sick from meds

truebff

anyone out there sick from meds and trying to leave them behind?

 i've been on painkillers and hate them and how they make me feel (wierd) but don't know if I should cold stop or wean?

mdg

We have almost the same diagnosis.  Why are you taking the pain meds?  For surgery? If so, what kind of surgery and when did you have it?  What pain are you still experiencing? 

truebff

i am taking tramodol from both surgery pain and then when that ended, later again, same med after rad pain started. It has worked, but I am feeling very wierd and sick to my stomach as I try to go off it. Not sure if it is a rad after affect or a pain med after affect.

mdg

Talk to your doctors. Maybe they can give you something else. I too got sick from pain meds after several days so I stopped taking them but my pain was diminishing by then.

barbe1958

Your body doesn't need the pain med anymore. That is what it is telling you. Tramadol is VERY hard on the stomach. In fact, I have to take Prilosec TWICE a day just to be able to handle Tramadol. You shouldn't have been prescribed Tramadol without a stomach med. Shame on your doc! You can stop Tramadol pretty quickly, give it a shot. Take something for your stomach as you ease off it. Even Gravol can help. Good luck!

truebff

I still have some pain but it is lightning. I first went just off the tramodol and felt like C.R.A.P. so I am now trying this: taking one every 12-20 hours when I feel the breast pain and lengthening the time in between. I hope to be completely off gradually over the next two weeks this way, trying to keep it to 1 a day or two tops. (I was taking 3-6 a day) It was easy to quit after the breast durgery pain stopped (not before), but the radiaiton is a compeltely different set of circumstances.

My stomach has had a very hard time with this -upset and bad digestion both and loss of appitite.

I hate pain pills or any pills. I am also grateful for the relief, but don't want to "keep" taking them more than I need. I guess just "going off" all at once wasn't a good idea either. Hopefully, this more gradual easing off will work out better.

BTW, my RO is not worth calling on any med questions. What is gravol or prilosec? Could something natural work to help my poor tummy?

barbe1958

You can't just stop Tramadol, you have to wean off it. You will become agitated if you just stop it and it may exacerbate your pain, fooling you into taking more Tramadol.

Gravol is just for car sickness and you can buy it in Walmart. Prilosec is a prescription drug. You may also find yourself constipated while on Tramadol so you should be taking Sennokat-S, a gentle, natural laxative with a stool softener already in it.

truebff

Thanks Barbe, that helps a LOT actually. I went straight off it a few days ago and got really disoriented and wierd feeling, not what I wanted at all.

Do you have any idea or suggestion on how gradual to wean myself?

barbe1958

true, now that you are off them, do NOT take another one!!! That will put you right back into a cycle that you will have to wean off of. Do you have Ativan or Lorazepam or any other "anxiety" medication that you are allowed to use? You would only use it at night to get a good sleep. Your body heals when it's asleep.

If you've been off for a few days you are doing GREAT!! NOT the way you're supposed to do it, and again, shame on your doc for not helping you through this!! 

Hang in there, sweetie!!

barbe1958

Just had another thought - go to your pharmacist and ask for their opinion. I'm not a doctor, I'm just very well-versed in medications...sigh.

truebff

Barb, I went back on them, one -two a day or just one a day until pain or wierdness (after 12 or more hours). Everything evened out. But from here, what do you suggest I do to wean? My husband thought, reduce one a day every two weeks. But what do we know?

barbe1958

One a day every two weeks won't do anything. Try to do every other day. Once you can do that, you should be fine. You HAVE to let the drug get out of your system! It's not fun, but it's worth it.

cycle-path

truebff, here are some articles about withdrawing from Tramadol. Some of the comments aren't too useful but it seems like there's some good advice buried in among the junk.

http://www.drugs.com/answers/how-can-i-manage-withdrawal-from-my-tramadol-addic-17211.html 

http://www.drugs.com/answers/tramadol-withdrawal-duration-431618.html 

http://www.drugs.com/answers/tramadol-nightmare-222930.html 

http://www.drugs.com/answers/how-long-does-it-take-to-withdraw-from-tramadol-115796.html 

truebff

Wow, reading those sites was scary. I am in no way -thank God- in that bad of shape.

When I took the med after surgery, I got it becasue the "Norco" they originally prescribed was too strong for me and I wanted something more moderate and Tramadol worked out as better. It was also easy and a natural inclination to stop taking it when the pain stopped. No problemo. (Took it at about 4 pills a day for about 4-6 weeks, when I went down to 2 pills a day, I just went off it, didn't need it.)

They gave it to me again with the rad pain since it worked well before. The rad pain started out needing 4-6 pills a day, had a two week period where I needed 8 pills a day (the max recommended dose), and then went down from there to 3- 4-1/2 pills a day on average. I never thought about it much and missed doses unless the pain started up and also went off it for 24-46 hours occasionally for when I needed to do things like drive more (oh yeah, and also poo) and just delt with the pain (not fun). Those "off meds" days also let me catch up with how my pain was *really* doing.

My pain is near or almost manageable now. But this time (since rads with extreme pain and burning) I have been on some dose of this drug for 12 weeks and at this point, it seems to me that I have been on a drug long enough, even in moderate doses. I would like to be off it completely in two weeks. I would also like my head clear once and for all so I can focus better on work, so I am motivated. However, suddenly going off made me feel brain-weird. So I guess the weaning will help that. I also suppose I may have a crappy -emotional feeling week. Well, at least I inside-jog regulary, so that should help.

One thing I am clear on: perscription drugs are very good for horrid pain and help healing, but they should be saved and used for that, with prudence (not stinginess either - cause when you have the big pain you need the big pain meds) and awareness and goals in mind for getting off it.

My RO wasn't much help, but the RO nurse told me with cancer, I should just take the big drugs and they would get me off them in a few months if I didn't get off them naturally. A nurse friend also said that amply supplying a pain med for someone in pain with ample meds was more affective and less addictive than denying or doling out too-small doses, which she believes creates need and addiction more-so. That naturally, people want to be out of pain, and after that, they just want to be normal as soon as they can. I guess I fall into that category of wanting to feel normal again.

Anyway, this is helpful hearing from others. I never got "high" on this drug, but I did get sleepy, and had some loss of appitite and stomach issues. I am a pretty health-oriented person, so getting off precriptions as soon as possible is something I want.

This cancer world and perscription drug world has been strange strange strange.

SpecialK

truebff - what about a scopolamine patch for the upset tummy?  It is used for air or car sickness usually, and at least you would not be putting another pill into your stomach.  They are by prescription but are safe and have been around for ages.

truebff

Wow, I am learning so much here. Thanks for all the good info!

barbe1958

I used to use them for airflights. One time I touched my eye after putting on the patch and my pupil dilated for about 5 days. I almost wasn't allowed to fly! Had to have an emergency meeting with an opthamologist to make sure it wasn't something else. Took a while to figure out I must have touched my eye. They used to work pretty good for me and we could buy them right off the shelf. I miss them.

SpecialK

barbe - oh no!  What a bummer!  Not as serious, but I once touched a jalapeno and then accidently touched my eye - OMG!  One of those lessons learned the hard way!!!  Did they become restricted to prescription after being OTC?  I know they have been around for eons but don't remember.  When my mom was in hospice she was very congested in the chest and seemed to be struggling to breathe - they put one on her - it is off-label usage but one of the SE's is that it dries up mucous, so she was breathing much easier.  I was very grateful to the hospice people because it was hard to see her laboring to breathe - she was much more peaceful after the patch.

truebff

Wow - scary SEs!!

SpecialK

If you can call being enough of an idiot to touch your eye after touching a jalapeno a SE!  truebff making me laugh!

truebff

without laughing ,how would any of us survive?

barbe1958

My DH chopped some VERY hot peppers (more than jalapenos!!) one day - I had warned him to wear gloves, but oooooohhh, noooooooo. He was VERY, VERY careful about not touching his face anywhere. A couple of hours later he came to me while I was at the computer. His face was dead white and I said did you touch your face? He said no, I went to the bathroom.....!!!

truebff

OMG (!)  (ouch!)

SpecialK

barbe - oh no..... and I thought the eye was bad!

truebff

I am now down to 1 per approx. 24 hours and feeling better every single day. In two days, I go to 1/2.

And, already, I am *thinking* better towards my work and creative projects again! Yeah!!!!!

Thanks especially to ALL YOU here for your support. I had NO idea that I would have to wean off of these critters.

cycle-path

Good going, truebff!

barbe1958

trubff, please google your exact pill and make sure you CAN break it in half. Sometimes that causes all sorts of horrid things, so you need to be sure. You're doing GREAT!!

truebff

Wow -I really really appreciate your support here!! Thanks!!

Yep, and pills can be broken in half, cause I was at different doses doing 1/2 or 1-1/2 previously. And today am trying just 1/2.

truebff

Okay, it's now been 37 hours since my last 1/2 tramadol that I had stepped down to 1/2 pill once a day for the last 4 days. I had the worst body and sleep and weird-brain ever this early  AM  (when I usually took it) and hot and cold and then finally slept through and woke better. Wow. What a bad thing this was even at 1/2. I am sooooooooooooo glad to have taken myself off it.

So spent today in the bathroom with stomach acting up (or more precisely, acting normally I think after waaay too long, but I was beginning to really worry about my stomach, so this is good) and, when not, was able to focus on work at home for first time in a loooong time.

And, over last week, jusst taking 1/2 or, before that 1 a day, woke up odd at 6AM every day with stomach issues all week and hot and cold,like the flu, and redealing with reawakening pains, but learning I can and would rather handle them than stay on pain meds. I am glad though, that I "stepped it down" rather than just went off them. Woa.

Thank you all for your support. I want my health back. Today is my breakaway day! Yeah! 

cycle-path

It sounds like you're doing really well! Please continue to keep us updated.

J-Bug

barbe1958: I appreciate the story about DH. I need that today! : )