Tramadol :: How To Taper Off Safely / Properly?
Nov 14, 2015
I am going to be getting myself off it immediately. Not to mention I am starting to get the 'brain zaps'.
I've been taking around 150mg/day for the last 4 months. I was on 200mg/day but a couple months ago, I cut myself back to 150mg/day.
I get a refill on my meds next week but I think I'm going to pass on it and just taper with my remaining supply. I have about 40 50mg pills left.
What's the best and SAFEST way to taper with these?
My initial plan:
100mg per day for 10 days
50mg per day for 10 days
25mg per day for 5 days (cut pills in half)
12.5mg per day for 5 days (cut pills in quarters)
... and then be done w/ a few left over for an emergency pain day. Will that prevent withdrawal? Is that a safe way to quit?
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Have had some real difficulty tapering to come off mirtazapine.
Just a brief history:
Originally tapered too quick from 30-22.5-15-7.5-3.75 and then off over about 3 weeks. After 4 months on. So then went back on at 2mg but felt awful again. So then went back to 7.5 again. Felt alright and did this for 7 days and then tried to go down to 5.75 but am now feeling awful again. I really want to come off this stuff but just don't know how. Can anyone please help. I feel like I'm going crazy.
Should I just stick it out a bit longer on 5.75 or go back to 7.5. If I go back how long would someone suggest I stay on this level and what dose should I follow next.
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I began tramadol in June 2014 after surgery. It subsided the pain and made me feel good. Like happy and optimistic about my recovery. I couldn't drive while recovering, so I walked everywhere, including to physical therapy appointments. That was all of last summer. I stayed on them until January to help with physical therapy discomfort. Then I suffered an elbow injury also in January, so stayed on them. My surgeon who originally prescribed them began cutting down on what he prescribed, so I found them elsewhere. This past spring, I began drinking alcoholic beverages after taking my last dose at around 5pm. Two months later was a disaster. Since, I have learned two very important things about Tramadol. One is that it's also an antidepressant and two, alcohol makes them even more addicting. This I learned through all the research I desperately sought. I am now 11 days without taking Tramadol and It's been hell. I spoke to a detox facility and they said that my insurance company would not pay for treatment for Tramadol because it is...wait for it... NOT ADDICTING. So here I am still trying to get this poison out of my system. It stinks because it is now I need something to calm my symptoms. Which is the lesser evil? I have no energy, depression, muscle weakness, no motivation and can cry at any given moment. Why me, why any of this? Doctors need to know what Tramadol truly is as do the insurance companies.
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I have been a heroin addict for 5 years, it was a half gram a day, sometimes more, I recently decided I don't want to live like that anymore, so I decided to try suboxone to first break the junkie routine I had established, and immediately began tapering. For example, I took 8 mgs day 1, 4 mgs days 2 and 3, 2 mgs 4-8. My plan is to keep cutting in half every four days, until day 16, being my last dose, am I crazy? I feel OK, and like I would probably be fine if I had jumped today, but that's probably the half life messing with me?
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So a year ago i developed excruciating right flank pain,which would leave me in tears and vomiting.
went to see gp and after many tests discovered the tube coming from right kidney to bladder was damaged. isotope test showed left kidney at 60% and right kidney at 34%. had an op in november.isotope test repeated last week.results show surgery successful ,left kidney still 60% but right now 30%. there is no explanation as to why and now im waiting to see what my gp wants to do next. obviously i've googled this and so any advice going forward if im just going to be monitored what should i be doing to help myself?
im female 36yrs old,no other medical conditions.well within my bmi etc.
i dont want to lose any more function of my kidney. thanks
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I have recently been told that my diaphragm is not working properly and this could be the cause of my constant chest infections. Does anyone else have this problem?
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I had my vasectomy 3 weeks ago and the left side has healed beautifully. The right side however has a donut shaped wound and string has come out and is hanging.
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I was hoping for some feedback on panic attacks. I have suffered with anxiety for about 4 years now, I used to get little panic attacks whereby I would get lumps in my throat and struggle to breath properly, have head rushes etc. Last night though, I woke up during the night suddenly, feeling very sick. Then my heart started beating so hard and fast that I thought it was going to jump out my chest. My mouth went so dry that I struggled to swallow properly. I was also overcome by a feeling of impending doom and that I was going to die there and then. I was terrified and scared that I was having a heart attack. I also got diarrhoea (apologies for too much info) and the top half of my body was shaking. It took me around 1 hour to calm myself down again, enough to go back to sleep and I was very close to calling an ambulance. Does anyone know if these symptoms are typical of a panic attack?
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I've done something pretty stupid & think I've damaged my sphincter muscle. I did it by sitting on the top of a plastic soft drink bottle to see how far into my rectum I could get it. The top of the bottle was approx. 6 cms in circumference expanding to approx. 30 cms circumference about 10-15 cms from the top/at the middle of the bottle. Unfortunately I slipped as I squatted over it & sat on it, full weight (95 kg), & accidently forced it right into my rectum past the middle of the bottle causing my sphincter/anus to fully stretch about 9cms apart/ 30 cms around . Now my sphincter/anus seem unable to close properly and it's now always protrudes between my buttocks - it looks sort of like a hernia, which is all very embarrassing + hard to clean properly. Have I caused myself permanent damage ? Are there exercises I can do that will fix my over-stretched sphincter muscle ?
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I had my first stapedectomy for my right ear 6 years ago. it was successful. stilI I hear with my operated ear well except some ringing in my ear. but 11 days ago I had another stapedectomy for my other ear- left ear.That post op problems and results are completely different when I compare to my other ear. I don't hear properly. today is the 11th day. I have a lot of ringing and I feel as if my ear was full. the ringing is irritating.When I had the same operation 6 years ago, I had no ringing, feeling full . I just remember metallic sounds and they were really high. now no voice is high and irritating.I wonder is there anyone else experienced those ringing-mostly pulping tinnitus,not hearing properly? Because I feel really worried and nervous and as if something went wrong. my doctor said it all went well. I haven't had the hearing test yet. but I am worried.please write about your experience.
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I Had a repair to mucosal part of rectum a week ago.. i am quite a lot of pain at the moment every time I try to wee the rectum comes down and a keep popping small stools which cause lots of pain I now cannot empty bladder properly and have a uti i seem to I In more pain not less. I have just gone on all fours on floor to try and wee and poo was there for 30 mins with pain from rectum and bladder. I eventually passed wee and poo....now still in pain at 3.40 am. So fed up ..don't know what to do with myself. Thinking of going on a liquid only diet to take strain.
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i want to know what is better to take first subo and after tramadol or first tramadol and after suboxone
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Last Friday (16/Sep/11) I had an op to repair an umbilical hernia (overnight stay). On being discharged the nurse gave me a packet of 50 mg Tramadol capsules to ease the pain, although the pain wasn't that bad. I had been walking to the toilet (in hospital) within 4 hours of recovering from the op.
Anyway, I got home on Saturday and what with the fairly long walk from the hospital to the taxi, plus getting in and out of the car, I was starting to feel some twinges, so I took 2 Tramadol. Much later that evening I started to have really weird side effects. They are so difficult to describe. A combination of panic attack, dizziness, extreme fatigue, and difficulty nodding off to sleep. I'd nod off, like one does, then I'd immediately have these images in my head - people I'd seen on TV that day, cars, animals, all jumbled up.
Then I must have fallen asleep for an hour or two only to come awake with a start after having this veritable nightmare of there being someone in the room and when I opened my eyes (in my sleep just before coming awake) there was this extremely tall guy, 9 feet tall, his head was literally brushing the ceiling. Then "he" walked across the room to another bed (my mind thought it was still in the 4-bed unit in the hospital ward) and disappeared! As if in a puff of smoke. And at that point I awoke feeling hot and sweaty.
So those were the last Tramadol *I* was ever going to take, I can tell you. And then, yesterday, Thursday I had severe itching at the surgical wound site. This had nothing to do with the Tramadol I'd taken on Saturday, which must have been out of my system by then. Anyway, apart from the itching there was still a bit of an ache, so I thought I'd take just a single Tramadol capsule.
The itching went; the dull ache went. But this morning, very early, about 04:00am, I awoke feeling anything but refreshed. I had some numb feelings in my hand and thigh, they kept coming and going. I got up at around 05:45 am, make a cup of tea, then suddenly felt very weak. Jittery, fast pulse, zonked. Since then I have just lain on my bed in between going for a short walk and am drinking glasses of water in an attempt to flush this [b:095f76e716]POISON[/b:095f76e716] out of my system and am starting to feel a little better.
Earlier in the week on doctor's recommendation I booked an appointment with the nurse for this afternoon to have the dressing changed and the incision checked (it's a long, vertical cut about 4 inches long; they found two hernias), and in order to save on taxi fares I booked one of the free pick-up buses to take me and bring me back. However, I've just cancelled them and have ordered a taxi instead as I cannot face the lengthy zig-zag route these buses often take as they have to pick up numerous other people. I'll talk to the nurse about Tramadol and see what she says. I don't need any pain killers now and if I still get one or two twinges in the next few days, I shall take only paracetamol if necessary. (Not allowed to take ibuprofen or similar NSAIDs as I have a tendency to gastritis and duodenal ulcer.)
So, I am never going to touch Tramadol ever again and this time I mean it. I would not recommend it to my worst enemy. If some people take it just to get "high" they must be stark, raving mad.
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I was prescribed tramadol 6 weeks ago, but having read in the forum how addictive they are I am considering stopping them, although they do help with my back pain. Has anyone being given an alternative to these drugs, and if so are they effective.
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after using Tramadol for several months with limited success I have now been prescribed Amitriptyline also to aid sleep. I was constantly waking up at night in pain but this is seeming to work thankfully.
Is it a concern though that it does knock me out and I do work night shifts.....
Perhaps I need to change my shift pattern temporary?
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one of the few meds I haven't tried yet. Anyone have good or bad reactions to it? Is there anything that actually works?
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I had a laparoscopy yesterday (2nd December 2015) and have been given Tramadol painkillers which a working amazingly well!! They're incredible, not gonna lie! Helps with not only the surgical pain, but the stomach aches that i've had for 4 years now all day every day! I'm virtually pain free! It's amazing! Anyway, I've taken 100mg yesterday evening at about 7, 100mg at 11 last night, and 100 mg at 8.30 this morning. At about 8/9 last night I drank a whole bottle of Ribena. I put Ribena in a bottle so I don't have to keep leaning to pick up a glass. It's easier to have a bottle on the sofa. I never drink that much in one go! Ever! But I drank a whole bottle, and a cup of tea within about 15 minutes. I heard of! I was still so thirsty, so I drank another bottle later on! This morning I woke up and was dying for a drink. Drank a whole 2 bottles of Ribena before 9! No matter how much I drink, I'm still so thirsty. Is this a common side effect of Tramadol? Has anyone else experienced this?
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I'm so ready to get off everything and I wish I could hit rewind. I want to try Suboxone. I have an appt on Tues to get a script. I am currently on 50mg Norco, 150-300 mg Tramadol (usually 150) and 1-2mg Xanax per day. I was on 450 mg Tramadol for 10 yrs (150 mg day previous five years). Norco escalated up but daily last two years (sporadic before that) hence why I dropped down Tramadol. Xanax for 3-4 years.
So..with those meds will the doctor give me Suboxone? Will he take me off both Norco and Tram at same time (my hope)?
Also..if all goes as planned and I start on Suboxone, how long before I can stop Sub? A friend was only on it two months and then just stopped. I do not want to be on anything. At this point the way I feel is worse than the pain..and actually Norco in increased doses makes me hurt more.
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I'm really disappointed in myself i'm 26 years old and suffer sciatica really bad in my buttocks nerves going down one leg and along my back. I recently changed my doctor to one closer to home. On my first appointment my doctor made it clear I needed weaned off the 400mg of tramadol and 400 mg I take a day I was prescribed them two years ago along with Sertraline 100mg a day for my anxiety. The doctor and I never discussed me becoming addicted ever, I haven't tried to stop taking them as it was never suggested before my current doctor told me I was most defiantly addicted I have to be considering the dosage I've been on every day and the length of time I've been on them.I have not had them for a few days once as I'd ran out and it was the weekend I wasn't too fused and knew I would get them on the Monday morning I felt fidgety and anxious didn't know ok w what to with myself all of Sunday and when I slept on Sunday night I had the sickest terrifying dream I woke up sweating and scared I don't know what I was scared of by I was for hours. Can this be withdrawal symptoms.
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will tramadol help ease my methadone withdrawal
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I'm taking clindamycin 300 mg every 6 hours and tramadol 50 mg every 6 hours (unless i'm a work it makes me sleepy) and the pain from my tooth abscess has gotten worse and now the swelling is spreading and my throat hurts. The pain from the tooth abscess has spread from the far left corner of my jaw to my ear and even under my chin. I can't see a dentist till next week and this is only getting worse. I already went to the er that is how i got these meds. The clindamycin is also making me very sick to my stomach. I ate some soup to take it last night and ended up hugging the trash can at my job for little over 20 min till nothing was left to come up. Please help this is getting out of control i can't even hardly help take care of my 2 month old baby because it hurts when she ends up touching the left side of my face!
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