[Erowid Note: 800 mgs of tramadol is considered a high dose, see Tramadol Dosage]
Hello, I had an unpleasant experience with tramadol (the brand name was Ultram). They were 50mg pills. I had heard that it was similar to codeine, but after taking 4, I realized that it was less potent than codeine. So I ended up taking 16 pills in the course of 6 hours.
About 1 hr after I took the last 2 pills, hell broke loose (or something like that). The first thing I remember is 'waking up' talking to this guy I didn't know. He was asking me a bunch of simple questions. I felt completely sober, and I had no idea who he was or what the hell he was asking me all this stupid shit.
Ok, now for the explanation. The last thing that I remember is going outside for a smoke. While I was outside, I had a seizure. Now, of course I don’t remember this. My friends said they heard a loud noise and came outside to investigate. I had fallen down, and landed on something noisy. They said that they watched me writhe on the ground for about 3 minutes, and that for at least 1 minute, I was not breathing, and my face turned blue. They told me that I was groaning loudly, and basically spazzing out. They called an ambulance, which took about 12-15 minutes to arrive.
Before the ambulance came, the seizure stopped, and they got me to sit on a bench, and they tried to comfort me. Like I said, I don’t remember this. My first post-seizure memory is talking to an EMT.
They forced me to go to the hospital. Since I felt fine, I didn’t want to go. It was about a 20 minute ride to the hospital. I remember asking them to turn the siren off, because it was fucking annoying. I also tried to sleep (I was lying down in a stretcher) and they would not let me.
At the hospital, they did an MRI, and blood tests, but I didn’t have to drink any charcoal. I had no visible brain damage, but they said if I had drank any alcohol at all, that I probably wouldn't have come out alive.
To conclude: I trashed the rest of my Tramadol. My mom was pissed as hell, and now thinks I'm a drug addict (which I probably am). My friends got freaked the fuck out, and some of them give me funny looks, and kind of avoided me for a few months after the experience.
Sorry for the long report, but I just wanted to give the facts.
Um... here's some more facts: I was taking no other substances at the time except for the occasional joint or 2, and I had no gotten high for about a week prior to the experience, and I had had no grass on the day of the experience. I'm not turned off from drugs, but I'm more cautious. I've taken vicodin since then, with no ill effects, as well as a variety of 'research chems'.
2nd conclusion: Tramadol is weak. Yes, even weaker than codeine. It depresses breathing in high doses, and for me, it is not worth it. If I saw a friend taking some, I'd slap it out of his hand. Not because I think that this drug is unsafe. But because of the fact that it is so weak, that it is easy to take too much, and not know it. That is all.
