so here i am yet again on this board, i always find my way back here, prob because all you people are great....i am the one who fights with myself as to if i am an addict or just physically dependent or do i legitamately need these percocets......well its clear that i "abuse" them, because i ran out yesterday at 930 am, right now it is the next day (saturday) at 144pm....i have not had a percocet in over 26 hours......last nite i started with the worst headache ever and the damn leg cramps.....i took a tramadol and a .5 mg of xanax....i went to bed, woke up a few times, got up this morning and have low energy, but that's it!! am i dreaming?? here's the prob: my back is killing me. i am due for a refill on tuesday...and i want the RX....do you think the tramadol is easing the withdrawals?? i know thats addicting too so i only took 1 today and no xanax......why no w/d's??? i know i will get the script...:( i just started PT and i am in so much pain after the appt......then i read some posts here and think that i never want to get to "that" point in my life....oh what do i do???

hey cam - im not too up on the pills you guys in the states are using (percs etc) what i do know is that tramadol is an analgesic painkiller for moderate to severe pain (i was prescribed it after breaking some ribs) it should help stave off the W/D's - do you have enough to last till tuesday?

hang in there mate

yoss

keep on keepin on

Hey Cam,

I don't know your dose or your history, but usually the leg cramps are worse in the evening, so see what happens....and xanax or any benzo are great for helping with them. Also, back pain is a common withdrawl symptom, even if you don't have any back problems, so that is probably withdrawl related... and the worst of withdrawls usually aren't until day 3 with nothing. And yes, the tramadol will ward off withdrawl, and some people use them to wean off stronger opiates, but they are as addictive as hydrocodone.

Only you can decide if you want to stay on them, and even for those of us with chronic pain it's hard to know if we really need them because pain is so inflated while trying to detox, often for several months or years, depending on how warped our brain is, and other factors.

Personally I think they are a poor choice for pain relief with their potential for addiction / dependence when there are so many other things to try, i.e. physical therapy, acupuncture, yoga, meditation, non narcotic pain relievers, etc. I am trying to get off them, and have been for over 2 years. I'm now at the end of a 1 year taper off suboxone, and down to a tiny daily dose and feeling OK....Exercise & Advil work quite well for me. The real test will come in the next few months, with NO opiates.

I'm sure you can get by just fine til Tuesday on Xanax and Tramadol though til you get your script filled. Good luck.

mano

oh hell ya the tramadol is helping you with the withdrawls. I did that one time, probably in the summer I was taking high doses of oxycontin and percosets together, I wanted to quit. My doctor gave me a prescription of tramadol for my back. I decided to take tramadol in case I had severe withdrawls from quitting OCs and percs. Within hours of taking my last dose of percoset I started loosing my energy and getting a headache, I took tramadol. A few hours later I took another, then another, then another and for that whole week I was taking tramadol ALL DAY. My script ran out and all of a sudden my withdrawls from tramadol were worse than withdrawls from percoset.
Never again will I take tramadol in my life!

i am 15 hours away from 3 days with no percocet and no w/d's...yes i am taking the tramadol 4 to 6 a day....i am in excruciating pain though.....i even have a little energy, but i also take cymbalta and i have to be careful with the high serotonin levels.....so i will not take any more tramadol.....