Pain- it happens to us all. Generally speaking, there are two types of pain. The first example of pain is when you’ve been dating somebody for quite some time and the person up and exits from your life. No sign or warning, just packs up and you are left to pick up the pieces and wonder “why.” To some, this would be called heartbreak. This example is emotional pain. Then we have the example of somebody you’ve been seeing for quite some time and the person gets angry one day and stabs you in the heart. This is another form of heartbreak. This example is what we call physical pain. So when something like this occurs, said victim will go through surgery, rehabilitation, etc etc. Said person will usually be prescribed some form of opiates for pain relief and take these painkillers as prescribed to numb the open wound in their chest cavity that is hurting a tad. THEN you have people like addicts and alcoholics. We enter recovery, getting clean and sober, and have unfortunate physical pain delivering accidents happen to us. Life is unpredictable. In some extreme cases, opiates would be acceptable under medical supervision or something. My scenario was extreme for the record. For the addicts and alcoholics around the world, there were certain alternatives to pain that were viewed at as acceptable for a while. Tramadol was one of these until Tramadol addiction became a very real thing.
Watch What You Eat
For starters, Tramadol is a synthetic opioid with very weak to little mu-opioid activity occurring in the brain. The best comparison I can give it to actual opiate painkillers is like comparing O’Doul’s non-alcoholic beer to a real beer. Even non-alcoholic beer has that small fraction of a percentage of alcohol in it. So it’s not a real opiate painkiller and has been viewed upon as the safer alternative for years. This fact may still very well still stand, but it doesn’t invalidate the fact that there are individuals all around the world having to detoxify off it and go through the very same trials and tribulations that opiate addiction brings. Everyone’s body handles the withdrawals a little differently, but most experience similar side effects as the time passes on. Some of the symptoms that pair along with detoxing from Tramadol mirror that of opiates and can include but are not limited to:
- hot and cold flashes
- nausea and vomiting
- upset stomach
- loss of appetite
- loss of ability to use the bathroom
- insomnia
- headaches and migraines
- other body aches
Tramadol addiction has been reported as increasing over the last 15-20 years and the numbers are skyrocketing from the number of individuals turning to it for relief from whatever is causing them to hurt. This seems harmless at first but we can’t forget the fact that it’s alcoholic thinking that tends to get involved in such matters.
For many, our addiction starts picking up on the fact that we are constantly taking this little white pill to numb away the physical pain that we are enduring. Believe it or not, subconsciously our addictions pick up on that and starts looking for other things to numb. We start associating this pain with emotional pain and other stressors going on in our lives. It sounds silly, but incidences like this happen every day to unsuspecting addicts and alcoholics. We tend to become addicted to anything that makes us feel good. Anything that can mask all the troubles and difficulties that are continually putting up walls for us, we’ll reach for it. Before you know it, you’re frustrated at work which you’ve flat out convinced yourself is making your back hurt more. The voice in the back of your mind says, “Take another pill to soothe this out.” The thing is that Tramadol also affects the same serotonin neurotransmitters that a lot of antidepressants trigger. So with that being the case, this pain killing agent is also a mood elevator in some instances. This right here is a prime case in point of how quick Tramadol addiction can slink out of the gutter and snag you into its grips. The mind starts playing tricks on us again and telling us that we “need” something to make us feel better.
With the chemical addiction numbers rising, it’s important to realize that human beings are very adaptive creatures. When you live in hot temperatures year round, your body learns to adapt differently than to that of somebody who lives in cold temperatures all year. This goes for dieting, weather conditions, and more. So when we consistently deliver the same thing to the body every day, it begins to expect it. Even if you’re not killing yourself, the body goes into something called survival mode and learns to adapt to this foreign object it’s eating daily. Once the body starts adapting, so does our tolerance. This is where the downward spiral of addiction really begins to decline quickly. In a nutshell, this is how any form of addiction picks up really. We start telling ourselves we need more and more of something just to get by. These things, of course, are usually not a necessity either, but we start letting our addiction do the talking. Knowing how to call yourself out and catch relapse in this state of mind is always important. Even if you’re not in recovery, it is still recommended to be careful when testing the waters with this non-narcotic painkiller. There are still other alternatives out there if you ask your doctor. There are also many natural remedies to ease the aches. Look into your options; don’t feed your alcoholism what it’s craving.
The Dangers Are Everywhere
Be it Tramadol or Morphine, addiction/alcoholism is a brutal disease that will take over every aspect of your life if allowed. The dangers of chemical dependency will always be present, but there is a solution to the battle at hand. If you or a loved one has been struggling with getting a firm grasp on sobriety and need detoxification, please call 1-877-978-3125 or visit www.coastaldetox.com. Our teams of specialists are waiting by to help figure out what options are best for sending your life is a comfortable direction that you can proudly stand behind.