Quote from: ghkid2019 on September 06, 2020, 06:17:27 PMTapering 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
Thanks ghkid2019,
I take your advice, wannabeidol's and others very seriously. I will let you guys know how my experience goes with Tramadol and the quitting process.
Thanks for the kind words. My age is just really misleading! I have people working with me that are in their 20s and I look younger, fitter and more energetic than them! I think depending on the body, someone could feel and be younger or older than he/she really is by decades. In my case I have been really lucky. A combination of good genes and healthy life style has made me the fittest I have seen among all my friends, and colleagues. It's worth reading about biological age aka physiological age vs chronological age!
https://www.verywellhealth.com/what-is-chronological-age-2223384#:~:text=Chronological%20age%20is%20the%20number,habits%2C%20to%20name%20a%20few.
I may be biologically a teenager 
There is a catch though! breeds like us die very young! Therefore there is a good chance I would die in a few years, but I would die handsome
Femurs with Dr. Shahab Mahboubian - July 2020
Thanks for responding SNC,
I was wondering why you were running low on medicine though? Was the pain overloading you and you decided to take more painkillers? Hope you get the meds from Dr. M and get through this safely. Rooting for you.
-brondo
Quote from: brondo on September 06, 2020, 07:00:24 PMThanks for responding SNC,
I was wondering why you were running low on medicine though? Was the pain overloading you and you decided to take more painkillers? Hope you get the meds from Dr. M and get through this safely. Rooting for you.
-brondo
I actually took less than what I was prescribed to take (which is one 50 mg pill every 6 hours). There was a couple times I took two every 4 hours at start [per Dr.'s advice that I could double the doze if pain is too high], but for many times I took a pill with longer periods than 6, e.g., many times every 8 hours or so.
I believe It was because the prescription was not enough for 21 days, which is exactly the number of days between my previous appointment and next one on Tuesday with Dr. M.
I will make sure this would not be repeated, as a simple issue like this made my life hell for days!
hey SNC
sorry to hear about your tramadol issues 
a big issue with opiates is you can get Opioid-induced hyperalgesia, which paradoxically causes you to be MORE sensitive to pain
perhaps you may need to consider supplementing with nonpharmalogical modalities such as TENS (Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation) and as silly as it sounds meditation. (there are many good programs out there im presonally a big fan of headspace)
also are you getting any nerve pain? like shooting pains? electrical shocks?
you might wanna look into medications like Carbamazepine (Tegretol) or Pregabalin (Lyrica)
Quote from: StrydeNailChallenge on September 06, 2020, 07:09:10 PMI actually took less than what I was prescribed to take (which is one 50 mg pill every 6 hours). There was a couple times I took two every 4 hours at start [per Dr.'s advice], but for many times I took a pill with longer periods than 6, e.g., many times every 8 hours or so.
I believe It was because the prescription was not enough for 21 days, which is exactly the number of days between my previous appointment and next one on Tuesday with Dr. M.
I will make sure this would not be repeated, as a simple issue like this made my life hell for days!
I am confirming what I said is correct. Just checked the Tramadol container and it reads Qty as 60 tablets. This means I had 15-day supply (4 per day, i.e., every 6 hours, per Dr.'s prescription) whereas I needed 21 days.
Quote from: wannabeidol on September 06, 2020, 07:28:33 PMhey SNC
sorry to hear about your tramadol issues
a big issue with opiates is you can get Opioid-induced hyperalgesia, which paradoxically causes you to be MORE sensitive to pain
perhaps you may need to consider supplementing with nonpharmalogical modalities such as TENS (Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation) and as silly as it sounds meditation. (there are many good programs out there im presonally a big fan of headspace)
also are you getting any nerve pain? like shooting pains? electrical shocks?
you might wanna look into medications like Carbamazepine (Tegretol) or Pregabalin (Lyrica)
wannabeidol, buddy! thanks a lot for letting me know. Meditation reminder is what I needed the most. I am going to start right away. I guess i will start with youtube and get some advice from you on how to get better at it.
I will also note down the medications you mentioned here and discuss them with Dr. M. and if he gives me a green signal I will try them out.
I believe I started getting nerve pain episodes a while ago. They mostly appear around the knee area, but could appear randomly on any spot on my legs, even tibias. I don't get any nerve pain on the upper body.
headspace also offers a 2 week free trial! so if you cancel before the 14 days you should be fine!
https://www.headspace.com/meditation/pain
Quote from: StrydeNailChallenge on September 06, 2020, 05:48:47 PM
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.
.....
Pain Management Reminder:
Future CLL'er Brothers and Sisters,
I cannot stress enough the crucial role of pain management in the final outcome of the CLL process. I took this challenge, not only to pass it successfully, but also to hopefully learn something from it!
The number one lesson for me, so far is that pain management is the KING in this war!
Last night I took two Tylenol PM pills before going to bed with a confused, anxious mind, and a body that I could hardly move. I skipped most of my stretching exercises while on Tylenol (and out the Tramadol).
I had 9 Tramadol pills left, therefore I knew I could resume taking Tramadol this morning and survive till Tuesday when I meed Dr. M. I took one at 5 am this morning, and within half an hour, I was back to feeling normal. I could resume my stretches and could achieve the levels I were at, before switching to Tylenol. This shows how important it is to stick with a winning pain management. It's been 8 hours and 15 minutes since I took Tramadol and I still feel normal with pain levels of 0-3 on my left and 0-1 on my right leg. I will probably take my next Tramadol shortly, in advance to my second distraction session of the day, just to be safe, but in general what I have found out is that I can take Tramadol with much longer periods than 6 hours.
It seems my average has been one 50 mg Tramadol pill every 8 hours.
I have also learnt through this process that I should not fight the pain! Trying to skip or stop pain killers, while tolerating pain is a bad idea. I tried quitting on pain killers, but I failed every time, cause my alternative plans (hot/ice packs, showers, more aggressive stretching, treating pain locally with ointments, distraction with watching/listening with video/audio material, going out, driving, etc.) failed.
Having pain and not doing much about it, would most likely force you to jeopardize the quality of your stretching sessions which are essential during distraction and consolidation phases. Of course we should keep looking for less harmful pain management solutions, but meanwhile, we should stick with the best we have found with the help of our Dr., and experiences others have had, but tolerating pain is not productive at all.
Quote from: wannabeidol on September 06, 2020, 08:09:00 PMheadspace also offers a 2 week free trial! so if you cancel before the 14 days you should be fine!
https://www.headspace.com/meditation/pain
Great! thanks very much 
Hello, Doctor Robbins @ Paley institute prescribed me Gabapentin for nerve pain. It got rid of most of it and made it much more comfortable during the distraction phase. I was able to sleep while using Gabapentin. Safe dosage is 900mg daily. You may want to discuss this with the doctor in case you are still getting the nerve pain
You must be logged in to post a reply.