Tramadol

[Lori]

I am addicted to tramadol. When I try to stop taking it, I have horrible withdrawals and I don't know what to do next. I don't want my doctor to know about the addiction. I already take Abilify, Lamictal, Lithium, Pristique, Provigil, Lunesta, and Ativan for bipolar depressive disorder. I am at a loss on what to do.

[Christy]

Can you see another doctor or an alcohol & drug worker? If not it would be a good idea to discuss it with your regular GP, He or her won't judge you, you won't be the first person with an addiction to see them and it will remain confidential. It might seem scary/embarrassing to admit to it but once you get some help from them you will feel better.

And if you don't mind me asking, can you just buy tramadol from a chemist/drugstore over there? Here you need a prescription from a doctor for it.

[Lori]

You have to have a prescription here too, but it's easy to get. You can buy it online. They have doctor's online that will give you a prescription and you don't even have to see them. Then the pharmacy will ship it to your house. It's considered a controlled substance so I have no idea how it can be legal but the website says it is. Thank you for the advice! Taking that first step is what is so hard.

[Danni_jane]

Docotrs would have heard this before. They will not judge you or have a go they will try and find the root of the problem by finding out how thid addiction started. They will try and get you help for this for example by seing a drug councellor to help you over come this addiction. Then the doctor will start to reduce the dosage bit by bit and you will have widthdrawl syptoms if your addicted to anything. Believe it or not I was once addicted to cupa soups and the widthdrawl symtoms were horrible. What you need is support from either a friend or memeber of the family who you can trust. You could also ask your doctor to try and find you a support network. As the saying goes 'You will feel worse before you get better.' The sooner you get the ball rolling the better it would be for you before you create to much damage from taking tramadol. Good luck and keep us posted on how you doing. Just remember we are here to support you and we will never have a go at you.

[Lori]

Thank you so much for the support. I have no one to go to with this, I have to keep it a secret. Yall are right about going to a doctor, I've tried to take myself off the tramadol but it is impossible. I would like to see a drug councelor because this is not the first time I've got myself into this mess. The last time it was morphine and I ended up at a methadone clinic, it was the worst time of my life. I was commited to a psychiatric hospital and I had to come off of the methadone cold turkey. It was horrible. I never would have thought tramadol would grab me like it has. Thank you for the advice, I need all I can get.

[Danni_jane]

Morphine is is very strong and I know tramadol is morphine based. But time has changed If I am right but I might be wrong I think the doctor will start to cut down the tramadol dosage bit by . they willonly let you go cold turkey if you are in a clinic where they can supervise you. So If you go to the doctor you could ask what treatment is available. You will have some horrible times ahead of you but the longer you put this off the more harm you are putting your self through! What you could do is while you are going through the process of coming off your tramadol you could write a daily diary of how your feeling. Then if at some point you think you might end up relapsing read through the diary and in your mind you re live what you went through and that will make you think to yourself I cannot afford to touch this stuff again otherwise I will have to go through this whole process again. You also need to find out what caused the root of this addiction and try and find ways of avoiding. We all make mistakes and we have to learn from them and plan the future. Maybe find some new friends that you feel you can trust ect If you have someone you cab rely on it will make life alot easier.