxone. I'm better today. My head still hurts a bit, but its getting better and luckily I'm off from work today so I'm going to relax at home and try to eat something.

Hmm that really is a ton of tram to be taking everyday I know you're aware of that already but I'd seriously be afraid of the seizure potential playing with doses that high.
Also this is pretty important to mention but at those doses its even possible you have some type of minor seretonin syndrome going on. Do you ever get zaps in your head? Pay close attention. You might feel it if you're forced to reshift attention and move your eyes quickly, you will get this dizzy type of electrical feeling between your eyes. If you have any weird sensations like that going on and they have been persisting for any amount of time you are at risk not just for seizures but seretonin syndrome too which some really nasty shit.

It also doesn't have to occur as some extreme state of nastiness it can be a subtle effect you experience everyday when you are "peaking" on your tram a few hours after you dose. Pay very close attention to odd sensations like that because SS is definitely not something to be playing with.

Now as far as withdrawals go with tram I have heard some really horrible stories on here about people trying to get off them and it really depends imo on how well your body is able to process the tram in the first place. But the more sensitive your personal biology is to tram the more horrific the wds are going to be if you ever have to come off.

Pods are expensive indeed but the withdrawals are much "cleaner" and natural feeling than tram. Also if you did the math maintaining a pod habit might not be as expensive as you think, especially considering the fact that pods tend to last much much longer than tram. But still on the downside I find pods wayyy more psychologically addictive and its really easy to kick your use up on poppy pods and go broke rather fast.

On the brightside however if you were to switch to sub, I personally find the wds wayy more moderate, I love the way sub feels much much more than tram. Neither one really makes you high but sub just hits the spot a lot better, lasts much longer, and any weird sides you get tend to go away the longer you're on it. Its also extremely easy to taper down from high doses of sub which is another thing I've always loved about it. Pods and tram are not like that. Sub is a blessing though in terms of being able to control your addiction w/out going broke.

Anyhow think about it because if you need help locating a sub dr in your area I will show you exactly what I did in effort to find the cheapest. I also don't like the fact that tram messes with seretonin and adrenaline as on top of the opiate wds you experience you're anxiety/depression is going to be through the roof coming off tram. Sub sucks too but idk I just find it wayyyyy easier to deal with. Its also much cheaper than tram (my habit is $3.50 a day at 4mg compared to tram which was closer to $8 a day and sub even feels a lot better).

I'd definitely recommend sub just knowing your story, about your issues with RLS, and honestly pods are great, I love them wayy more than sub, but I was withdrawing ALL THE TIME when I was using pods. Tram I just felt dizzy, overstimulated and shaky most of the time. Sub is totally different I can wake up the next day and forget to dose and not even realize till that following night that I forgot my dose. I also tend to be much more ambitious/happy on sub. Downside of course being length of wds and extended PAWs. But being as though its easier to taper if you get yourself down low, and hang out there for a few months with sub, coming off it will be a bitch but its very very possible to do. I mean christ sub is the only opiate I was ever actually able to stop yeh I relapsed in 23 days but compared to how I felt in wds from tram or pods it was a walk in the park.

And also even if you're not 100% sure about going on sub I suggest you fill out an application at NAABT.org or w/e its called. You'll see links for a service that can and will match you with drs in your area. I got emailed by 6 drs the first 2 days w/out making a single phone call. I also put in the application I was broke and drs really were willing to work with me. Office visit was $60 freakin dollars first time + $30 for blood work. And that was w/out health insurance. You also don't have to buy a whole month supply with sub my pharmacy is totally cool with doing a week at a time and I prefer it that way as sometimes I get tempted to up my dose.

But god just thinking about the way I felt on tram, sub really was such a blessing.
G/luck & I'm sure you'll figure it all out soon enough.

-Bo

 

[GoldenLovely]

That's the same dose I was taking, just about. I would take 4-6 in the morning and then 6 at lunch and six at dinner. It evened out to about 18 pills a day on average, and one bottle lasted two weeks because I would withdraw on the weekends to save money. It's funny: everyone else was going home to have a weekend, and I was going home to be tortured.

Tramadol, even at such a ridiculous dose, did allow me to save a lot of money because it is cheaper than other pills. Never going to a sub doctor was my biggest mistake. I didn't do it when I could afford it. Ime, however, going to any doctor for anything after you've essentially been guilty of eating too many pills will yield very limited results. You're almost better off arriving with smack in your system and acting like a victim.

Amazing how it can build up so fast. You're not planning to take that many...it just increases day by day until you're swallowing them like skittles. Which I guess how people wind up not waking up one day.

Thanks for your words all. I think sub will probably be the way to go eventually. Its just a matter of admitting my problem to people outside of this website. I never actually say it outloud and hardly anyone in my life knows that I'm addicted. Amazing how normal a front one can put on. Everyone was shocked as hell when I went down. It came out of nowhere. But I just blamed it on not eating and its probably not totally untrue. I really wasn't eating enough, so that couldn't have helped my situation.

Anyway, Cold Turkey withdrawal is not something I think I can take and tapers never seem to work out as planned. So it looks like subs is probably the only solution.

Bo, Ill probably be writing to you within the next week or two.

 

[TINK]

GL - Tramadol can cause seizures and can affect kidneys, liver and GI problems. If you are taking that much it doesn't suprise me that your kidneys are not functioning right (which could be the cause of your back pain). I can not stress enough to you DRINK MORE WATER!!! Even when you taper down. The headaches are probably due to not eating. Take care and you can always talk to me