Getting off Ultram - need support

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julius32

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Hi all,
I'm new here. I'm a 34 year old mom and special education assistant. I'm currently in school completing my teaching degree.

I've been on Ultram (2 -50mg/twice/day) for approx. 10 months. I was diagnosed with fibro and having a protruding disc in my neck. I want off this medicine so bad. I am ready to deal with the fibro/neck pain without it. The problem is that I HAVE to work, go to school and I have 3 children that I have to take care of. My husband is not home alot as he is trying to run a small business to make money. It's not an option to take off work as my husband is laid off. I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow afternoon and really don't even know what I want her to do for me. I have been trying to taper. Some days are better than others. Yesterday and today were horrible with anxiety. I just don't know how to do this and still keep going "normally" taking care of all of my responsibilites.... Any advise would be greatly appreciated. Have any of you had to keep going with your normal schedules and gotten off of Ultram successfully?
 
I had a very difficult time getting off the Ultram. I had been taking 400mg/day for over a year. I thought once I got down to 100mg/day that I would just stop taking it - no bid deal right? wrong! I ended up very depressed, not stop crying, dizzy spells, anxiety, lightheaded and could not drive or make it to work. This is what I had to do:

1. Go back on the 100mg/day dose
2. Start a reasonable tapering schedule and I mean taking 6-8 weeks to get off the 100mg/day. I dropped it by 25mg, yeah you need to get the 25mg pill dosage.

3. I dropped by 25mg every 2 weeks. You said you are taking 200mg/day so it all depenRAB on how quickly you decide to taper. You could try droping 25mg every 1 week which would take you 8 weeks to get off them but YOU MUST GET THE 25MG PILL OF ULTRAM TO DO THIS or get a pill splitter and cut the 50mg pill in half

4. I had to start on an anti-depressant when I got down to 50mg/day. It helped with the anxiety and my depression came back with a vengeance too. I had major depression before I started on the Ultram so it made sense that it came back and I had to go on an anti-depressant.

The Ultram(tramadol) has anti-depressant qualities beacause it effects norepinepherine & serotonin just like many of the anti-depressants do. It also has mild opiod effects so it really is like an opiod pain med + anti-depressant corabined. This is the reason that it can be even harder to get off Ultram than many of the other narcotic pain medications. If you feel that you need an anti-depressant for the depression and anxiety then I highly recommend it. I take Lexapro for it. Good luck and let us know what happens.

brian
 
Well they wanted to keep me for 3-5 days but wanted to concentrate on the anxiety/depression and almost ignore the ultram the first couple of days. I told them it was the ultram that was causing the other and I wanted to start detox right away... they just weren't getting it. So... I'm at home. I haven't had an ultram since 7:30am yesterday, so it's been 32 hours. I'm doing better than I thought I would be. The hardest part is just never feeling like I can get comfortable.... and the weakness, so I can only stand so long.... oh... and of course the crying spells... I took the first zoloft last night ..... it's only time right?
 
i can swear to you that the anxiety does pass!!!! after about day 5 from my last ultram i was a new person, but i had to ride it out. every-time i wanted to pic up a pill i had to just remeraber all the post of people telling me to hang tight and ride it out! the faster you taper the faster you get to feeling allot better. you can do it, thousanRAB of us have!!!! your going to feel great!
 
I've decided that I'm just going to tell her to do whatever she feels I need... I can't do this... I really don't even care if they put me in rehab... I hate this... this anxiety is horrible.... if it weren't for my kiRAB and my faith... I don't know where I would be after these last 2 days.... they are the only thing giving me the will to live.

I'm so afraid that my work will find out about this and I'll be fired... can doctor's/hospitals do that?
 
I took Ultram for about a year (50 mg 3 times a day) for a serious neck problem. The medicine affects serotonin uptake much like an antidepressant, and that probably accounts for your anxiety and depression when quitting. Hope your doctor can help with this.

I quit cold without any problems when my neck finally improved, but I know Ultram (tramadol) causes withdrawal problems for many.

RegarRAB
Bill
 
Hopefully the Zoloft will kick in and help since it will help to boost your serotonin. However, the ultram effects norepinepherine too so it might not take care of things completely and you might feel "weird things" for a week or so. Some places just don't get how bad Ultram can be and that you can't just stop taking it.

brian
 
Thank you so much for your replies... Brian, I tried the taper thing for a few days but the anxiety/depression isn't letting up. I'm beating myself up for even being in this place....

The doctor yesterday gave me something called vesteril? I took it last night and couldn't even drive home from class. My husband had to come get me 30 minutes away... it only lasted about 2 hours also.

I have another appointment this afternoon with a local center that specializes in dependancy. They are going to access me and see if I need to be admitted. I will let you know...

Again, thank you so much for replying!!
 
It's been 57 hours since the last Ultram..... I'm still having anxiety issues... they aren't as frequent during the day. Last night was pretty rough. I took some of the Vesivil they gave me and 2 - 3mg melatonin tabs and finally finally went to sleep....I'm really hoping after I past the 72 hour mark it will get better...
 
Hey Julius, forgive me I a little confused. You are taking 2 50's twice a day? That is a fairly low dose of one of the lesser pain meRAB.. The only reason I say that is do you think you are physically addicted or dependent to the drug? Is it making you feel bad? Or is it more a mental thing? If you are in pain, you are really not taking a strong med for pain.

If you want off and are going to be talking to the doctor, she may just have you taper off the med. You are on so low a dose already, that it shouldn't take you too long.

I am a chronic pain patient and am on pain meRAB but stronger than yours. Hopefully some others will pop on in and offer some more advice.

Take care
Melissa
 
Well it has been 78 hours .... I'm feeling a little stronger physically, but emotionally I'm on a major roller-coaster... crying on and off constantly.... when does this stop??? :(
 
julius,
That is why I said you may need an anti-depressant plus something short term for the anxiety. Obviously the depression is very powerful. I can not even explain how powerful it is. When I decided to go from 100mg to nothing, I nearly killed myself. I was at the point of giving up, crying uncontrollably, seeing no hope in the future. That is why I made the decision to start on an anti-depressant. There are several anti-depressant that are also good for anxiety such as Lexapro, and Buspar. Keep those in mind and hopefully the place you go to will start you out on one of these. Just know that it can be done and once you get off the Ultram (throw them in the toilet and flush them). I will never, ever take those things again.

brian
 
Boxer,

I'm not really sure to be quite honest. It sure feels physical... All I know is that when I decided that I didn't want to take it anymore (I have figured out some things that trigger my fibro pain and want to control it that way)... within 24 hours I felt like my heart was going to come out of my chest, I couldn't stop crying, and my legs ached and were so restless I didn't know what to do. I have since gone back on the same dosage and made the doctor's appointment. My regular doctor told me to drop down to 1 pill twice a day and the symptoms came right back as I described... :(
 
Well, at one point I was on ONE Percocet daily (a grand total of 5 mg), and I definitely felt WD symptoms without it. I used to take it at night -- kind of like my evening cocktail. Well, then, the symptoms started hitting me earlier and earlier, to the point where I'd have to take a quarter-pill at work so I wasn't yawning and sniffling in meetings. When I had to get off the Perc briefly for an upcoming employment drug test, I tapered a quarter-pill at a time. (When I didn't get the job, I popped a Perc to console myself....and that merry-go-round hasn't stopped for four years....).

So my point being, if your system is anything like mine, I don't doubt at all that you could be feeling crappy, even if you're not on a strong narcotic.

Doctors seem to think it should be easy to just eliminate a pill. I thought so too....until I was educated about "percentages" of reductions (on this board). Going from two pills per day to one is a 50% reduction -- too much! I've done much better following Reachout's recommendation of 10% reductions.

Good luck tomorrow! Please let us know how you make out.
 
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