Hello.

I tapered from OxyContin a couple of years ago. The highest dose I was on was 215mg/day & I have no idea how that compares to what you're on so I won't be giving any advice, just sharing experience. If that sounds a lot to anyone, just a note to say my pain doc advised me to keep increasing my dose which is how I ended up on that. He said there was "no upper limit" & 200mg a day was fine. I trusted him. It was only when we got to that dose something called "hyperalgesia" occurred to him.

You said you're achy but doing okay. That's fantastic! It sounds like you're doing it right. Have you told your doc this is what you are doing?

Expect the worst of the withdrawal to last about 3 days. After that things start to improve. So when you are feeling rotten, just remember it's three days & then it will begin to get better.

When I did mine I did my reductions every week, although after two or three weeks of reduction I would have a break of a fortnight as it was too taxing on my body. But I think what you're doing sounds great: I was experiencing agony & unable to get out of bed for 3 days a week. My brain was just awful & I couldn't concentrate on anything. Every single reduction was hell & I spent 6 months in pyjamas.

What I did when I started to get toward the end was to break my pills (you need to check with your pharmacist before doing this). It made the last few months a bit easier than they would've been otherwise - at least I believe so. By the time I was taking the last of my oxycontin I was take 1/4 of a 5mg pill. 5mg pills aren't easy to cut up evenly & I used to jokingly refer to it as my "homeopathic oxycontin."

It took me 15 months to reduce to zero & then about 3 months to start to come right.

So all this sounds dire & to me it sounds as though you are going to be fine. If it gets to the point where you are struggling it's okay to give yourself as long as you need to recover before starting the next reduction.

Be very careful not to reduce too quickly.

Check with your doc if there's anything you can take to reduce the effect of withdrawal. It might just be paracetamol. I was told big doses of vitamin C but I can't say it made a difference. If you have non-tramadol things you can do to help the pain (warm baths, ice packs, TENS machine - anything) now is the time to deploy all of them.

Is there an alternative you can use to help your pain after you're off Tramadol? There may be something else you can try that won't give you the same negative effects Tramadol does. Talk to your doctor. It's important the medication is helping you to function better than you would without it. If it's not them I can't see the point of it.

All the best to you & big gentle, warm hugs. I know it will hurt but I'm hoping from what you say you're experiencing so far that it might not be as bad as you fear.