Tramadol addiction??

[MissTeal]

I think I might be addicted to tramadol. I've been taking co-dydramol and tramadol together for 3 months now and yesterday decided to not take anything (to help me have a poo!) Last night I kept waking up having nightmares and just feeling "not right". I kept waking up all sweaty but cold. I have had a bath this morning and I just feel weird, like I'm not here. I'm cold but I'm still sweating, I'm shaking a little and feel all nervous for no reason. My back and tummy are really hurting now so I'm going to take some tablets again today....

Do you girls think these are withdrawal symptoms? If they are its blooming scary stuff. I don't like feeling like this, I just feel like I wanna crawl under my duvet and stay there until I feel normal again

Kat xx

[Tinkerbelle3Laughter]

Hey hun – this is quite a “touchy” subject but some good information came out about this kind of thing recently. There is a difference to being “addicted” to your painkillers and having “withdrawal” from your painkillers.
Anyone on strong painkillers such as Tramadol or Co-drydamol etc as you are will experience withdrawal if they suddenly stop taking the painkillers. They are very strong painkillers which are opiod based and which are related to Heroin. When you take them for a long period of time your body becomes used to having these drugs in your system. If you suddenly stop taking them your body goes into shock and it experiences withdrawal symptoms as you have described. These symptoms would be similar to the symptoms that drug users experience when coming off drugs.
Addiction has a different meaning whereby YOU DELIBERATELY take painkillers to make you feel good, to make you feel doped up or out of it, to help you to sleep etc. If you took the painkillers for any other reason other than pain, and you began to do this on a regular basis then you would be classed as addicted to the drugs. You would experience the same withdrawal effects if you stopped taking them.
Usually if you take painkillers purely to control your pain, if you stopped taking them you would still get withdrawal effects but they would not be as bad as they would be if you were addicted to the painkillers and not taking them for pain purposes.
There have been a few ladies over the years who have become addicted to their medication. It is very easy to do. You have had a really hard day, you cant cope with life you just want to feel a bit fuzzy and fall asleep so you take painkillers, and then you do it a week or two later, and again and again and then it begins. So it is important to question yourself as to why you are taking them.
It is still scary that your body goes through this sort of withdrawal but it doesn’t make you addicted to the drugs unless you are taking them for the wrong reason.
Hope this helps a bit x

[Chelsea904]

I know I didn't post this topic but that really helped me Tink, thanks xxx

[Tinkerbelle3Laughter]

You're welcome babe. I read a magazine article on this recently which is what I remembered. xx

[tessa36]

This info is really good for those who are unsure of which category they stand in and if they start to question themselves.

As TB said MT we doubt you are addicted to the painkillers because all you are suffering with is side effects of withdrawal effects, from removing them opiates from your system for a certain amount of time.

Addicts deliberately look for the next fix to get high again and this is not what you are doing at all.

I know what Tramadol is like as I was on it myself in 2008 and thankfully I didn't become addicted to it - it was too powerful for me!
I couldn't function on it let alone communicate with my family I was like a bedridden zombie.

You are doing your best to be as alert as possible and try to sort out your poor bowels. You will feel like what you have described purely because the body is shaking the opiate out of your system.

You need to speak to your GP about doing this because it can cause problems and depending on how long you have been on Tramadol you would need to have something gentler in place when you are not taking Trammie.
For the body to go from being used to an opiate and then have nothing in the system is literally going cold turkey.

Just remember that you are NOT an addict!

[MissTeal]

Thanks girls, I feel so much better now. I was starting to get really worried. I am definitely not taking these tablets for anything but the pain. I just get so tired of taking them all the time, I do feel like a zombie and like I'm not really here.

I have run into a problem now though as the packet I was taking I finished yesterday and now I can't find the rest of the packets of tramadol that I had. The Dr's ARE going to think I'm a druggy and that I'm taking too many if I put my repete prescription in now. I think I'll actually have to speak to the Dr first. What do I do over the weekend though? I've got a wedding reception to go to later, I don't wanna go and be shaking etc...

I've got co-dydramol but that doesn't do anything any more. Maybe I'll just get ****** instead at the wedding lol

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

[Tinkerbelle3Laughter]

Hey sweetie

I am not sure what you can do about losing the Tramadol over the weekend. My advice would be either ring the pharmacy and see if they can tell you what to do, or get an appointment with the out of hours GP to get enough to last you till Monday.

[spoowoo]

Hi,
I hope you found your tramadol.. you've already received great advice from the girls here but I just wanted to add it generally not advisable to just stop these strong painkillers without being 'stepped down' from them in a controlled way. Just think you stepped up onto them in a controlled way from weaker to stronger painkillers so you would need to do the same in order to stop them. Your GP will keep you right but just as has already been said you will withdraw from them otherwise.
x

[Chelsea904]

MissTeal,

How are you now? Did you manage to find your tramadol or get an appt at the out of hours clinic?

Getting these types of pain killers from your Doctors can be awful. People are so judgemental! Sometimes I feel like throwing them a piece of paper describing the pain endo sufferers have to deal with or chucking my medical records at them and screaming **** you!!

Sorry for the language but as if we don't have enough to deal with, without people looking at us as if we're junkies looking for our next fix! REALLY ticks me off!!

Anyway, I hope you managed to find a good solution (getting trollied is always fun ) and you can get some more tramadol soon xxxx

[MissTeal]

I didn't get any tramadol over the weekend but I did speak to the dr today who has given me trasmatic acid and mefenamic acid as I'm due on on wednesday and I'm terrified as I'm in agony any way

It seems to have worked more than the tramadol and I don't feel so spaced out. I actually managed to unload and load the dishwahser within 10mins which is a first for a while lol

I am feeling a bit better today, got to the point yesterday where I just wanted to sleep until the pain stopped. I didn't want to be here any more. Didn't want to have to deal with the kids or housework etc....

I realised even when I had these dark thoughts that it was my hormones but it doesn't make it any nicer to deal with.

Thank you so much for being here for me, it really does help
xxxxx