Opiate Withdrawal: Methadone Symptoms & Side Effects

Question: Will tramadol help ease opiate withdrawal?

(Posted by: Jenn22 on 2008-12-28 21:51:08)

I am getting off of Vicodin and I am starting to go through withdrawal. I read that Tramadol helps ween people off other pain killers such as Vicodin. I am also concerned about the possiblity of seizures. I've read Tramadol can cause seizures. I have never had a seizure though and I took Tramaol for 20 days about a year ago & never had a seizure from it. Has anyone been in this same situation I'm in? Withdrawal and taking Tramadol to ease it? No I cannot go to a doc at this time. No money, no insurance so I cant just walk into a hospital or doc office at this time. So that isn't an option for me. I just need some good advice and hopefully from someone with experience. Thank you so much. Help and answers will be much appreciated.

Posted by: Kassie18 on 2008-12-28, 22:00:38

Okay I have experience on both ends. You need to get yourself into a rehab, so you first need to go to the emergency room, and tell them your detoxing and then they will get you into a rehab, the state will pay for everything so you dont have to worry about that. I was a heroin addict for a long time, and I can tell you that tramadol will do nothing to you. When you are coming off of heroin you will not have seizures you usually only have them coming off of alcohol and benzos, but you will be very uncomfortable and get very sick, that is why a medical detox id best and they can also give you some information to stay clean, becauyse coming off of the drug is the easy paryt it is staying clean that is hard. I checked myself into a rehab facility and did subopxone therapy, and the state payed for it and I had to go on welfare for a little while, but it was worth it because it got me off, and all the while I started school, and became a therapist, and now I am an addictions counselor and I work in a rehab, so I know what helps. If you do decide to do this at home which I highly do not reccomend you will need alot of immodium because you will be going to the bathjroom alot, you will eb throwing up alot, you will have the cold sweats your legs will not stop twitching, and many other symptoms, Being in the hospital will make it alot easier for you because they will administer catapress which will help you and some other things to lower your anxiety because it will be through the roof. I also suggest steaming hot baths when detoxing those always helped me with the cold sweats. I really hop you get yourself into a rehab, and if you need any information I would be happy to help you, if you let me know what state you live in I could look into what kind of funding your state has for people who need to get into rehab, so please choose to go this route and you will have alot more success.

Posted by: So much.. <3 on 2008-12-28, 22:01:39

I take Tramadol with my Xanax [Prescribed] and see no effects. How ever IF you mix it with an anti depression medication it CAN cause seizures. I've seen it happen before. Narcotics mixing with it especially will have an adverse effect & make you nervous, jittery and cause you to seize. It's a great pain medication. But don't, DONT take it with anything else unless you run it by someone else first! <3 Good luck & if you have any more ? ask = ]

Posted by: indysimgirl on 2008-12-28, 22:04:17

It helped me feel no withdrawl when I got off Vicodin. It kept me very comfortable. I am still taking it and even prefer it to Vicodin now. It seems like the effects last hours longer.

Posted by: susannna_kaysen_420 on 2008-12-28, 22:08:50

I've been where you are before. All I know is I never had seizures in the years I was on Tramadol for back pain & then I went through Vicodin withdrawal "Cold turkey " b/ c I developed a flu & was too sick to take the pills so I got even sicker. I am not a doc but I can tell you Tramadol (Ultram) is less addictive & stronger than Vicodin. Tramadol does have opiates but Vicodin is codeine based & hence more addictive but you might already know that. I hope some of this helps.

Posted by: in_the_stars on 2008-12-28, 22:10:01

Apparantly, Tramadol can be addictive itself. I tried it for leg pains associated with taking another med, and it's effects were completely unpredictable - some nights it helped, some nights it made the pain 10x worse. Others may be more helpful re withdrawal meds, but I would suggest giving your body antioxidant support - my theory is that this will help to clear the toxins that cause withdrawal, making the whole process easier to deal with. There is, of course, Vit C. Start on small doses (200mg 2x day) and work up to 1,000mg 2-3x day. But even better than that is glutathione. It is the most powerful antioxidant in the body, and it also helps the other antioxidants, like Vit C & Vit E, to work. The body can make glutathione itself, but you need to give it the right ingredients - cysteine in particular. You can do this by eating whey (cold-processed, undenatured), as it has cysteine and other amino acids in it - start at 10mg 2xday and work your way up to 20 or 30mg 2x day, or 40mg if you weigh a lot. You can read more about glutathione/ whey on this site: dfwcfids.org/ medical/ whey.html -- however, they tested an expensive whey product that has a patented extraction process. I don't think it's necessary to pay the $$ to get that particular whey, just a good quality whey from a local health store should be fine.

Posted by: ItsWittgensteinMiss on 2008-12-28, 22:17:50

Kassie18 is right. You should take yourself to the emergency room. They are obliged to help you, whether you can pay for it or not. Taking Tramadol to help you get off Vicoden may just result in you becoming dependent on Tremadol, like indysimgirl below.

Posted by: ceoadamj558 on 2008-12-28, 22:45:57

The withdrawal symptoms are bad coming off of Vics. It was like going through hell and back after I just plain stopped after taking them for my knee injury for over a year. I had also heard that Tramadol helps with the pain. It does, I took it for about 3 months to wind down, and it helped immensely. I was curious as to what it would be like to just stop taking this too, and found it to be a walk in the park compared to the vicodin. This is not to say that the withdrawal symptoms are not present at all. Its tough regardless. My doc, didnt want to write me script for the tramadol as he had personal objections to why I wanted them. I went to a legit online pharmacy and got what I needed, explaining the knee pain.