Wow, coming off Tramadol was hell! I went through a week long detox period which doesn't sound long but it was miserable. I only was on it for 2 months after surgery and my doctor forgot to tell me to get off it gradually, so I went cold turkey. Awful, and I never want to go through it again. Feeling anxiety, unable to sleep, unable to sit still but too exhausted to move around, just horrible! I was hospitalized later and was on Dilaudid and Demerol along with a morphine epidural (ended up allergic to the morphine) and when I was being released I was warned that there was damage to my central nervous system which resulted in jumping out of my skin every few minutes while trying to sleep. I got off all painkillers as quickly as possible & now only take Advil or Tylenol #3 if absolutely necessary.