Chiliphil1
04-22-2016, 12:12 PM
Hey everyone. I haven't been here in a while but I've got a concern and I'm hoping to get some advice on it.
I'll spare you all of the long details and just catch you up to where I am now. For the last 2 years I have been dealing with an injury. I have had 2 surgeries and am going to have a 3rd soon. I've taken a few pain meds through this time and one of them has been Tramadol. I'm sure some of you have taken this in the past and I'm sure you will agree it is a nasty medication. I've come off of it, tapered very slowly and have finally stopped them all together, problem I am having is that it is giving me horrid anxiety as my body adjusts and has been for over a month now. I'm taking xanax which is an old scrip. The doc won't give me anything to help and I've been left alone to deal with this. I overcame severe anxiety about 4 years ago and this has put me right back in that dark place.
Let me fill in a little info. As mentioned above I overcame anxiety a few years ago and have been living pretty well since, xanax was one of my tools when I did it before. I have had a few times when I was concerned about addiction or dependance on it but I have honestly never had a problem. My use has been anywhere from 2-3 .5mg pills per day to one .5 per month. Just depends on what I am going through at the time. I can take them daily for a week or two and when I don't need them I just stop taking them. I have never had a "want" to take the xanax, simply that if I need it I take it and if I don't there is no temptation. I don't get a "high" from them, just takes the anxiety away and makes me feel like myself.
As far as the current situation this is the 3rd time I've had to taper from tramadol. My doctor absolutely SUCKS! I've told him that I can't take these things and my choices are deal with post surgery hip pain or take tramadol. He refuses to give me any other pain meds, besides ibuphphen and he refuses to do anything about the withdrawal from the tramadol. He will not give me any meds for the anxiety and being that this is a work comp case they won't send me to a psych doctor. I have no insurance, so I am on my own. I have plenty of xanax from before.
Here's what's going on. I have tapered from the tramadol over the last 6 weeks, I've had anxiety for a while now and have been taking xanax .5mg almost daily for the last 3-4 weeks, give or take a little. Most of the time I can take a .5mg and I'm ok but sometimes I have to take a second .5mg within an hour of the first one. I will sometimes also have to take another .5mg later in the day if the anxiety comes back. I'm about a week out of the tramadol at this point and am still having the anxiety issues. I've become concerned to take xanax. I''ve been worried that I'll become addicted or dependent on it but I don't know.
On the one hand I have taken xanax off and on for 4+ years and have never had the slightest problem with it. It's simple, if I need it I take it and if I don't have anxiety I don't even think about xanax, it's been that way for years. I just don't want to end up in a position where I make myself dependent. On the one hand I feel like once the anxiety is gone the xanax will go with it but I'm worried that I may have taken it for "just" too long or "just" too frequently and this time may end up with an addiction or something. I think my reasoning is unfounded given my history with the drug. Again to mention I have NEVER taken it recreationally and have never had a desire to do so, don't even think about it. The only time xanax crosses my mind is when I'm having bad anxiety. I always try to get past anything on my own and use xanax for those times when it goes on for hours and just won't stop.
Anyway, I wanted some opinion on this. Should I keep on the xanax as needed until the anxiety subsides? I mean as I said my history tells me that I'll have no issue with not taking xanax once I don't need it and for the time being I go through phases where I'm anxious and sometimes I'm not with these withdrawals and again, when not anxious I don't take it nor do I want it but when I am I take one.
Another thing which makes me feel like I would be ok to keep on with them is that for the most part the .5mg dose is still effective. I will very rarely have to take more and occasionally I'll need to take .5mg a couple of times per day depending on how bad the anxiety is that day. It seems like sometimes it's bad enough that when the xanax wears off the anxiety is still there so it takes another dose to overcome it.
Anyway, opinions?
I'll spare you all of the long details and just catch you up to where I am now. For the last 2 years I have been dealing with an injury. I have had 2 surgeries and am going to have a 3rd soon. I've taken a few pain meds through this time and one of them has been Tramadol. I'm sure some of you have taken this in the past and I'm sure you will agree it is a nasty medication. I've come off of it, tapered very slowly and have finally stopped them all together, problem I am having is that it is giving me horrid anxiety as my body adjusts and has been for over a month now. I'm taking xanax which is an old scrip. The doc won't give me anything to help and I've been left alone to deal with this. I overcame severe anxiety about 4 years ago and this has put me right back in that dark place.
Let me fill in a little info. As mentioned above I overcame anxiety a few years ago and have been living pretty well since, xanax was one of my tools when I did it before. I have had a few times when I was concerned about addiction or dependance on it but I have honestly never had a problem. My use has been anywhere from 2-3 .5mg pills per day to one .5 per month. Just depends on what I am going through at the time. I can take them daily for a week or two and when I don't need them I just stop taking them. I have never had a "want" to take the xanax, simply that if I need it I take it and if I don't there is no temptation. I don't get a "high" from them, just takes the anxiety away and makes me feel like myself.
As far as the current situation this is the 3rd time I've had to taper from tramadol. My doctor absolutely SUCKS! I've told him that I can't take these things and my choices are deal with post surgery hip pain or take tramadol. He refuses to give me any other pain meds, besides ibuphphen and he refuses to do anything about the withdrawal from the tramadol. He will not give me any meds for the anxiety and being that this is a work comp case they won't send me to a psych doctor. I have no insurance, so I am on my own. I have plenty of xanax from before.
Here's what's going on. I have tapered from the tramadol over the last 6 weeks, I've had anxiety for a while now and have been taking xanax .5mg almost daily for the last 3-4 weeks, give or take a little. Most of the time I can take a .5mg and I'm ok but sometimes I have to take a second .5mg within an hour of the first one. I will sometimes also have to take another .5mg later in the day if the anxiety comes back. I'm about a week out of the tramadol at this point and am still having the anxiety issues. I've become concerned to take xanax. I''ve been worried that I'll become addicted or dependent on it but I don't know.
On the one hand I have taken xanax off and on for 4+ years and have never had the slightest problem with it. It's simple, if I need it I take it and if I don't have anxiety I don't even think about xanax, it's been that way for years. I just don't want to end up in a position where I make myself dependent. On the one hand I feel like once the anxiety is gone the xanax will go with it but I'm worried that I may have taken it for "just" too long or "just" too frequently and this time may end up with an addiction or something. I think my reasoning is unfounded given my history with the drug. Again to mention I have NEVER taken it recreationally and have never had a desire to do so, don't even think about it. The only time xanax crosses my mind is when I'm having bad anxiety. I always try to get past anything on my own and use xanax for those times when it goes on for hours and just won't stop.
Anyway, I wanted some opinion on this. Should I keep on the xanax as needed until the anxiety subsides? I mean as I said my history tells me that I'll have no issue with not taking xanax once I don't need it and for the time being I go through phases where I'm anxious and sometimes I'm not with these withdrawals and again, when not anxious I don't take it nor do I want it but when I am I take one.
Another thing which makes me feel like I would be ok to keep on with them is that for the most part the .5mg dose is still effective. I will very rarely have to take more and occasionally I'll need to take .5mg a couple of times per day depending on how bad the anxiety is that day. It seems like sometimes it's bad enough that when the xanax wears off the anxiety is still there so it takes another dose to overcome it.
Anyway, opinions?