Update, plus a tip, please do not attempt going off Tramadol all at once.

 

The bad news is I have already found out going off Tramadol, and replacing it with codeine was not a good idea. It felt worse than the worse flare I have ever had.   I seriously wonder if I was going through bad withdrawal, even though Tramadol is not a narcotic? It was like a nosedive into terrible depression, lathargic, hurting in every inch of my body, chills /burning up, my internal thermostat went haywire.  I literally could not  function.

I told Dh I think I need to take a few Tramadol, and he readily agreed, he knew it was really bad!   I did not start feeling better till about 8 hours later, which by that time, I had taken 2 doses of the Tramadol.

I'm wondering how many others here have experienced getting off of Tramadol cold turkey?  I researched some online, and there are many people who went through the same thing I did, some much worse.  Many of these people were told by their doctors, that you cannot become addicted to Tramadol, well I along with many others beg to differ. I found out my body is very much so dependant on it.  I can deal with that, and I know many of you are in the same boat. We do what we can with the hand were dealt in this life

The good news is I learned something, and want to share it, in hopes someone else may be spared this awful experience.

 So anyone on Tramadol for awhile, please be careful going off, and make sure you titrate down, just like you would have to with any narcotic.

 I think Tramadols makeup causes it to be different than most pain relievers. You would have to read about it to know what I mean.

Sherrine and everyone who prayed for me, I'm still grateful to God, I believe He did give me favor with this doctor who did decide to try and help, she believed me, that I am not a drug seeker.    If God used me to only help one other person than It was worth what I went through. 

I will talk to my doctor Friday, and see where to go from here, and let you all  know. I do feel  the codeine is most likely not for me. And if I stick with Tramadol, I will most likely go on a med for nausea.  Gee, what a year this has been!

And we know all things work together for good to them that love God, to them  who are the called according to His purposes.  Romans 8:28

Blessings everybody

Debbie 

Tramadol is a synthetic opiate and should be weaned off slowly.  I have never taken it, but my dog was on it for years for hip replacement pain (the kind without the Tylenol).  Even the vet knew enough to tell us to wean him off over the course of a few weeks, which we did.  I am sorry you went through this, Debbie and hope you are feeling better.

Donna

Believe it or not, before I was diagnosed with fibro, I was taking one HALF to one tablet of tramadol per day. Then after getting frustrated with not getting anywhere with my family doctor, I decided to stop all pain medication for a period of time to really get  handle on what was going on with my body (I lasted 6 weeks med free). I quit cold turkey and I went through exactly what you said. And I was only taking HALF a pill a day!! (a whole pill on really bad days).  After I got diagnosed, I started using the tramadol again but tried to skip days in between until I had a REALLY bad flare. I'm not using it anymore right now because I am on cymbalta and I haven't needed it (thank GOD!!). If it helps at all, those REALLY bad withdrawal symptoms only lasted 5 days. The rest of the symptoms lasted about a month but they were VERY tolerable compared to having every inch of my body ache with chills, nausea, etc. In fact, I can't remember the withdrawal symptom that lasted a month but I do remember that exercising took it away. I dread the day someone tells me I have to go off lyrica and cymbalta. Might as well put me in a month long coma to get through that..lol. Good luck with it!! I'm always rootin for ya! (and all of us here!!).

I was going to post this exact same story.
I am on ultracet (tramadol and tylenol) and take 6-8 a day. And I know first hand that I will have to taper off if it ever comes to me having to stop taking it.
My daughter was on tramadol and when she found out that she was pregnant the pharmacist told her that she had to stop taking it because it would/could harm the fetus. Well she went thru hell for several weeks. She was jittery, anxious, angry, extremely hot/cold, had restless leg symptoms, AND morning sickness. It was not pleasant to watch and worse that my baby was in pain and I could do nothing to help her. We, at the time, did not associate it to the tramadol until a friend of mine had to go off her tramadol cold turkey and had all the same symptoms- bad enough to have her admitted because no one knew what was causing all her symptoms. They blamed it on the meds (she was on many due to several illnesses and syndromes) and made her stop ALL of them at once. She said that if she had had the opportunity she would have driven off the nearest bridge just to end all the agony. It was then that we put two and two together.
Now I can see the same symptoms creep up on me if I miss even one dose - I take the tramadol and about 20 minutes later they subside. It is really scary but I cannot function without it.
I would consider going slowly off it and onto something else if it wasnt for the fact that I have had 2 different doctors (good docs that I trust) prescribe it.
It does scare me a little that I need/take so many and have for quite a long time. No one really knows the long term affect of tramadol and especially not with such a high dose. But not having them and the relief they give me would scare me so much more.

 

I've learned one thing, you can be going along with your life, with everything going  smooth, and bam!  Something happens, sometimes we are the cause , rather we mean to be or not. Or, as we all  have experienced an illness hits us out of the blue. 

Its not what were dealt with in life that matters, it's how we deal with what were dealt with.  I'm sure some are nodding your head and saying, tell me something I didn't know already! If so, I apologize, it's just that for me writing can sometimes be quite theraputic. I only wish I could do it more often.

Kathy...  I'm so glad the Tramadol is helping you, and I hope it lasts a long time. I know you are right though about our bodies becoming tolerant to a med.  The important thing is getting the relief you need, and if you gotta change every now and then it is worth it.

Mrs_Mike... Wow, I'm so sorry you had to endure the same thing I did. Thanks for letting me know, the worse is over for me, only some slight nausea.

I hope the Cymbalta and Lyrica ( my DH takes Lyrica too for a pinched nerve in his back, unfortunatly it made him gain a little weight, but it's worth it to him) keep on working for you. A coma sounds tempting compared to withdrawal!

Sherrine thanks for the link, I will definatly check it out.

Shirley.. Thank you for the kind words.  You are the one that is so faithful here, cheering everyone on!  You are so right,  God never promised us an easy life, Jesus even said if we want to be His followers, we must take up our cross. I too would rather be poor and know God, than be rich and not know Him. However I do believe there are rich people who know God, and use their money to bless others.

God's ways truley are amazing, and isn't it something, how when we suffer, or are going through a trial, this is when He is at work in us?  We can only offer sympathy or our understanding if we know how it feels to hurt. I do know God can use our trials for the good.  And I know if Jesus didn't die for us, we would all be doomed!

 If I did not have my Lord, and heaven to look forward to I would have to wonder why, whats the point of all the suffering in this world? Studying the life of Jesus, who was God in the flesh according to the bible has opened my eyes , allowed me to see how very in control He is of everything, and even that there is a purpose to it all.  We can't understand it all now, but one day we will, and we'll not only see, we'll totally understand.  In the meantime we try to get along the best we can, and help others as much as were able.

Uh oh,   I better get off the soap box before I get into trouble!

My prayers are with all of my fibro family

Debbie

 

Feeling good, swimming pool, and ice cream. Now that sounds like a great combination! 

 Enjoy Mrs_Mike, and I hope the Lyrica and Cymbalta keep on working for you.

My DH takes Lyrica too, and he did gain some weight, but since I have gained a little myself, and there is ice cream in the equation, so I'm thinking it may not be the Lyricas fault.    Oh well, we gotta love life, and enjoy it too.    

I know this is long but I'm desperate for some answers and Im a lil stressed.
Hello. I am 17 with fibro. I started taking Tramadol like 4 months ago because I cant take NSAIDS or narcotics. Take 2 pills twice a day, doctor and instructions say i can take 2 pills every 6 hours. But i ussualy wait around 9 or 10. First time I took it I felt HIGH, as a kite Couldn't stop laughing, scary, but felt great. Leveled out, no more high, drastically reduced my pain for a long period of time. UNTILL like ALL drugs i take, it stopped working well or at all after a few months.

Doctor then prescribed a topical patch that releases a version of lidocaine to numb the pain a little, called Lidoderm. Didnt take tramadol the day before(but i have skipped a day or two of Tramadol before with no down side or symptoms). Woke at 10, got a massage, put Bio Freeze on neck and back and put the patch on neck and back a few minutes later. Within 30 seconds I was hysterical. Hyperventilating to a point. SO uncomfortable I would have preferred acute pain to the dull tingly BLECH that I was experiencing. Couldnt stop crying. Doc said to try to leave them on the full 12 hrs, took them off 5 hours later at 9pm.

That night couldnt get comfortable any where in my house, couldn't sleep. By early morning I had a 99 fever, not quite a 100 but since i run natually lowwww 96 or 97 this is high for me. Had a fever, sweats/chills, swollen painful glands, terrible earache, and felt achey flu-like all over(differently than I feel with Fibromyalgia) It was awful.

At 1pm when I was still not tired ( and been up for 27hrs) I decided to try and take a Tramadol even though they had stopped working for me, hoping for any kind of relief. Within the hour my tremors and sweats/ chills stopped, fever went down, temp back to my reg cool 97. Everything was fine, except the Tramadol made me REALLY HIGH again, just like it used to months ago....
???!????!?

Withdrawal? Tramadol/ Ultram withdrawal? Doesn't make sense cause i have been off of Tramadol before for just as long with out noticing any real difference. PLUSSS I was all fine and dandy until the SECOND I put the Lidoderm patch on, then everything fell down hill. Was it the Lidoderm trauma, BIO FREEZE, or what? Was I just sick and the Tramadol somehow fixed it?

If anyone could lend a suggestion, or anything really would help. I like the pain relief from the tramadol but not the high I get, plus the events of this past day scare the bonkers out of me and I would feel better with answers.
Thanks for reading - really anything would be really helpful.

____________
Tramadol, Lidoderm, Nystatin, Flexeril, LoraQuil, Vit D, Doxycyline, Serene, Calm PRT