Hi Jschooly,

I have been on Tramadol (Ultam) myself many years ago. That was one really tough drug to get off of. I was also taking very high doses for a long time. I went through withdrawal many times from them. You would think I would have learned the first time, being how hard it was. It took a good month to feel totally right. About 3 weeks of feeling pretty bad. It was basically like detoxing from opiates but you also have the head zaps too, like when you come off an anti-depressant. At one point I was on Tram and vics, percs, together. My family wanted me to go to rehab and I knew I couldn't because of my job. I quit cold turkey and went to work with severe wd's. I have no idea how I did it but I guess when you have to and put your mind to it it can be done. I first started out with a Tramadol addiction before I ever got into the heavy stuff. I did the opposite of you. I went on to the heavy stuff to help get me get off of ultram (which I don't suggest) you'll be running in circles since I later wound up taking both together and the Tram didn't work anymore. It was just a quick fix to help stop the ultram wd but in the end I did a cold turkey like I mentioned.

I was clean for 2 months! This was in the middle of my 10 year addiction to opiates. When I relapsed I went on to even heavier stuff like oxy's, H and Fentanyl patches. I wound up finding a sub doc and I'm now going through what I feel is an addiction but much safer. I think the problem is that I've been on sub for two years and I'm not used to wd's anymore. I used to wd from opiates about once a week and go to work sick as hell. It was like my body got used to wd'ing and now I'm afraid of even the slighest bit of uncomfort. Plus, knowing I get prescribed a bottle of 75 8mg tabs a month doesn't help. A VERY short term and LOW dose detox with sub would probably be best. You don't want to get hooked on it like me! Don't get me wrong, it probably saved my life, it got me away from all the low lives I was hanging with at the time and let me live a "normal" life for the last two years but now I'm struggling to get off sub like you are with the Tramadol.

You can read more about what I'm going through under the thread "Suboxone Side Effects".

Tele52

suboxone is 50x stronger than morphine--taking it for a tramadol habit of 6 pills a day is utterly insane. i can not encourage you enough to forget the sub!!! i was addicted to ultram too---i had 6 grand-mal seizures but i was taking 40--50 a day. taking sub for 6 ultrams is like swatting a fly with a bowling ball. it's swapping a very small habit to a huge habit that is very close to methadone and it is a 100x times harder to get off of!!! taper off the tramadol by 1 pill a week and you'll be much better off. you'll feel like crap for a week or 2 and it will be done and over with. get some clonidine from your dr. (this is an old b/p med that is great for opiate withdrawl) and get some immodium, and a few sleeping pills. sub is for people with huge heroin, methadone, oxy, habits. any dr. who would give this powerful opiate to a person taking 6 ultram a day should lose his license--period!

Dear Kellibear,

This is what I was afraid of. I have been reading about really tough w/ds from Suboxone and I fear they may be worse than 6 Tram a day. I think you are probably right. I will have to get the discipline and help hopefully of a Higher Power to let go of the Tram little by little. I have be trying to do that but my addict has been winning. However, I am really beginning to see that my choices are limited and I do believe that Sub may be "swatting a fly with a bowling ball." I am going to give this some very serious thought.

Thanks.


[QUOTE=kellibear;3626385]suboxone is 50x stronger than morphine--taking it for a tramadol habit of 6 pills a day is utterly insane. i can not encourage you enough to forget the sub!!! i was addicted to ultram too---i had 6 grand-mal seizures but i was taking 40--50 a day. taking sub for 6 ultrams is like swatting a fly with a bowling ball. it's swapping a very small habit to a huge habit that is very close to methadone and it is a 100x times harder to get off of!!! taper off the tramadol by 1 pill a week and you'll be much better off. you'll feel like crap for a week or 2 and it will be done and over with. get some clonidine from your dr. (this is an old b/p med that is great for opiate withdrawl) and get some immodium, and a few sleeping pills. sub is for people with huge heroin, methadone, oxy, habits. any dr. who would give this powerful opiate to a person taking 6 ultram a day should lose his license--period!

detoxing off 50 ultram a day was horrible, but for me, the worst part was the anxiety. if you could ask your dr. for a few benzo's and some clonidine, you will be ok. you're really not taking enough to where the physical part will be that awful. but that anxiety is awful! have you considered going to na/aa? i strongly urge you to try--it is a huge help to talk to people (face-to-face) that are going thru the same thing as you. you'll get alot of support and advice. it just makes me ill to think someone would go on a powerful opiate to get off ultram!! a good, knowledgeable dr. will tell you the same. you would just start a much much worse addiction!! and also, have you considered going in-patient? you would probably only need a week to detox, and it would really be worth the money. please keep in mind, sub is basically the same as methadone--a powerful opiate with a very long half-life--it can take weeks or months to get off it and feel half way human again. tramadol also raises serotonin levels, so maybe a ssri anti-depressant would help--i'd ask the dr.

unfortunately, addicts do know alot more about addiction than most doctors! some are just clueless, especially when it comes to sub. they take the 8 hour on-line course to be "certified" to prescribe sub, and they only know what the drug co. (reckitt) has told them. the big pharm co."s will lie thru their teeth to sell their dope--even if it's dangerous--they just don't care. oxycontin was supposed to be "less addictive"--now purdue pharm is paying out 600 million in law suits. back in the 60's valium was marketed as non-addictive. and then ultram, "a non-addictive, non-opiate" pain med. yea, right! treatment centers are full of ultram addicts. now they want to market sub as this new "wonder drug/miracle" when all it is-is a very powerful opiate that will make the people who use it--become addicted to it. my guess is--that's what they want--because the money keeps rolling in! and most of these sub doctors want cash--no insurance accepted. hhmmmm-kind of sounds like a drug dealer to me. if it quacks like a duck....