TMS and addiction

[untangledweb]

Hi,
I seem to be doing really well with the lessening of pain. Ever since I found out about TMS and delved right into it, it has made so much sense. I’ve even been able to decrease my Lyrica (something that was absolutely impossible before). Everything seems to be headed in the right direction, except one. Because of all the years of extremely painful conditions that had been treated with pain meds, I’m having a bit of trouble putting the pain meds aside. Addiction and TMS have got to go hand in hand, right?
I’d really appreciate some wise words.
Thanks,
Beth

 

[Ellen]

I had a very difficult time getting off tramadol after I recovered from fibromyalgia. My best advice is to taper off very slowly and gradually. Expect to have some withdrawal symptoms, but know that they are temporary. Withdrawal was harder and took longer than my recovery from 20 years of fibromyalgia. So yes, for many of us addiction is part of the recovery from chronic pain. But like everything with TMS, this is very specific to the individual. Everyone's experience is a little different. Use it as an opportunity to learn more about yourself.

Also, current research is showing that taking OTC one Ibuprofen 200mg plus one Extra Strength Tylenol is as effective in treating pain as opioids. Taking these may help you as you decrease your dosage of prescription pain meds.

 

[untangledweb]

I had a very difficult time getting off tramadol after I recovered from fibromyalgia. My best advice is to taper off very slowly and gradually. Expect to have some withdrawal symptoms, but know that they are temporary. Withdrawal was harder and took longer than my recovery from 20 years of fibromyalgia. So yes, for many of us addiction is part of the recovery from chronic pain. But like everything with TMS, this is very specific to the individual. Everyone's experience is a little different. Use it as an opportunity to learn more about yourself.

Also, current research is showing that taking OTC one Ibuprofen 200mg plus one Extra Strength Tylenol is as effective in treating pain as opioids. Taking these may help you as you decrease your dosage of prescription pain meds.

Hi Ellen,
Unfortunately, I take them because I like them. I take maybe 100mgs of tramadol 2 or 3 times a week. I use them for when necessary, but the main reason is because I like it. I wish I didn’t. That’s the problem

 

[Ellen]

Hi Ellen,
Unfortunately, I take them because I like them. I take maybe 100mgs of tramadol 2 or 3 times a week. I use them for when necessary, but the main reason is because I like it. I wish I didn’t. That’s the problem

Yes, I had that problem too. I wanted to keep taking tramadol even after my pain was gone because it improved my mood and energy level. That is addiction. Life was harder without it. But I don't take any now even though my doctor asks me if I need more whenever I see him. I finally kicked the addiction. But it took awhile and was difficult. The difficulty had nothing to do with pain.

I wish you the best in addressing this issue.

 

[CarboNeVo]

I tapered off of tramadol like a week back after abusing it for the past year and half.. partly due to a stressful project abroad.
I would sometimes take as much as 200mg a day as I started developing tolerance.
The thing is, despite beating chronic crippling pain 2 years back in a matter of a few weeks, the pain would always try to pop up somewhere else, or disappear for a few weeks and then come back etc... I was never this 100% pain free case like some people here.
However, while on tramadol I was close to pain free for the whole time I stayed on it.. i respond pretty well to this drug apparently.
When I decided to stop the trams I expected a horrific withdrawal as I read on the forums, but to my surprise it was nowhere as bad as I thought, the worst thing about it was the difficulty to fall asleep and irritability at night + some tms flareups which I expected (due to fear ofcourse)

Despite my experience i am truly thankful to this drug . It always helped me during the dark times, especially when I didn't know about tms yet. On the other side, I suspect that i did not tackle tms for 100% because of it.. when things would get bad, i'd pop up a pill and not give a f#@k high on my trams..