I have had two total knee replacements on the same knee in two years. To say the pain was unbearable is an understatement. My problem is that after having 15 years clean and sober in AA I find myself detoxing from a drug they told me was not addicting. I have been taking Tramadol for about a year as prescribed, and have had it with pills, even though the pain in my knee is still there I know I will be better off without the pills. I gave my husband 90 pills on Fri. and went cold turkey. This detox is just as bad as the one I went through 20 years ago on percocet. Now I am finding out that it also has an anti-depressent in it that makes it worse to get out of your system. If anyone has detoxed off these pills, please let me know how long before I can sleep, eat, or feel the least bit better. Thanks

Hello Fresh Start..

Welcome..

I did some reading on Tramadol.. I feel for you ..

Apparently its considered to have a lower "abuse potential" than Tylenol #3 or Percocet, but it warns that it should not be used by someone who is addicted to opiates, because it is an opiate..

I detoxed off Oxycontin.. The really bad stuff ended in 4 days.. The medium quality bad stuff ended in 2 weeks.. and the sleep part is getting better now, after a month.. I know that Oxycontin is not Tramadol, but it appears that both are slow release.. perhaps they are similar.. Either way, they are both Opiates.. Sorry I cant help more..

Please keep posting.. anything, you can even yell if you want too.. The people here are awesome and all seem to have been where you and I are right now ..

Welcome fresh start. Congrats on the recovery focus.

Yes, a lot of folks have been caught up with the trammies. You could do a search, or I'm sure some will check in.

What daily dose did you jump of of? And any chance the doc can script some clonidine?

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I tried to do a taper but I'm an alcoholic in recovery and never tapered off anything.I really did try to stick to the script but took them sooner than recommended dose. I could take 8 a day and spread that out. I stopped after getting down to six.Not being able to sleep and the nausea is still very bad after 4 days. Also the anxiety. I did manage to get to a AA meeting .I have't been able to go to work. My husband dosen't understand even though he has been sober for 21 years, he never did any pills and thinks I should be fine in 3 days. I try to tell him about the brain zaps but he just looks at me or gets aggrivated.I know I have to hang in there and someday it will get better.

Hey....
I know exactly how you feel about your husband. I have the same problem. He thinks after X amount of days I should be better. He has never experienced depression or anxiety. But hang in there. We care, we understand. Don't worry or bother yourself about him, try to focus on your recovery. Let him know though, that you are not weak, you're actually very strong, look at you, you're making the first steps, and he should give you credit for that. Only an addict can understand and relate to another addict. Keep posting and remember, we care, we want to hear from you!! Peace-Ali

Hi Fresh
The anxiety was the worst for me when I used Ultram ER. You are at 4 days & should start to feel a tiny bit better. Do you have anything for anxiety? If not then go to the store & get Calms Forte or something like GABA Calm (I get that on line at iherb) or valerian or melatonin or all of them LOL. Do you have diarrhea, Imodium helps with that & does clam me a bit, has an opiate quality to it. Just a few suggestions. Also hot baths or showers to relax you. For nausea try regular pepto to soothe your stomach, ginger ale or ginger tea, flat coke & they also have cola syrup that is an old fashioned remedy for nausea. You may have to ask the pharmacist for the cola syrup.
Hang in there & just know it will get better, it takes time. Try to keep busy so you are not focused on feeling like crap. Maybe try to go to work even for half day (what do you do for work) Before you know it the time will have passed & you will be fine. I think there is a thread here on Trammies (tramadol). Only an opiate addict can understand how we feel..
keep posting & others will pop in with suggestions.

Welcome to the board! I used to take Tramadol to get through the times I didn't have what I really needed. Even now, with over two years clean and sober, doctors who think that they are doing me a service by giving me something "non addictive" still prescribe me Tramadol for pain. I don't take it, mind you but it's just proof that more often than not, doctors don't know the first thing about addiction!
As for how long until you feel better, everyone is different. Kudos for you admitting that with your past, tapering is not an option for you. See, we're addicts..if we could control it, we wouldn't be!! That's why I say tapering, in theory can be done. God bless you if you can though.
Do you still attend meetings? I go every day and even do the work.

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Listen: for this addict, the rooms of AA were the last thing I tried and the first thing that worked, but it only works if you work it.

Hi Ali
You go Girl! You sound a little better every day. What did you decide to do about meetings? 5 days a week or 3?
How are you this morning? I am so happy you are posting & reading, it really helps & we really care about each other on this board. Funny isn't it how strangers can relate & support one another..

Fresh: Here we go...someone who knows exactly how you feel! there is a ton of support here so just keep posting like Ali said.

It is going into the sixth day since I had any Tramadol and I can't say I feel much better except for the rls at night. I have managed to get to a few AA meetings and that helped a little. I woke up after a few hours of sleep and just was in a ball crying for God to please give me a little sign that I will feel better soon. Still bad naseau and diaharea. Haven't been able to eat much or work. Husband is not very supportive, thinks I should be fine and back to life.
I just needed to vent. Thanks for any support.

Fresh, hear me out.....tell your husband to read these posts and other threads. We are not weak, it takes time, our bodies have been used of something synthetic to produce pain killers. Once we started taking meds ,our bodies no longer made them. Now our bodies are getting back to working for itself. It sucks, but its going to take some time.

I know how you feel when it comes to your husband. I've tried detoxing at home, for ten days I stayed in bed, sweating out 5-7 shirts a day/night. And he might have come checked on me once a day. He is a lil different now,understands more now,about the addiction part. He has no idea about depression or anxiety,but has told me he will read up on it.

Tell him that there is no way he can totally understand what you're going through, unless he has gone through it himself. I don't know what he has said to you, but my husband thought that I could just bounce back, go back to who I was before all the meds. But then I explained the "my body no longer produced natural pain -relief,due to the synthetic meds I was taking,was taking its place". Kinda shined a lil light on why and how to him. Let me know what his issues are and we can address them. There's no reason for you to have to worry about him, you need to concentrate on getting better.Let him know its going to take some time,plain and simple. Both must be patient.

Please,keep posting,we care about you and want to see you get better!!! I've found soo much support, Especially from Sorryone/R,Anne,Jdude,Sluggo,there's many more,but my memory fails me at the moment. We're here,not going anywhere,God bless you!! And keep strong,YOU CAN DO IT!!!

Oh,one more thing...try your best to take in some vitamins. The drugs have robbed your body of nutrients that it needs.Replace whats missing. Even if it's a multi-vitamin. I think Sorryone mentioned hot/warm baths/showers(if you can stand)....do whatever makes it easier for you.God bless you!!!

Thanks for all the feedback. My husband should understand, he has been sober in AA for 21 years but he never did pills and doesn't have a clue. I went to a meeting today with my sponsor and feel a little better becasue I could get some stuff out. I am 17 years off the booze and this is alot harder to detox from.I have to bring it back to basics and one day at a time.

You are doing so well so far and yes a fresh start is what you will get.
Funny how most people do not get addiction. Hon, I will tell you honestly that most people told me my son was a horrible person and belonged in jail, that he should simply stop the heroin and get his life back. Did they realize he could not stop on his own? NO. and would jail have stopped him? Well my h/b spent 7 years in San Quentin and Fulsome prison and got out and started using again. He learned nothing about recovery in there, although that was back in the 60s. My son also stood before jail time in COURT at 21 years old, same age my h/b went to jail. I decided that he could not/would not live that legacy to do drugs until death, like his father. I went to Court and pleaded with that Judge, while my son stood there in full detox wondering what was going on. I walked him out of that Court, to his total confusion, and drove him to detox (for the 4th time), and finally it took, he got out and went to rehab for 30 days, calling me all the time to come get him out! By then I KNEW he had to stay, but was unable to tell him no, so my younger son would get on the phone and say mom will not pick you up until they release you and you have someplace to go. So then he went to sober living and grew up. this was my son, yet people hated him and thought what he did was intentional, no one understood his pain and shame, but me. I could see it in his face. I knew he had not laughed or been himself in 4 years of addiction, and I WANTED him back and alive.

It was not the people who loved him who were able to help him, it was he who helped himself. I supported him when he chose the right things, like sober living and rehab, after I figured it out, before that I was the enabler, trying to save him, running after him trying to prevent him from copping, running to his boarding room to breathe life back into him, and listening to him scream how much he hated me when he came to.

Recovery will change your life, just like it did with my son. But my son had to put recovery first in his life, before me, before his g/f, before anyone or anything came recovery and that was how he survived. That is how you will too. Do not expect your h/b to understand the nuances of pain medication addiction, cause he does not. He might read a book or go to ALANON, but he might still not get it. For you, it is important to know that this is totally your journey, just as my son told me when he finally got it. Suddenly in recovery I came after recovery, and I had to plan a month ahead to find a day in his schedule of meetings and events to get time with him. He worked so very hard, he got to the point where he was speaking all over the state at detox centers.

His story is a long one. But know this, every time you feel awful, take bath with some Epsom salts or magnesium beads and soak, but never sit in the thoughts that tell you to just use one more pill. Take some SAMe, some magnesium and calcium, some valerian root or melatonin to sleep, some B complex for mood and energy, take vitamins and minerals, go to the health store and be honest, ask them what they have that will help you with detox. Also go to doc and get some Imodium for the diarrhea and some cholidine if you need it for high BP.

Tell your h/b to be patient with you, cause honestly patience is a hard thing to learn and you have to learn it too. You have to rewire your brain from the mentality of "instant gratification" to the mentality of "If your consequences are greater than your pleasure, something is out of balance"...in other words everything you put into your mouth will have a consequence, you decide if it is a good one or negative one. So you come from instantly feeling better, to patiently riding out the detox, working on mental balance and healthy thinking, to spiritual advancement and knowing that some things are bigger than we are and we have to somehow turn them over or they will consume us. NO control means turning over that control, getting help regaining it. You can do this, just do not expect anyone, even if they love you, to get this.

I am so glad you have a sponsor cause he will get what you are going against. And he will help you. To me, to read that means you have made great strides towards recovery. Just be patient with the rest. Get some comfort holistic meds, like I mentioned above, take it slow. Be grateful for every single moment that you choose not to use. Keep posting on here, never give up the battle or you could be killed in the war!

So so happy to welcome you here,
And so very proud of the strides you made.
Know this will change everything in your life, that you will laugh and love again, and all your relationships will change too. You will become what you are meant to become not what dictates your actions/evil/drugs. Change is scary but like anyone on here can tell you it is just moving through the fear, with your shoulders back, and getting help.
Be well and safe,
Post often please,
with great respect and sincerity,
annie

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Anne

Hi everyone,

It has been 9 days since I quit tramdol cold turkey and I still am very very nasueas.I can't eat much of anything much less keep any vitamins down. I have talked to my primary care but I don't think he has much experience with withdrawal. Is this normal? I don't remember being this sick so long twenty years ago when I went cold turkey from 30 percs a day. If anyone can give me any answers I would appreciate it.The only time I feel good is when I take the Ambien and can sleep for awhile.I am in AA and have not had a drink in 17 years and have been trying to get to some meetings. I just need to see some light at the end of the tunnel