Ultram Addiction

[Gretch]

Hi. I'm new to this forum and I was wondering if there is anyone out there with a loved one with an addiction to Ultram? My husband was prescribed the medication 10 years ago when he was in a snowmobile accident. He was told that it was non-addictive but 10 years later it has taken over our lives. He has suffered grand maul seizure (side effect of this drug) and also went to residential rehab for 2 weeks only to leave because he said he did not believe in it. He was clean for a short time but three weeks ago, I discovered the pills again. Unfortunately, Ultram is so easily available online!! I have the online pharmacies calling at least three times a day trying to get a hold of him to refill prescriptions. When I found the medication, my daughters and I left the house and stayed with friends. He immediately boarded a plan and went to Meditox in Palm Beach for three days and came home. He has yet to get outpatient treatment and I am on the cliff ready to jump to divorce. I am VERY untrusting and VERY skeptical of his method for recovery. Is there anyone out there that has any advice!!!! PLEASE HELP!!

[caileesnana]

Welcome,
I don't have any advise but others will be along who do! There are some great people here who can help you.
You are in my prayers,
susan

[hope213]

welcome to S.R..sorry, i do not know anything about the drug. i can tell you that there is not a thing you can do for your husband but pray for him. everybody here has an addict in there life, mine is my son.i have had to let go of him & i gave him to my H.P. i did not CAUSE it,i can not CONTROL it & i can not CURE it.your husband can not get any better unless he wants to. it sounds as if he is not ready or he would be in a recovery program.now is the time to learn to take care of yourself. it is only going to get worse.read all the stickys at the top of the forum"what addicts do". read all the post by others.there is alot of help here for you.keep coming back & i will say a prayer for you,& your husband.

[booklover]

I know that I was prescribed this very drug after a car accident when I was 19. It wasn't very serious so I ended up only taking a few. I had a farily new friend who asked if he could have the rest...he said he had a lot of back pain and couldn't afford meds. We then both ranted on the failute of American healthcare and how it is so sad when someone in pain has to suffer because of money. I thought the pills were just a step up from Tylenol. I let him have them thinking I had done the right thing. He didn't have back pain...he just wanted drugs and looking back, he knew a lot about the medicene. I didn't do drugs and didn't have any friends that did...I was naive and trusting. He took them all pretty quickily and came to me and tried to pay me to get my doctor to get me a refill. He said it was an amazing high. I was stunned, refused and ended the friendship. So my only experience is that it can be addictive and used for recreation.

[tropikgal2]

Uh, something about those "online pharmacies" is that most of them are based in China, India, and elsewhere in Southeast Asia. They go through a Canadian-based (and sometimes US) secondary mailing address so as not to be scrutinized by the US postal service. Many of those pills are counterfeit or something besides what they are supposed to be. Not that it matters to an addict, but whatever those pills are could possibly cause severe illness or even kill if used in combination with something else.
This is not only of a concern to those who's loved ones are addicts, but what about elderly people looking to save a buck on arthritis medicine, heart/blood pressure meds. etc??? It's a serious issue and one that people need to be more aware of.

[Ogly]

i don't know anything about the drug but my ex did try Meditox and was back to using heroin within 5 days of "being cured"... that was one of his 17 attempts to get clean before I left.....

I am sure it has worked for some but it did not in our case....

The best thing that you can do is take care of yourself first... Nothing you do to try to stop him is going to work unless he wants to top and trying to make him stop will make you nuts....

You have found a great support group here.... So please keep coming back...

Ogly.

[kj0975]

If you go to the substance abuse forum you will see alot of people struggle there with ultram. The online pharmacies can still sell this drug because its not in the same class as other opiates I'm not sure if its a controled substance or not. It should be cause its just as addicting as all the other ones.

I did buy this online once because I couldnt get any other pills and I used it to detox off the other pills. I didnt notice a high and I could just stop them. Then again my Drug of Choice was lortab so they didnt do what I liked the pills to do. The problem with the ultram is that you really have to watch how many you take cause over a certain amount can be a real danger to your life as you have seen. I hope your husband gets the help he needs to really stay clean for the rest of his life. I do understand how hard it is though. The cravings are so hard to get rid of and your mind tells you, you can control the pills. Just remember as much as you hate the pills I'm sure your husband hates them just as much but the withdrawls are so hard to get through when you know one pill will make them stop.

[Gretch]

Thank you everyone for your responses. I am truly exhausted with my thoughts of "what next". Its nice to know there are people out there that can relate to what you're going thru. My crusade for now is trying to do everything I can to shut down these online pharmacies!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Wascally Wabbit]

My xah who was addicted to oxycontin said Ultram did nothing for him.
I had it prescribed to me for severe back pain. I never even took one, but he took them all! So much for them not doing anything for him. I refused to get a refill.
That's my only experience with it.

[kate1323]

I hope that you still can get this message from me... This post is kinda old.. My husband is extremely addicted to Ultram and also has had the seizures!! If you do get this message from me, let me know. I am unable to do PM untill I have posted 5 times.. Thanks :-) I would really like to talk to you about this!!