Shown: posts 1 to 6 of 6. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by ChuckChuckAlong on April 25, 2009, at 17:42:50
I've been taking Tramadol 100mg 2x/day for about a year now due to Fibromyalgia like symptoms. I no longer have the pain and have reduced my dose to just 50mg/day.
I can't believe this would cause crazy anxiety and panic attacks like I've never had. This is day #3 at this dose and I can't think straight and having headaches galore. Every muscle group in my body is also very tight. Is this withdrawal ?
I will take the second dose again tonight and see if this helps, but in the mean time, I've been eating Xanax like candy. I was reading on the half life of this drug and it is about 7 hours or so.
I don't have insurance and can't afford a Dr. right now.
How the heck should I taper this drug ?
Should the morning and pm dose be reduced by the same due to the half life ? Do I need to keep both doses due to the half life ?
I can't believe how chemically my body is dependent on this drug. Please post some advice for me.
Chuck
Posted by Phillipa on April 25, 2009, at 23:25:24
In reply to Tramadol Withdrawal Question...Anxiety is crazy, posted by ChuckChuckAlong on April 25, 2009, at 17:42:50
Chuck answered your thread above. Suggest also you google tramadol form own conclusions are really feel you've lowered the dose much too fast. Love Phillipa
Posted by bleauberry on April 26, 2009, at 18:04:05
In reply to Tramadol Withdrawal Question...Anxiety is crazy, posted by ChuckChuckAlong on April 25, 2009, at 17:42:50
I've been through a bunch of psych drug withdrawals, but not tramadol or opiates. But the strategy remains the same. Which is, slow and in tiny steps.
Rather than setting a preconceived dose target, reduce your dose in a way that is tolerable. You'll know when you overdid it, as you are feeling right now, and you'll know when you are ready to take another step.
Tramadol pills can be customized by breaking them, pulverizing them into powder, or cutting them with a pill splitter, razor blade, or knife. Doses do not need to be exact. Close is close enough.
Keep doing the twice a day dosing. What you want is for the blood level to very gradually decline over time, without any huge ups and downs which you would get if you did once a day dosing.
Example: 3 days at 90mg twice a day; 3 days at 80mg twice a day; 3 days at 70mg twice a day; oops, overdid it, back up to 80mg for a couple days; 70mg for 3 days...and so on. Maybe it is 5 days at each step, maybe just 2, maybe 10. Maybe you drop dose by 5mg instead of 10mg. You don't know. You have to let your reaction be the steering wheel. You won't know what your next move is until after you see what happens from your last move.
Basically, drop the doses down in tiny little steps. My worst withdrawal was from Zyprexa 5mg. It took me 3 months, dropping the dosage by tiny little chunks off the pill, maybe .25mg at a time max.
Tramadol isn't a strong opioid, but it is an opioid. So that is hard enough. But, it is also an SNRI, similar to Effexor. Effexor has about the worst withdrawals of all the ADs. So you are withdrawing from serotonin reuptake inhibition, norepinephrine reuptake inhibition, opioid action, all at the same time.
Take it slow and easy and it will work out. If it takes 3 months to accomplish what you hoped would be 3 weeks, so be it. Be safe.
If you absolutely need a benzo for anti-anxiety during withdrawal, just realize that you will also have to withdraw from that at some point, which is not fun either. You might want to use longer acting ones such as Klonopin or Valium rather than Xanax, and take them only when you absolutely need them, not on a prearranged schedule. Xanax can actually set you up for even worse anxiety. As it wears off with its very quick halflife, anxiety is worse than before you took it, added on top of the tramadol withdrawal anxiety. Not pretty.
For Effexor or Paxil withdrawals, there is a strategy of taking small doses of Prozac every other day or so. It's long life and similar function makes it a bit easier to withdraw from short life similar meds such as Effexor.
Posted by sam K on April 26, 2009, at 18:28:49
In reply to Tramadol Withdrawal Question...Anxiety is crazy, posted by ChuckChuckAlong on April 25, 2009, at 17:42:50
i suggest dextromethophran, the stuff in cough syrup. you can get it at the store. i think it feels like tramodol and it has articles/whatever about it helping. i hope i helped. good luck chuck
Posted by Phillipa on April 26, 2009, at 22:44:19
In reply to Re: Tramadol Withdrawal Question...Anxiety is crazy » ChuckChuckAlong, posted by bleauberry on April 26, 2009, at 18:04:05
Xanax never did that to me. And have switched benzos over the years with ease. Why does he have to get off them at some point. I've been on them for close to 40 years now and sometimes need them sometimes not and no problems with taking tiny doses. Used .125 of xanax for a very long time. It wasn't til thyroid problems that needed more. Right now weaning down as they make me tired used to boost me out of anxiety. I find them much more forgiving than an ad. That's just me of course as we're all different. Like cymbalta just went from 60mg to 30mg no withdrawal and then off. Took for over three months. But the ad's don't work for me so maybe that's why and maybe it isn't. I don't know. Phillipa
Posted by bleauberry on April 27, 2009, at 18:54:31
In reply to Tramadol Withdrawal Question...Anxiety is crazy, posted by ChuckChuckAlong on April 25, 2009, at 17:42:50
Oh yes, thank you SamK for reminding me of a good idea. I can't believe I forgot about this one. I usually think of it in terms of Effexor, so the tramadol thing threw me off. Not to mention my scatter brain.
Anyway, many patients and doctors have reported that a simple over the counter med is very helpful with effexor withdrawals, and could likely therefore help tramadol withdrawals. It is...Benadryl.
Don't ask me why because I don't know. I don't think anyone knows. It just is.
This is the end of the thread.
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