aasharon90

Hi Im Sharon and Im an Alcoholic.

By the grace of my HP and people
like u here in SR I havent found it
necessary to pick up a drink of alcohol
since 8-11-90.

For that and u I am truely grateful.

My drug of choice was alcohol. So
when it came to drugs, prescriptions
I was pretty nieve about it.

What i dont understand is, is there
so much pain in the world or is one
person to have to resort to abusing
Tramadol?

I was involved in an accident back
in 1990 where i hit a concrete culvert
sitting on top the ground sending me
to the hospital for 10 days with numerous
broken ribs, a punctured slpeen and
other bones and contusions.

I was placed on pain medicine but
dont remember what it was. However
when i had no more pain to heal with
meds, i stopped the medicine.

Over and done with it.....of course i
returned to the drink which led me
to recovery.

Today if im in pain i can usually take
advil or tylenol. However in a few weeks
i will be getting a hip replacement.
There is pain now and there will be
pain to follow the operation.

With so much pain meds available and
those that ive read about on here,
i will use this to my advantage to make
sure im not perscribed pills that r habit
forming or narcotic.

Isnt that what u want instead of Tramadol?
Or is ur pain that servere?

Latte

Be honest with your doctor about your alcoholism. Post op pain is not chronic pain, you can hold up your recovery by not treating post op pain. While I think Ultram/Tramadol is an excellent medication, post hip surgery pain may be more than it can relieve.

I wish you luck with your surgery.

joedris

Talk to your doctor and anestheologist. You do not wnat to go through the pain brought on by joint replacement. If your pain meds are taken correctly and monitored by your doctor, you should'nt have a problem. Sometimes its necessary for us to take a narcotic and it can be done safely. Controlling the pain also hastens recovery from surgery. Ultram is a good med, but it won't handle your initial pain, believe me. I've been through it.

Angelic17

I was given Tramadol for arthritis in both arms. I researched the medication and learned that it IS habit forming. My pharmacy which is CVS gives a printout on all the meds you fill there. Even though it is not narcotic, and you don't get any euphoria from this drug, it is still addictive. So, if your going to use addictive medication, it might as well be something that will really kill your pain. Discuss this with your doctor. Sometimes you need to use medication. Especially after surgery. Just be careful.

JusToday

Just to add a personal perspective to what Angelic said: Tramadol is part of the opiate family, but is not considered a narcotic. Unfortunately, people can and do become addicted to them and abuse them. They do, also, have a different (all be it mild compared to to other opiates), but minor euphoria that lasts considerably longer than most other opiates. I know this by first hand abuse. And taking more than prescribed can increase this euphoria to a decent degree.

This is your journey of recovery, so if you choose to use pain med's increase your accountability during that time. If not, know that you pain will diminish over time and more power to you! Whatever you do, do it to make sure you can keep "sober thinking" clear.

aasharon90

If ur addicted to Tramadol then why do use it and
why do u want to get off of it? Do u still have pain?
Do u do crazy things when ur on Tramadol?

How does it make u feel when u use too much
of it?

Angelic17

aasharon, I am not addicted to tramadol. When I took it which was last September for a pinched nerve and arthritis, it did not make me feel anything. I didn't abuse it, and I am not addicted to it. I read that it is addictive, and just used it very sparingly when I was in agonizing pain. I haven't taken it since October. But I did have to wean off. Instead of taking 4 a day, I took 3 a day, then 2 and then down to none. I don't know of anyone who was addicted to it. I'm just quoting what the pharmacy printout said. Good luck to you in your surgery, and what ever medication you use to help you.

Freedom1990

Sharon, be honest with your surgeon and discuss pain management beforehand.

I had a toe amputated a few years ago, and was prescribed ultracet (tramadol) for pain, 5 days worth. I took it as prescribed, and had no problems once I was done with it.

Now when I had hernia surgery in January, both the surgeon and I thought it was going to be laparoscopic. That was a lesson hard learned as I woke up with 6" worth of staples. I was also shuttled right back out of the hospital the same day, with a script for endocet, which I had no idea was hydrocodone.

That is on my chart as a med never to prescribe again! I was bananas for a month after I was done with it, mood swings all over the place.

I also make sure any time I have had surgery to let my support system within AA know, and I got back to meetings as soon as I was able to.

kj3880

Several questions here:

"If ur addicted to Tramadol, why would you take it?"
Well Sharon, for many of us, we took it for the same reason you drank until you got into recovery when you were addicted to alcohol: We are addicts!!!

"Do u do crazy things when ur on Tramadol?"

No, not usually. Unless you are mentally "unusual" to begin, opiates don't alter your perception of reality, although they induce euphoria. Some of us did/do some bad things to get our DOC, but they weren't "crazy" in the way you're probably talking about. We just went to any extreme to get them, such as stealing, selling ourselves, stuff like that. More desperate than crazy. But that, for most of us, was after the addiction was well-established. I never ended up doing any of that stuff. By the grace of God, yet.

"How does it make u feel when u do too much?"
lol...one was too many, and a thousand was never enough, Sharon...
but seriously, most people who aren't addicts feel a bit spacey and sleepy, nothing really serious on regular dose. On a higher dose, just real sleepy and spacey. Once you're addicted though, you go through a boost in energy, clean your house, experience euphoria, then crash and get real cranky. Then try and find more pills. Lather, rinse, repeat...

So, no dancing on tables, lampshade on head type of antics...sorry to disappoint!!!

Don't beat yourself up about this, call your sponsor. Lots of us have to take pain meds in recovery. You're right to be concerned, but if you stay honest with yourself and in close touch with sponsor and higher power, and maybe let someone else monitor your med useage, you'll be ok.

Love,
KJ

Aysha

I amprescribed tram for chronic pain.
I have taken alot more than prescribed a couple times. But usualy after comin of a crack binge. Otherwise I either dont take them as often as prescribed or not everyday.

It did give me euphoria, loads of energy. I got really itchy and couldnt pee to save my life.
I would have to but it was like I couldnt relax my muscles to do so.
It was weird. And it does last a pretty long time.

But they make me real sick to my stomach and almost always get sick when I take more than prescribed. Which hasnt been too many times in the year that I have been taking them.

They are an opioid. Should probably be classified as a narcotic.

Jadmack25

Was prescribed Tramadol about 5 years ago for chronic sciatica and back and neck pain. Didn't do much for the pain, but within 36 hours my heart pounded in my chest and I was shaky as if I badly needed a drink. My Abf couldn't believe what he saw when I used both hands to try and drink a cup of tea. He reckoned I was worse than him when in withdrawal, Ho Ho Ho. My GP nearly had a fit and has listed it as a big no no for me as it seems I am unable to tolerate whatever is in it. Scared the whoops out of me.

Mark75

I took some tramadol a couple of times... there was definitely a buzz going on and it was relaxing... but if I took a second dose within 24 hours, I got nauseated and what was worse, very dizzy... I hated it.

tramadol is supposed to affect only the nervous system pain receptors and not affect the feel good receptors... hence it's not supposed to be addictive. But for some it is addictive, and no drug does exactly what they say it does...

Mark

Future22

Tramadol can be just as bad as hydrocodone or other opiates. I was prescribed Tramadol February 2nd and like to do a tons of research on medications I put into my body.

From what I gathered, doctors believe Tramadol is not as addictive as other opiates. However, Tramadol is highly addictive and also has been said to have worse withdrawal symptoms(some people reported withdrawal symptoms with 2-3 days of prescribed use) than opiates because it also appears to have actions on the GABAergic, noradrenergic, and serotonergic systems in the brain.

It is also very dangerous to take for someone who is drinking or stops drinking (which you shouldnt be drinking while on pain meds) as it can DRASTICALLY increase the likelihood on seizures.