Opioids Tramadol helps opiate withdrawal significantly

[john24]

yea, I could of posted this in the Tramadol section. But feel I can help more here for opiate addicts going through withdrawal....knowing how horrible it can be.

It helps significantly with both the intense sadness and the lack of motivation in the days after. It also helps somewhat with the cravings, as your mind isn't racing as much towards wanting it.

I took my Tramadol yesterday (200 mg's) ...the day I ran out of my Dilaudid. This is helpful as it gets your brain ready the day before. I just don't recommend taking that Tram pill after 3pm...or else you might be wired up the rest of the day. Sometimes Tram makes me wired up....sometimes it makes me sleepy. It's weird like that.

But yea, then I just take 200 MG's a day...for every day i'm going through withdrawal. And EVERYTHING is so much easier.

I even tried taking a Dilaudid after I took a Tramadol 1 time...and didn't feel anything. I'm guessing Tram has some similar Bupe effects? I was pretty pizzed as it completely wasted a fresh 4mg's of dilly.

Regarding the eventual Tramadol withdrawal that you'll eventually need to go through as well...the good news is, it's nowhere near as bad as opiate withdrawal. And sometimes not even noticeable.

 

[captainchroni420]

In my experience tramadol slows down down the withdrawalls but drags it on much longer if you are trying to quit but if it works for you go ahead

 

[john24]

captain, that's an interesting consensus and might also be true...since it works on similar receptors.

I just know it makes the whole week after...much more pleasant. And that the Tram withdrawal is much easier.

 

[Flaga121]

I felt the same way with kratom. Everyone said I was going to prolong withdrawals but even with periodic Kratom use I kicked the chemical dependency to both Bupe and the Kratom, which seemed almost impossible according to what everyone had said. I'm sure I'll still have PAWs when I discontinue all use, but being able to feel normal sober without having done through more then a 4/10 w/d for a few hours at worst is remarkable. YMMV for some thats a good thing.

 

[john24]

I tried Kratom for it as well. Tram def worked significantly better. But somewhat of a better high still with kratom.

Using both together would probably be sweet. I heard weed was decent for withdrawal as well.

 

[Mr.Scagnattie]

It can help, yeah. But only for smaller habits. It can work great in that case. But, with even a moderate sized opiate habit, let alone a large one, tramadol really doesn't do anything for you withdrawals unfortunately. It's the weakest opiate there is.

 

[《Plasticity》]

The comment about tramadol withdrawal being less harsh than opioid withdrawal... not true. Maybe for dilaudid withdrawal but for less potent opes this isn't the case, with tramadol addiction your gonna go through SNRI/SSRI WD and Opiate withdrawals at the same time which is no picnic. I've read of oxy addicts complaining how tramadol withdrawal is far worse than opiate withdrawal but ymmv. Just saying this for anyone thinking tramadol carries laughable withdrawals. With that said tramadol is a godsend for withdrawals when used correctly, makes quitting and tapering very easy for me.

In my experience tramadol slows down down the withdrawalls but drags it on much longer if you are trying to quit but if it works for you go ahead

Not for me, tramadol is what I use to kick kratom. As long as you reduce your dose to nothing before your body gets hooked on trammies it does very little to prolong withdrawal due to it's very poor mu binding.

I felt the same way with kratom. Everyone said I was going to prolong withdrawals but even with periodic Kratom use I kicked the chemical dependency to both Bupe and the Kratom, which seemed almost impossible according to what everyone had said. I'm sure I'll still have PAWs when I discontinue all use, but being able to feel normal sober without having done through more then a 4/10 w/d for a few hours at worst is remarkable. YMMV for some thats a good thing.

This is because you use very low doses of kratom, had you switched to taking 10gs a day with multiple redoses like most who make the switch you would've just prolonged the withdrawal. Ask chemicalsmiles, he'll tell you. Also you just switched addictions, your still on kratom aren't you?

 

[EP158207]

Tramadol is an opiate so you'll prolong withdrawals.

 

[《Plasticity》]

True but even then your receptors are still somewhat regenerating as tramadol has such poor binding affinity compared to dilaudid that even when switched to tramadol tolerance is still falling as long as your not taking humoungous doses of tramadol. In the end though switching to tramadol for the duration of withdrawal won't get you off scott free but the withdrawals will be lessened had the OP jumped straight from dilly.

 

[john24]

The comment about tramadol withdrawal being less harsh than opioid withdrawal... not true. Maybe for dilaudid withdrawal but for less potent opes this isn't the case, with tramadol addiction your gonna go through SNRI/SSRI WD and Opiate withdrawals at the same time which is no picnic. I've read of oxy addicts complaining how tramadol withdrawal is far worse than opiate withdrawal but ymmv. Just saying this for anyone thinking tramadol carries laughable withdrawals. With that said tramadol is a godsend for withdrawals when used correctly, makes quitting and tapering very easy for me.

might be true for some people, but it's been pretty mild for me so far. Like you say with the SSRI withdrawal aspect....there are definitely distanct withdrawal differences between the 2. Opiate withdrawal just feels like severe sadness for several days on end.... (that 1st day I usually don't even have the energy to get out of bed, or check email. a simple thing like nobody emailing me for an hour could cause me to puss out and be sad)

Tramadol withdrawal feels more like 'mind racing' type crazyness...... neither one is fun...that's for sure.

Tramadol is an opiate so you'll prolong withdrawals.

But it's not a narcotic right ? My pain doc said it is a narcotic...and I said it wasn't. Once I told him I found that info out on the internet, he looked like he wanted to slap me. For some reason Doctors HATE it when patients try to act like know-it-alls.....from their online research. lollz .

 

[sarajenni88]

I noticed that tramadol also helped me significantly through dilaudid withdrawal. I only used it to get thru when my script ran out tho. My hubby has has some pretty severe w/d from trammies.... worse than what he gets from using oxycodone honestly.

 

[《Plasticity》]

But it's not a narcotic right ? My pain doc said it is a narcotic...and I said it wasn't. Once I told him I found that info out on the internet, he looked like he wanted to slap me. For some reason Doctors HATE it when patients try to act like know-it-alls.....from their online research. lollz .

Doctors are so ill-informed about tramadol it's not even funny, they claim it's "non narcotic" and even "non addictive" in some cases but both of those statements are bullshit. Tramadol is just as much of a narcotic as morphine IMO. It's a mu agonist like any other opioid and is actually quite a bit more dangerous when it comes to interactions with other drugs.

EP is right, if you stay on tramadol it will prolong your withdrawals but if used properly tramadol can lower your tolerance and/or help you quit dilaudid. Would a non narcotic take away physical withdrawals from opioids through mu agonism? Of course not. I applaud you for calling out your doctors bullshit, I got a similar reaction when I explained to my doctor that SSRI's carry physical withdrawals.

As the post states above your reaction to tramadol seems a bit atypical. I'm not doubting that trammy withdrawal is more mild for you but I felt the need to warn that tramadol, while weak as shit, carries seriously nasty withdrawals for some. Have you ever actually been physically dependant on tramadol long term though? Or are you basing this off switching on tramadol for a week or two? Please don't take offense for me asking, I'm just curious.

 

[Acanthus]

(^ Yes, Tramadol can be extremely dangerous when mixed with serotonergic drugs (anti-depressants, DXM, MDMA, etc, etc); I very nearly died from taking a SNRI, Effexor, with it, and know of a BLer who passed away from it in his sleep. It's a potentially deadly cocktail which far too many doctors seem to have little knowledge about)

Maybe I'm missing something here, but I really don't understand this thread. Any opioid will help with opiate withdrawal, but doesn't that sort of defeat the whole purpose of withdrawal in the first place....?

I have also heard that Tramadol withdrawal can be particularly nasty.

 

[adder]

captain, that's an interesting consensus and might also be true...since it works on similar receptors.

I just know it makes the whole week after...much more pleasant. And that the Tram withdrawal is much easier.

Unfortunately, that's not true. Tramadol is also a serotonin releaser and a noradrenaline reuptake inhibitor aside from being a weak agonist at mu opioid receptors. Thus when you start withdrawing, your serotonin and noradrenaline levels are also out of balance.

It may be handy for low tolerance, but when you've got a high tolerance, this will hardly help you, because you're going to need higher doses and with higher doses tramadol has a lot of unpleasant side effects, not to mention it lowers seizure threshold, so basically you shouldn't go higher than 400mg a day, which is nothing compared to very high doses of morphine/heroin/other strong opioid.

I was prescribed tramadol for 2 weeks 2 months after I quit methadone and it didn't do much. I was a bit calmer, it helped with restless legs, but overall I was still withdrawing hard. In the end I started Suboxone program and it has literally saved my life no matter how much I sometimes say I hate buprenorphine.

 

[john24]

Have you ever actually been physically dependant on tramadol long term though? Or are you basing this off switching on tramadol for a week or two? Please don't take offense for me asking, I'm just curious.

I haven't been. Only been on it for like 2 weeks at a time while withdrawing from Dilaudid. Like I said, i'm not deny'ing withdrawal symptoms from Tram at all. But is that 'mind racing' feeling the typical type of withdrawal effects from Tram ? That's the only negative effect I notice. And once I get my dilly script filled, I feel like all the other withdrawals are nothing...once i'm back on dilly. It's good feeling seems to override any other type of withdrawal I might be going through, from any other meds...quite powerful it is, in many aspects.

I was prescribed tramadol for 2 weeks 2 months after I quit methadone and it didn't do much. I was a bit calmer, it helped with restless legs, but overall I was still withdrawing hard. In the end I started Suboxone program and it has literally saved my life no matter how much I sometimes say I hate buprenorphine.

sounds like maybe u were still going through Tram withdrawal (mind racing?) when Subox came to the rescue ?

 

[RedRum OG]

tramadol IS an opioid for fucks sake

 

[Ripamaru]

All the evidence you guys state is contrary to my personal experience. I kicked methadone with tramedol (only used the latter for about 10 days) it was a miracle to me. The physical w/d was already 2-3 weeks in at the time and were gone after a total of 5 weeks.

I have seen other people take 2 months to get through similar methadone withdrawal. So I cannot see any prolonging of w/d. Then again methadone isn't the same as short acting opiates.

 

[actarus]

May I ask how many mg a day you were at when you decided to kick methadone?

 

[adder]

I was prescribed 4x 100mg a day ~2 months after quitting methadone and the opioid effect was too little to feel more or less comfortable, that is to be able to do every day work. 100mg at a time is really very little and in my experience it's the highest dose I could take not to feel much nausea, at 200mg I was forcing myself to throw up. So while it may be effective for low tolerance, once again I'm stating that it's just complicating the withdrawal from a higher dose. For 2.5 years I took 40-80mg of methadone a day, most of the time it was somewhere around 40mg. It seems nothing compared to what people at maintenance programs receive, but I can't see a safe dose of tramadol even to work comfortably well for a 40mg/day tolerance. It's not that it doesn't help at all, it helps relatively little compared to the side effects it causes.

By the way, john24, you got the first quote wrong.

 

[actarus]

@Adder (and Ripamaru) My question was directed to Ripamaru ... I was asking how many mg of methadone a day he was down to before deciding to go through methadone widthdrawal.

I don't know much about Tramadol. I never messed with "weaker" opiates. H via IV was my drug of choice before methadone maintenance which I've been on for 13 years. I've been trying to come off it for half of those years. So when I read someone saying he successfully kicked methadone I'm all ears.....