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BDD Moderators: Keif’ Richards | negrogesic
Hard Tramadol Withdrawal - Day 8
- Thread starter JohnsThrowAway234
- Start date
jadehick92
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- Dec 21, 2013
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I hope people don't mind me posting here but it seems pretty relevant to my story.
I have been addicted to tramadol and other opiates for many years. I am so fed up of taking these every day and around 10 weeks ago I decided to taper off everything. So now I am taking 50mg of tramadol and about 60mg of codeine if that.
Today I am quitting completely.
I am 8 hours in without anything and I feel slightly agitated but determined. Going out in the car to take my mind off things.
I will be writing a timeline of the withdrawals as I think it could help others.
Wish me luck
I have been addicted to tramadol and other opiates for many years. I am so fed up of taking these every day and around 10 weeks ago I decided to taper off everything. So now I am taking 50mg of tramadol and about 60mg of codeine if that.
Today I am quitting completely.
I am 8 hours in without anything and I feel slightly agitated but determined. Going out in the car to take my mind off things.
I will be writing a timeline of the withdrawals as I think it could help others.
Wish me luck
JohnsThrowAway234
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- Oct 6, 2016
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- 28
Good luck man.
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Good for you. Tramadol dependency, although considered to be a weak drug, can be hard to break. This is due in large part to the fact that it's both an Opioid and a Serotonin-Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitor. SNRI's themselves are considered to be hard dependencies to break. You might already know this and it might be a part of your method, but switching to and/or substituting for Tramadol with Codeine could be helpful, as you could then at least partially deal with the SNRI withdrwal first and then proceed to the Opioid withdrawal after.
Pursuing both independently will probably make the experience a lot more bearable.
jadehick92
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- Dec 21, 2013
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I did think about doing that but I'm going to try and quit everything at once I want to stop now I've wasted too much of my life on this. I just need willpower and support. Thank you for commenting
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JohnsThrowAway234
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Note that Tramadol the emotional withdrawals may take longer than opiate withdrawals. If it worked well for you, coming off it will be hard.
Strongly advise tapering as much as possible. STRONGLY advise it.
Keep a mood diary on your phone because you're probably in for an emotional rollercoaster because of the nature of the drug and you will benefit from "seeing progress" in case you feel you will be emotionally messed up forever.
Depression or anxiety after Tramadol withdrawal are not uncommon so be aware of that possibility. Seek treatment / help if you struggle, but best to stay OFF the Tramadol - its not a good solution.
Strongly advise tapering as much as possible. STRONGLY advise it.
Keep a mood diary on your phone because you're probably in for an emotional rollercoaster because of the nature of the drug and you will benefit from "seeing progress" in case you feel you will be emotionally messed up forever.
Depression or anxiety after Tramadol withdrawal are not uncommon so be aware of that possibility. Seek treatment / help if you struggle, but best to stay OFF the Tramadol - its not a good solution.
JohnsThrowAway234
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Hello,
In the interest of people who read this thread in the future, I'm now 100 days clean, and basically normal. This, after a hard withdrawal and over a year of 600MG per day usage.
I had a rocky time coming off Tramadol as you can read back. Emotional issues, anxiety issues, and legit clinical depression. Depersonalization, insomnia and other markers of the real deal - not just low mood. I've never experienced anything like it.
After 5 weeks of it I was basically put on Zoloft and then had to double up to 100mg because I didnt respond.
The takeaway from all this is I didnt return to Tramadol or Opiates and the Zoloft has kicked in. I have been basically fine for 5 weeks. I still have low mood at times but I am functional and moving back to London from the care of my parents.
I credit my recovery to:
- Abstinence
- Care of others / being honest with others about issues
- CBT / Therapy whilst
- I waited for Zoloft to take effect. (SSRI)
- Exercise / doing routine things
- Reading
I wont bore everyone with the details of the depression that followed SSRI but it was at times high moderate on the Burns Depression Inventory. Right on the edge of severe. Everyone likes to think their depression is "severe" but this is not clinically the case. Severe depression means halucinating and shitting yourself in a stupor and so on. So, touch wood, I will never have to have "severe" depression by how bad moderate was. Whether or not that was kicked off by Tramadol or I timed my withdrawal with the onset of a MD episode we may never know.
I am glad to be free of Tramadol. I would sooner be on an SSRI than 600mg per day of Tramadol.
I will try to check in in 12 months when I begin to taper the SSRI (they say to stay on them a year after MDD)!
P.S: Please do read into this that I DID quit the Tramadol. You may not have such a hard time. My advice is to taper it slower than I did (600>0 in 2 months).
John
In the interest of people who read this thread in the future, I'm now 100 days clean, and basically normal. This, after a hard withdrawal and over a year of 600MG per day usage.
I had a rocky time coming off Tramadol as you can read back. Emotional issues, anxiety issues, and legit clinical depression. Depersonalization, insomnia and other markers of the real deal - not just low mood. I've never experienced anything like it.
After 5 weeks of it I was basically put on Zoloft and then had to double up to 100mg because I didnt respond.
The takeaway from all this is I didnt return to Tramadol or Opiates and the Zoloft has kicked in. I have been basically fine for 5 weeks. I still have low mood at times but I am functional and moving back to London from the care of my parents.
I credit my recovery to:
- Abstinence
- Care of others / being honest with others about issues
- CBT / Therapy whilst
- I waited for Zoloft to take effect. (SSRI)
- Exercise / doing routine things
- Reading
I wont bore everyone with the details of the depression that followed SSRI but it was at times high moderate on the Burns Depression Inventory. Right on the edge of severe. Everyone likes to think their depression is "severe" but this is not clinically the case. Severe depression means halucinating and shitting yourself in a stupor and so on. So, touch wood, I will never have to have "severe" depression by how bad moderate was. Whether or not that was kicked off by Tramadol or I timed my withdrawal with the onset of a MD episode we may never know.
I am glad to be free of Tramadol. I would sooner be on an SSRI than 600mg per day of Tramadol.
I will try to check in in 12 months when I begin to taper the SSRI (they say to stay on them a year after MDD)!
P.S: Please do read into this that I DID quit the Tramadol. You may not have such a hard time. My advice is to taper it slower than I did (600>0 in 2 months).
John
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At 100 days do you have any sort of energy? I'm at day 8 but I've been to 100 before and the extreme fatigue did me in. I AM trying something a bit different this time and after 8 days I feel closer to the 3 week mark. BTW, I am a longtime user of massive doses-----an average of 50-70 per day for the last 3 years of a 15 year struggle.
Congrats on on making it this far, you sound like you have lots of support & the right mindset to quit
Congrats on on making it this far, you sound like you have lots of support & the right mindset to quit
JohnsThrowAway234
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Hi man,
Physical energy is acceptable, but if you mean energy in terms of motivation, it can be hard to seperate things out ; Tramadol did really increase my productivity, ability to tolerate stress, enjoyment of work/exercise.
It isn't where it was but it is improving man, there is hope.
Thanks for the positive words - it's been a bad experience, I really hope I don't forget the misery.
Physical energy is acceptable, but if you mean energy in terms of motivation, it can be hard to seperate things out ; Tramadol did really increase my productivity, ability to tolerate stress, enjoyment of work/exercise.
It isn't where it was but it is improving man, there is hope.
Thanks for the positive words - it's been a bad experience, I really hope I don't forget the misery.
JohnsThrowAway234
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With regards to support, I pulled out all the stops to get help - its been very hard on a lot of people; something of an incentive to stay off them, who knows.
Whats your plan if you dont mind me asking?
Whats your plan if you dont mind me asking?
EatinPills
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- Dec 10, 2016
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When I detoxed from alcohol I never felt like my old self ever since. It's been 8 months since i have had my last drink and I still don't feel the same. It sucks.
My 'habit' had reached deadly levels. Who, in their right mind, takes 75 pills a day?? The past 3 years have been the worst. I lost my house, I lost my mid-level management gov't job.
I went cold turkey 9 days ago. Not the first time but it'll be the last. It wasn't planned but I ran out. It was going to be 6 days for my supply to show up. By day 4, the brain fog had lifted and I decided it was time.
Day 1 I took a total of 600mg of Wellbutrin (I don't recommend that for anyone who doesn't know what they are doing), Advil, Imodium and vistaril. The first 36 hours were misery.
Day 3 I did almost the same thing but I used klonopin instead of vistaril. I also increased my Wellbutrin to 450mg in the AM and 450mg at night.
Day 4 I stopped using the Imodium. I also realized that most of my W/D symptoms were maybe 25% of what I usually experienced.
Its gotten a little better everyday. I started a journal (I've always hated journals) to track my usage, dosing and symptoms and to give me something to look back on.
On day 4 I told my family everything. I've been a fairly successful functioning user for 15 years, hiding my habit as best I could.
What keeps me me going right now is the realization that my son deserves a better mom and hell, I deserve better too.
I've made it to day 8; at day 14 I'm heading to the gym. I know that nothing will give me the extra boost that tramadol did but the gym is a start.
Thanks for listening, it really matters to me ����
~it never gets any easier to quit than it is today~
I went cold turkey 9 days ago. Not the first time but it'll be the last. It wasn't planned but I ran out. It was going to be 6 days for my supply to show up. By day 4, the brain fog had lifted and I decided it was time.
Day 1 I took a total of 600mg of Wellbutrin (I don't recommend that for anyone who doesn't know what they are doing), Advil, Imodium and vistaril. The first 36 hours were misery.
Day 3 I did almost the same thing but I used klonopin instead of vistaril. I also increased my Wellbutrin to 450mg in the AM and 450mg at night.
Day 4 I stopped using the Imodium. I also realized that most of my W/D symptoms were maybe 25% of what I usually experienced.
Its gotten a little better everyday. I started a journal (I've always hated journals) to track my usage, dosing and symptoms and to give me something to look back on.
On day 4 I told my family everything. I've been a fairly successful functioning user for 15 years, hiding my habit as best I could.
What keeps me me going right now is the realization that my son deserves a better mom and hell, I deserve better too.
I've made it to day 8; at day 14 I'm heading to the gym. I know that nothing will give me the extra boost that tramadol did but the gym is a start.
Thanks for listening, it really matters to me ����
~it never gets any easier to quit than it is today~
JohnsThrowAway234
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- Oct 6, 2016
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Hey, listen - I was at 600mg a day which you may balk at but it was heavy duty usage in it's own right. If I'd kept going, and I could avoid seizures, I would've got up to your kind of levels to keep the buzz going.
If you want to check in with me I will check Bluelight every day ; I'm obviously quite a bit further on so I've walked the walk and would be happy to speak with you about it.
Pro tip: don't be dissapointed if you have Day 5, 6, 7 go well and then Day 8 feels as bad as Day 1. It's up and down man, there is very little pattern to it with Tramadol unlike straight opiates where its linear.
Pro tip 2: try MoodTracker app. Use it regularly so when the bad days come you can look back and remember good days come around in time.
If you want to check in with me I will check Bluelight every day ; I'm obviously quite a bit further on so I've walked the walk and would be happy to speak with you about it.
Pro tip: don't be dissapointed if you have Day 5, 6, 7 go well and then Day 8 feels as bad as Day 1. It's up and down man, there is very little pattern to it with Tramadol unlike straight opiates where its linear.
Pro tip 2: try MoodTracker app. Use it regularly so when the bad days come you can look back and remember good days come around in time.