07-18-2017, 03:56 PM
Hi,
There is an old Tramadol tapering thread here (good info on L-Tyrosine) but I'm suddenly in a different situation.
My doctor announced that she's pulling me off tramadol after more than a year at 400mg/day. Since I also have depression/anxiety, I mentioned that I thought I was getting some mood lift from the tramadol. Big mistake. She thought I meant getting high. I explained I was talking about its serotonergic qualities and this was good because one medicine was treating two conditions (pain and mental health). I think she sees tramadol purely in opiate terms, so she didn't think this was good at all and literally tore up my prescription.
Rather shocked by this I asked about tapering, and said I was worried about us not controlling the pain (I mean there is a reason I'm prescribed tramadol!). Her answer was paracetamol.
What about withdrawals?, I asked. "You won't have a siezure," she reassured me. So I'm trying to get an appointment with a different doctor, but I'll be waiting a couple of weeks.
Yet again a doctor has got me thoroughly dependent on medicine and then pulled the rug from under me. What I really resent is being pushed into this legal grey area of using IOPs. I could do what she says and have a miserable cold turkey, but I do have a life and job to be getting on with. And I'm far from convinced that after a few rough days I'd be ok - this isn't a simple opiate.
Does anyone here have experience of going cold turkey from tramadol? Or a very rapid taper? What did it feel like? What should I be preparing myself for in terms of nasty symptoms? I'm aware tramadol hits a lot of neuroreceptors, so this could be a bumpy ride if I followed by doctor's advice!
Thanks in advance.
There is an old Tramadol tapering thread here (good info on L-Tyrosine) but I'm suddenly in a different situation.
My doctor announced that she's pulling me off tramadol after more than a year at 400mg/day. Since I also have depression/anxiety, I mentioned that I thought I was getting some mood lift from the tramadol. Big mistake. She thought I meant getting high. I explained I was talking about its serotonergic qualities and this was good because one medicine was treating two conditions (pain and mental health). I think she sees tramadol purely in opiate terms, so she didn't think this was good at all and literally tore up my prescription.
Rather shocked by this I asked about tapering, and said I was worried about us not controlling the pain (I mean there is a reason I'm prescribed tramadol!). Her answer was paracetamol.
What about withdrawals?, I asked. "You won't have a siezure," she reassured me. So I'm trying to get an appointment with a different doctor, but I'll be waiting a couple of weeks. Yet again a doctor has got me thoroughly dependent on medicine and then pulled the rug from under me. What I really resent is being pushed into this legal grey area of using IOPs. I could do what she says and have a miserable cold turkey, but I do have a life and job to be getting on with. And I'm far from convinced that after a few rough days I'd be ok - this isn't a simple opiate.
Does anyone here have experience of going cold turkey from tramadol? Or a very rapid taper? What did it feel like? What should I be preparing myself for in terms of nasty symptoms? I'm aware tramadol hits a lot of neuroreceptors, so this could be a bumpy ride if I followed by doctor's advice!
Thanks in advance.