lauren91

This is my first post and I'm a little nervous but I need to start trying to kick this awful habit. I decided to share my experience with addiction in hopes to finally be able to stop using tramadol. My first time ever taking it was when I was 15. My mom would give it to me because I've always had horrible menstrual cramps. By the time I was 16 I started stealing them from her. I've always had problems with anxiety and depression so they would help me with that. When I was 17 I realized I needed to stop. Around this time I found out I have a kidney problem and one of my kidneys doesn't filter like it should. She then started hiding them from me but never would confront me about it. I remember lying on my boyfriend's couch going through withdrawal. I felt like bugs were crawling on my skin and I was really weak. I promised myself I'd never let myself go through that again.
Well here I am at 19 addicted again. I started about 3 months ago. Me and my boyfriend of 4 years were going through a rough patch. I had constant anxiety so I did the only thing I knew would make me feel better. I started stealing them from my mom again. At first it was just to get me through the first couple weeks then the day I tried to stop I laid in bed with body aches and nausea. I'm to the point where I hate myself. I'm depressed everyday and I just want to stop. I can't go more than 24 hours or I get the bug feeling and I get extremely weak. I can't go to a doctor because I don't have insurance or trust me I would have already been there. Being an addict terrifies me. I've even tried heroin but somehow I've always kept myself away from it long enough to not get addicted. I'm at my wits end. I need help. If anyone has any advice that'd be awesome.

chicory

Hi Lauren,

Glad you are here, and reaching out. You can do this-many do! There is a lot of good advice here, and experience to help you.
My son was given tramadol once for sinus pain, and he has not given up the desire for getting it again, and gets mad that no one will issue it to him. I am worried about this drug, for a lot of people are getting addicted to it.

Your mom seems to have this drug at all times. Hope she is not addicted as well.

Withdrawals are not easy, but they pass, and you can get through this. I am sure that someone will be along to help soon.
a hello from a fellow ohioan .good luck to you, you are doing the right thing, in getting off this sneaky drug.

hugs
chicory

tbeit

You are what I call on the fence this needs to stop. I think you should find an NA meeting and get to it today if you hurry you could get the morning meeting. The heroin scares me you dont want to go down that road trust me I know. Good Luck you can do this with the help of some kind of program NA or AA is my suggestion

PaisleyHalo

Hi, I'm new to the forum. This is my first post

Lauren my prayers are with you sweetheart!

I have had various addictions over the years but have managed to steer clear of opiates. Last week the doctor prescribed me Tramadol for pain.I realised after 5 days that I was using them more for the buzz and anti depressant qualities than for physical pain. I stopped taking them 2 days ago and have had awful physical and mental withdrawals ( or a comedown) already. I kept hold of the pills and was planning on taking a few more next week until i read some of the horror stories about Tramadol on this site.
I just flushed them down the toilet ( even though whatever angel inspired me to do it had to prize them from my clammy hands!)
I am still battling some other issues and am motivated to attend a local NA meeting next week.

God bless xx

PaisleyHalo

Chicory.. Perhaps it may be an idea to show your son some of the Tramadol posts on here!

God Bless

N

Aysha

Tramadol is such a sneaky drug. First of all it isnt classified when it should be. Alot of people addicted to opiate pills fly under the radar by asking for those instead of narcs. There is talk of classifying it very soon. My dr is aware of its addictiveness. But he still prescribes them to me anyway. But I do not abuse them . I really take them for what they are intended for. And they do work gre3at for my arthritis pain. But I also like the false sense of well being that goes along with it and the high level of energy. ANd the withdrawl is hell. When I was in Fl just recently I had no insurance and no Dr. I have been taking for like 3 yrs now and I have never felt so horrible in my life. Coming off a week crack binge didnt even feel as bad.
This drug needs alot of advocacey for awareness.

CarolD

Trish..
My doctor allows me 30 every 90 days for my arthritis...daily a Motrin 800 also by script.

I;ve not had either the sense of well being or the increased energy you mentioned...only a ease from pain.
Never had a withdrawal ..probably because I don't use them often.

Glad to see you here again...

Aysha

I am prescribed the max which is 180 a month. I have severe arthritis in ym knees hip and back. And they do give me alot of energy and a serious false sense of well being. I dont get a buzz just a feeling of being normal and capable when otherwise I feel withdrawn and uninterested.
Glad to be back..thx.

Latte

Welcome. I'm so glad you are here.

FT

Aysha,

Go to any AA (maybe NA too) website and go through the checklist of how to tell if you have an alcohol problem, and apply the questions to your Tramadol use.

You just gave a pretty good description of addiction.

I also have severe osteoarthritis in all joints, which was so bad I had both knees replaced in 2009. That's what led me into a 2 year oxy addiction, which I stopped in December.

I would figure out a way to get off Tramadol before you "graduate" to the next rung up. Opiate addiction does NOT get better, only worse.

FT

opmloser

Glad to see you here-I joined SR when I stopped using opiates and pretty much stayed on here til the itchies/crawlies went away. And they do, so take heart! It lasts a few days typically; if you spend some time going through the threads on this board you'll find a good deal of things that can help ease the withdrawals.
Best of luck to you and hope to see you post throughout your recovery!

Hawk25

hey lauren, I dont have many posts on the forum but I lurk around on here alot, and I use to do tramadol (I'm around your age too), so I totally know what your going through (i'm a pro at tramadol trust me). The bug feeling sucks, when I stopped taking the pills I would feel the bugs and I would get a really bad case of "nothing is real". I would feel so disconnected from reality that I would get scared out of my mind and take pills again. Then the bugs would crawl on me, and I would feel high but in reverse (which is bad), as well as a million other things.

There's a few things you need to understand about Tramadol. the first is that most of your withdrawal probably isin't even from the opiate, the opiate from what I understand, sucks really bad, it just randomly hits stuff in your brain and is pretty much useless. most of your withdrawal is actually from the snri. Yes, tramadol is both a opiate and a anti depressant. Unlike most anti-depressant, which are ssri, tramadol is an snri, you can look this up snri to learn more about it. So when you stop taking tramadol, its like coming off of a opiate and anti-depressant. But like I said, the opiate probably isin't doing much, its the snri.


My next question is, how much are you taking? and how much do you try to cut down on? I was taking 4 pills everyday for 2 years, (thats when I took them as prescribed) I could only handle going down 1/8th of a pill every 2 weeks. But i'm extremely sensitive to everything (i'm an artist, so even though I'm a guy, I'm worse then a girl, ha ha). The only thing that really helps is exercise. I cannot stress this enough. Get an exercise bike and do that for 40min every other day, it will help ALOT. Withdrawl from tram starts after 24 hours of missing the last dose. The worst withdrawl is experienced within the first 3 days, after that it breaks up a bit, total physical withdrawal lasts about a week. after that its mostly mental. from what I understand from your post, you haven't taken it for a while but got back on it and have only taken it for a few months now. please stop while you can. I know it feels impossible, but imagine taking this stuff for years.

Anyway, I'm here if you need to talk, I got like no friends and I'm pretty sure I'm suffering from PAWS but I know I can do this and so can you. One thing you got to remember is that tramadol will screw up your mind beyond belief when your coming off of it. Having someone there with you will help you out alot. If you need to talk, hit me up on here, if you need, ill even give you my phone number if that will help. I really feel for you, tramadol is the worst stuff ever, your in my prayers..

lauren91

Well I was taking 3-4 a day. I'm down to 1.5, it's an extremely hard process but I'm really trying. The worst part now is extreme depression. I'm trying to get in to a doctor asap because it's getting unbearable. All I do is cry and sleep. Thank you to everyone for all of the support.

FT

The depression should be addressed by your doc.

A vicious cycle can develop between opiates and depression (yes, tram is an opiate). The opiate "fixes" the depression, but stops working unless you increase the dose, so you get more depression. Try and stop the opiate again and the depression is worse than before you started. That's one of the things that keeps driving the doses higher and higher.

Now that you are at 1.5, it is a perfect time to show your doc that you mean it when you say you want to stop.

justbme

Well, my eperience with Tramadol just started Saturday. After Friday being the last day I had taken any norco (oxys before that) Not real clean time in between. I went to see my old sponsor who is VERY ill. I told her the truth about everything. She can't be my sponsor anymore cuz she no longer does meetings and due to her illness. She said she had some Tramadol (never heard of it before) and that it would help with the "pain" of the withdrawls and not addictive not narcotic. I took them. After taking them Sat and Sun THEN the addict in me noticed how I was feeling and decided to research the drug. Well, she was WRONG. So ...I'm back at day 1..1pm will be 24hrs AGAIN...withdrawls haven't totally kicked in (from norco and oxy it SUCKS)...but I have the "bathroom episodes", jitters, even had to make a list of things I'm suppose to do today cuz I can't focus. Hope the best for you and all of us in this situation. Apparently, everyone here is right...need more info out there about this drug. My old sponsor would not have given them to me if she had really known the truth about the drug.

FT

Hey justbme,

I am glad to see you here this morning.

It may not be the tramadol, but just the withdrawal you would have had anyway. That was stupid of your sponsor to give you tramadol. A SPONSOR? Give me a break. (not you, her)

You were very wise to research the tramadol, as it is very addicting for many people, especially addicts to something else.

So, don't feel you are back on day 1. You are probably just going through the withdrawals you would anyway.

I would tell that so called sponsor that she is DEAD WRONG about the tramadol, and if she is taking it, she is not clean.

Keep up the good work. The days in withdrawal are like money in the bank. You just gotta "pay your dues" and very quickly you will start to see the benefits. You won't feel good about it for at least a week while you withdraw, though. If it takes less time, then great. Your dose wasn't that high, so you may get off easy stopping the drugs so early on.

FT

Latte

Tramadol is a tricky one.

I agree with finding some mental health help (many counties have mental health that is low/no cost).