Oof, but tramadol is opioid, isn’t it?
I think it’s kinda risky to take it for long. Have you asked your doctor if that stuff can cause addiction?
Quote from: Aquahoma2 on September 02, 2020, 02:01:51 PMOof, but tramadol is opioid, isn’t it?
I think it’s kinda risky to take it for long. Have you asked your doctor if that stuff can cause addiction?
Hey Aquhoma2,
You made a very important point; and that reminded me to write here something I think I learnt during the stryde process, which I would not have believed, had I not experienced it myself.
First I should emphasize that Tramadol is indeed an opiod painkiller and addictive. However I had started with Norco which is more powerful and addictive. Therefore it was reasonable to switch to Tramadol as pain subsided. Dr. M. also confirmed that overall it is a more mild pain killer which consequently may have lower negative impacts on body than Norco does.
Tramadol and Norco are both based on Dr.'s prescription only. Pharmacies carefully check your ID before giving you the pills. I guess that's because there are many cases of abuse and addiction, especially on Norco. I think CLL Drs. are aware that their patients may have to take the pain killers as necessary but for months
Here is what I learnt: I always believed that my mind is so strong that even if I try Heroine and get addicted to it, I can stop taking it any time I decide to ! I always pictured that I would stop right away and would never try it ever! However quitting an addictive drug or medicine needs more than a strong mind! Another crucial factor is your body's reaction to lack of the addictive drug! This is something I had never accounted for when in my mind I imagined myself as addicted to Heroine but enjoyed quitting Heroine successfully.
The first time I decided to stop Norco, my body started aching and shivering so badly after about 18 hours without Norco! that's when I realized, if I were on Heroine and thanks to a strong mind stopped taking it at some point, I could still die, cause my body could not handle the strong symptoms of quitting Heroine.
Anyways, I thought I share what I think of the addictive pain killers, based on my little experience.
CLL'er buddies, let me know if you have any questions for me.
hey SNC!
youre only 3 days away from 4cm! ( almost halfway! whoo)
i notice youre updating less, which must mean distraction has become routine/monotonous, and theres nothing new to report 
keep up the good work!
Hi SNC,
Hope you're doing well. I have some questions about the pain killers. When do you hope to be completely off the pain killers? Is there a specific way to "step down" off the medication so that you don't get those withdrawal effects or is that just inevitable?
Quote from: brondo on September 04, 2020, 09:27:59 PMHi SNC,
Hope you're doing well. I have some questions about the pain killers. When do you hope to be completely off the pain killers? Is there a specific way to "step down" off the medication so that you don't get those withdrawal effects or is that just inevitable?
hey brondo
i can answer that question, the key is simply to slowly taper the dosage. and as you taper you can replace the opiates with other meds such as tylenol, NSAIDs should be avoided due to interference with prostaglandins synthesis ( affecting bone growth)
here are some resources
https://www.hss.edu/conditions_patient-guide-opioid-tapering.asp
https://www.rxfiles.ca/rxfiles/uploads/documents/opioid-taper-template.pdf
https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/pdf/clinical_pocket_guide_tapering-a.pdf
https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/pdf/clinical_pocket_guide_tapering-a.pdf
Thanks wannabeidol!
Quote from: wannabeidol on September 04, 2020, 08:40:29 PMhey SNC!
youre only 3 days away from 4cm! ( almost halfway! whoo)
i notice youre updating less, which must mean distraction has become routine/monotonous, and theres nothing new to report
keep up the good work!
Hey wannabeidol and brondo,
Apologies for being late in responding. I have had some tough days! ironically related to the last few posts we have had regarding addiction to Tramadol. I am doing better now. I will write the details shortly.
Day 42 (Wed., Sept. 2nd) - 34.6 Taller
Day 43 (Thurs., Sept. 3rd) - 35.6 Taller
Day 44 (Fri., Sept. 4th) - 36.6 Taller
Day 45 (Sat., Sept. 5th) - 37.6 Taller
Tramadol Drama:
I take 3 to 4, 50 mg Tramadol pills per day. Found out on Wednesday that I would not have enough number of pills to survive, till Tuesday morning when I'll have my next appointment with Dr. M. I was short of about 2.5 days of supply.
I had a few options, including calling Dr. M.'s office to have them mail a prescription to me, or driving to their office to pick up the prescription myself (they had said for some reason they couldn't send any Tramadol or Norco prescription to pharmacies electronically). Instead, I decided to switch to Tylenol to save some pills for the last two days (Sunday and Monday) before my appt. with Dr. M. That was a big mistake! Man I suffered! my body is clearly addicted to Tramadol, no question about that!! That's not a surprise to me; cause I was certainly addicted to Norco after taking it for a couple weeks post-op and Tramadol is a more mild version, but still an addictive opioid.
I did some Tylenol replacement on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. If you have never been addicted and wanna know how bad it feels to be deprived of the supply just ask me 
I think I can describe it as a combination of dull pain in legs, a general feeling that my body aches, shivering at times, feeling like my bones and body are cold, and mixed with anxiety and depression! my legs feel like two heavy rocks that I have hard time moving! worst part is that I cannot focus on any thing, neither work nor stretching nor anything even watching a movie or listening to a song! my stretching quality was highly affected during the times I was not on Tramadol.
I had tried so many different methods of pain management and finally found one that worked best: A combination of Tramadol, ointments for local pain relief, hot showers, and at times treating pain with ice packs. This is the lesson I learnt: don't mess up with the Tramadol part of it! I should make sure I would not run out of Tramadol until the distraction phase is over. I am going to ask Dr. M. to write two prescriptions if necessary, so I would not run out of it! Worst case I would drive to Seattle if I have to, just to be with you, my Tramadol
I will double check with Dr. M. that taking 3 to 4, 50 mg Tramadol pills for the next 45 to 60 days or so, would be okay with no long term side effects on my liver, etc. If he confirms, then I would not have much concern. I know I can fairly easily quit Tramadol after the distraction phase is over; as I could do in case of Norco immediately in one day. Worst case, I would let my body fade into it, by taking half pills for a couple days, then 1/4th for a couple days, then 1/8th .. and finally stop it completely.
I hope my bad experience helps others be more careful than me in handling their pain medicine.
PT Experience:
The PT was late for the Wednesday appt., therefore we postponed it to Friday. He showed up on time on Friday! nice guy! he asked me to do some moves! and then he said I was too good to be PT'ed at home! he advised me to do outpatient PT, especially now that I can drive. His point was that when I go to the PT facility, they have much better equipment and pain remedy devices that he could bring to my place. I will call my insurance once more tomorrow to schedule an outpatient visit. I am a bit worried about COVID-19, but will go there to see how risky it and decide whether I could continue based on that visit.
Quote from: brondo on September 04, 2020, 09:27:59 PMHi SNC,
Hope you're doing well. I have some questions about the pain killers. When do you hope to be completely off the pain killers? Is there a specific way to "step down" off the medication so that you don't get those withdrawal effects or is that just inevitable?
brondo, Bro,
I plan to quit on Tramadol a few days after the distraction is complete; when my pain is at low levels. I am very confident I can easily quite on Tramadol either immediately in one day, or if not gradually within a few days. Based on my Norco experience, I prefer to quite immediately in one day as I think my body can handle it. I would suffer for a few hours I imagine, but since my distraction pain would be over by then, I would imagine, it would be something I could easily tolerate.
Tapering down slowly is ideal. Dropping cold turkey won't happen at this point, 3-4 a day will make your body way too dependent on it, imagine in a month when it hurts more and how long you'll be on this. Cold turkey usually results in relapse and it'll just lengthen the weaning off process.
Tapering down slowly shouldn't be too much a problem. It's a good plan. Especially since after Lengthening phase, the pains will dramatically reduce at a quick rate, so you physically don't need as much anyways since less pain
Hot showers is a good idea, heat packs as well. Ice packs I would avoid if you aren't swollen.
You're almost at the half way point. You beaten the odds already at your age. Push through SNC, I beleiebe in uu
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