does soma has addictive properties and withdrawals?

[DirtyDiana]

Hi there everybody. First off I’ve got to say that I am having 2 herniated discs and I am being permanently partially disabled because of them with a category 2 permanent cervical imparment because of an *at the job injury* I got. I have been preceded oxyconten for 3 years thereafter and I have taken myself off it since I have been given 400 mg of it per day. Needless to say that I have been through hell, the detox was awful, however I am currently suffering from such spasms like for example Charley horses in my neck which are excruciating and they are definitely making my life so much more worse than it should be and nearly always it is unbearable. I have decided to use only this Soma due to the fact that it is doing a good job in taking away those spasms that I am suffering from.. I did have tried the flexeril, the baclofen and so on and so forth however those ones does not work for me, only Soma does. But anyway, in short, I have decided to live in pains and to manage the spasms that I get. Currently, my neck doctor has just taken me off from the soma which I am only using it as it is needed (or better say, used to use it as it was needed). But as needed for me means that I’ve taken 350 mg of it, 2 times per day, every single day. I have been using it for 2 years straight on a daily basis, after that I’ve been using it 6 months on occasion here and there but I was still always using it as I could screw up my neck simply by trying to wash the shampoo out from my hair and since such simple operations could get my life so miserable, of course,

 

I’ve been using it often. That’s crazy but that’s the way my life goes on. Anyway… my doctor is telling me that it is very and very addictive and that it also has some really big and bad withdrawals symptoms when trying to get off it. to be honest, I have never experienced absolutely any of those and it absolutely does not matter of how long I have been taking it for and although I’ve been taking it quite regularly there were still days I wasn’t taking it. well, now, I do remember very well that the opiate withdrawals I’ve got from the oxy were extremely awful and they were too painful to resist.

 

You know… the problem is that I have then chosen to use Soma as an alternative to that stuff as I won’t go through those withdrawals once again because they were so hellish… I’ve decided to go with it because I wanted to avoid getting those hellish withdrawals again… however, my doctor is now getting crazy over me telling that I am highly addicted to Soma right now and that I am going to get withdrawals when I would stop with it. but as I said it a bit earlier… I have never had absolutely ANY withdrawals from stopping to take it out of a sudden.

 

Naturally my doctor has cut me off of it suddenly, which to be honest, this has amused me being that his reasoning for cutting it off has been that it should not be taken for any more time than 8 weeks. I’ve went past this time WAAAAAY ago and use it WAAAAAY much more. Whatever the case, I did have stopped and I am having absolutely no withdrawals, all that I am suffering from is pain. and also irritation from my 25 year old doctor. Has anybody else out there ever experienced anything similar to this? I mean… is there someone else who has ever used soma for more than 8 weeks? How are you feeling? Have you stopped out of a sudden? Have you got withdrawals? If you ever did then what were the symptoms and has anybody else out there ever had their doctor to take them away from using this drug for these reasons that my doctor gave to me? generally, could you comment on this more? Thanks for your explanation guys!

 

[Suffes]

Yes, it is true that soma addiction it is very possible to happen and among the withdrawals symptoms we can mention: insomnia, cramping, vomiting as well as intense craving. Your dosage that you mentioned you’ve been using did not seem to be really high and this is most likely the reason why you were able to avoid those withdrawal symptoms, plus it also depends on each person and by saying this I’m trying to say that there might be other people who could get withdrawal symptoms from taking even such a dose and even for a less period of time. for about 2 years now it has been scheduling by the DEA has caused some doctors to re examine its long term usage in the chronic pain patients. However, increased evidence does exist of abuse and diversion on Soma. One thing that’s really strange for me is that you haven’t mentioned your doctor to give you an alternative to soma so I can’t believe that he simply left you like that… this is the reason why I need to ask you… have your physician recommended you some alternative muscle relaxants or other therapy instead of Soma?

 

And in addition to that… have you found that your permanent cervical impairment from a job injury (which has resulted in disability later by the way), has caused you to refrain from physical activities which were former hobbies? Have you been unable to work at all? I’m just curious about it.

 

[Ement]

Oh well… I have discussed with my PM doctor about soma that has been given to me by my ortho doctor a little while back because of my muscle issues. I did have showed him that I only had approximately 10 left and he has said that I would much better treat them like gold. Be sure that they are very serious and that’s because my doctor has told me that these ones are almost more strictly controlled than the opiates. I mean… I am not very sure, of course, if this is true or not, however this is just a sign that they are indeed very seriously taken and tightly controlled. One more sure thing is that it is currently very hard to get a prescription right now of it. and since it is so so hard to get a prescription right now (and even if you do you get only very little of it), then the only option left it is to get it through the IOPs. It does seems very well like every medication that it is actually helping well with the pains are being taken away from us, or so so hard to get them which is getting near to impossible.

 

To be honest, it is really making me be really really angry whenever I am seeing that there are so many people out there having legit sufferings due to the fact that there are those ‘other kind of people’ who have abused those medications and therefore they have made the life of ‘legit sufferers’ much worse. This is just making everybody else out there to suffer… and this is just not right and generally I find it to be inhumane to be honest.

 

And exactly as I have already mentioned it earlier I want to say it again… there are people in so so much pain out there that is going to end up purchasing street drugs for relief and that’s, once again, inhumane. They are desperate and they have nothing left to do than to go and get them wherever they can (again, like streets and IOPs). Each one of us… when you are getting desperate enough… what other option out there do you have to do then? You are being pushed to the corner and what then? you have to do whatever it takes to get out of there… I am a true believer that it is going to make their ‘drug war’ blow up in their faces… I wish you good luck with that DEA and yeah… congrats for ruining so many people’s lives.

 

[ThoM200]

Soma is indeed an addictive drug which you can get hooked up on easily and you can have withdrawals from it if you decide to stop taking it out of a sudden. However I still can tell you that there is absolutely nothing that it is as uncomfortable as an opiate withdrawal. I am quite sure that opiate withdrawal is a lot much worse than the one that you might get from the soma. Not trying to say that soma withdrawal is pleasurable, LOL, but at least not as bad as opiate’s.

 

[estebanito]

Hi there everyone… just wanted to share my 2 cents here for whatever it is going to be worth it… well, back in the time when I have firstly started to suffer from the chronic migraine I am getting and I went to my doctor, he has given me a script for Depakote in order to try to reduce their occurrence and they seemed to do that as during the time it has worked – however the problem is that when I have finally stopped to use them I have had withdrawals that have been even a lot much more worse than when I have stopped the hydrocodone I have had taken in the past. I mean… I never expected to get withdrawals from Depakote at all… but when they turned out to be even worse than the withdrawals from hydrocodone that was a… shock to say the least. That’s while I was thinking that there’s nothing worst that I ever experienced than hydrocodone withdrawals. It has been really really awful. I personally have never thought that it could be so so bad as the opiates were, however it has been a lot much more worse. That was hard and strange…

 

[debra]

Well… in my personal opinion, the following ones are the worst to go through the withdrawal (that’s since I’ve been on all of them and since I’ve went through withdrawal from all of them and plus to that, as I have said, that’s just my opinion).

 

First and the worst withdrawals are from benzodiazepines… all other withdrawals are bad, but from benzos they are the worst!

 

The second is from tramadol… tramadol is like going through 2 withdrawals in the same time… since it works as a pain killer and as an antidepressant (anti anxiety) it gives you bad withdrawals physically and mentally too.

 

Third one is Depakote. I see someone else out there mentioning that they had withdrawals from Depakote and that’s a surprise… getting Depakote withdrawals is not a surprise, that’s the third worst withdrawals I’ve ever got.

 

On the fourth place on my list there’s antidepressants and antipsychotics. They are one of the worst for sure.

 

And after all this list it goes the opiates. I’m not very sure if there’s someone who has a different type of list but in terms of the worst withdrawals – these are the worst ones.

 

[Thadestal63]

Hey there OP… I personally have found Soma to be one of the most addictive medications out there… the withdrawals from it (at least for me, not sure how it is for others) it is completely different than from others… that’s because I am having insomnia, muscle aches, visual disturbances (like for example, when I have withdrawals from it I am getting hallucinations) as well as debilitating anxiety (when I am literally not being able to move)… these symptoms have lasted to me for like 3 months or so. I can’t say that it is worse than withdrawals from Xanax as the xanax’s withdrawals are much worse, however it is lasting a lot much more longer. And one of the worst things is that the hallucinations are pretty scary I tell you… try working in the time when you are actively hallucinating and trust me you’re going to see that it is not going to be easy at all! is there anybody else out there who are having these withdrawal symptoms from getting of the soma or I am the only one with such strange symptoms? I also want to ask you people (those of you who are having withdrawals from soma) how long it took you? Also 3 months or so??

 

Exactly as I can read in somebody else’s post the same situation happened to me as well (which is why I think that the poster should be from LA, I guess) when my doctors has discontinued to give me prescriptions for Soma for my perfectly legit back issues 3 years ago. After that I have been using them through my doctor for sometimes and inquired about the change and he has said that they are highly addictive and new FDA regularities are discouraging their use anymore. Is there anybody out there who has been able to get a real prescription for those ones lately? I really doubt about this, should be a really big clue that they are bad news.

 

[RoseDee]

hey there people… I truly need at least some kind of help from any members here at all in regards to this topic… anything would be very much appreciated as I have never had any experience with this…

 

I can tell you from my own experience that soma, in fact, it is indeed a very addicting thing. I don’t actually know whether it is physically addicting thing (in fact, I am pretty sure that it is, however I one have never had withdrawals from it), but I do know for sure that it is being a psychologically addicting stuff. I am now using it and I just know that I just cannot go without taking it. I have noticed that I can go like 12 hours without it, however if I am not re dosing then after 12 hours I am feeling all very and very weird. I am fine with coming off it as it has become a problem, however I am now being worried about the seizures… that’s the only thing I’m worried about. To be honest… I am quite embarrassed to mention what’s the dosage per day that I take… about 8 a day. Is such a high dose able to cause organ damages? What organs? And I would also like to ask you people… do you think that the Flexeril would be a good medication to taper? I know that this is a very strange drug, at least I found it to be really strange and that’s because there are sometimes when it is very well for me and there are other times when it simply doesn’t give me any help/ relief. Plus to that, for me, it is causing confusions either…

 

[Anniand]

Some people out there are surely having withdrawals… I am not sure if all people but I am sure that soma is something that 100% has withdrawal symptoms and although withdrawals from soma is nothing easy, I still say that the worst withdrawals that I have ever experienced has been withdrawals from the benzodiazepines. I see someone else out there saying that the worst withdrawals experienced ever has been from benzos and I do understand this and I agree with this. if you prepare to have withdrawals from soma that’s gonna be hard and it needs preparation, however withdrawals from benzos that needs much more as this is lasting a solid 6 months of a withdrawals… this one surely should not be taken as anything lightly or you surely will regret! As with any other medication out there, you have to be maximum careful and to use it as is being directed by your doctor. In case you are feeling as if you do seem to go out of the control then you need to search for some professional help because they know what to do and it is easier for you to get help ‘in the beginning’ rather than when it too late.

 

Anyway, in regards to soma itself… this stuff is addictive for sure and it can definitely give you withdrawal symptoms it must be much harder if you are still in pains. I have also done it with a serious neuro surgery that has put me on opioids legitimately for 2 years. I do remember that this was not fun at all to come off of them. I tell you from experience that it has been an absolutely terrible experience, however believe this or not but the opioid withdrawals, although they do feel terrible, your life it is not in danger as much as some other drugs withdrawals out there or alcohol withdrawal.

 

However, once again, as I have already mentioned this, the withdrawals from the benzodiazepines has been the worst, or then again, at least for me they were the worst. But if I would be you then I would search in google for soma withdrawals and read as much as possible because I just don’t know how serious they might be. most importantly I would say that you need to search for how dangerous they might be. what I do know with certitude is that benzos and alcohol withdrawals can and are usually very serious and very dangerous which is why you need to be very prepared.

 

I personally have not used Soma very long, however I would surely not try to stop using it cold turkey without having some medical professional help or, at very least, without doing A LOT of research so if I take the risk doing it all alone by myself, I would avoid, at least, the biggest mistakes that can be done. But obviously, this is only my opinion… I can’t know for sure as I am not a doctor or a medical professional so as I said, I am not sure whether it is safe or not to go off soma cold turkey. Maybe it is, maybe it’s not, I just wanted to say that I wouldn’t take the risk.

 

[Suffes]

Hey there RoseDee I just wanted to help you and comment on your post and especially on this:

 

I am fine with coming off it as it has become a problem, however I am now being worried about the seizures… that’s the only thing I’m worried about. To be honest… I am quite embarrassed to mention what’s the dosage per day that I take… about 8 a day. Is such a high dose able to cause organ damages? What organs? And I would also like to ask you people… do you think that the Flexeril would be a good medication to taper?

</p><p> </p><p>even though you can see that there are multiple people saying that their worst withdrawals was from benzodiazepines, I would still say that there are some people out there who find the withdrawals from Soma to be a lot much more worse than those from the barbs/ benzos. That’s because we’re all different and we could get different effects from each drug, the same goes with withdrawals… therefore there might be some people who would find the withdrawals from soma, although believed to be less dangerous, to be much worse, than those of benzos. However, pretty much like discontinuation from those types of drugs, a taper can be really effective. Especially when you have a good taper plan.</p><p> </p><p>If you ask for advices then you should know that I am not a doctor or medical professional either and that’s why all I can tell you is just the way I would do if you would be in a situation like yours and so, I would access a physician or a detox facility and be switched over to a more typical benzo like for example Valium and I would try to get on a supervised taper as this is, IMO, the safest and the easiest way to do it.</p><p> </p><p>Again… I am not aware (or a doctor or something), however I personally have not heard of seizures or organ damages in case it is being properly tapered, this is why I assume that a supervised taper would be the best idea. Do not try to stop it cold turkey and that’s especially at the dosage that you are currently using. That’s a too high of a dose to be stopped cold turkey. And yeah, the strange psychological symptoms that you are describing are very often cited.</p><p> </p><p>And one last thing that I wanted to comment here is that unlike typical benzos, the overdose it is pretty possible and that’s even without concurrent alcohol usage. You should make sure that you are not drinking alcohol, please just don’t if you want to be safe. If you would, you have extremely high chances of getting… bad symptoms to say the least. </p>

 

[Easer1934]

Well, I personally have not found this Soma to be as addictive as it is opiates like for example hydrocodone and even more especially tramadol as this one has been much more addictive than soma. Comparing the addictive properties of tramadol with the addictive properties of Soma it is like you’re comparing Conor McGregor with a 10 years old child in a UFC fight. Or at least that’s for me. however, what I have found is that it is losing its effects completely on me after more than like 3 or maybe 4 days of continuous usage with it. I can take like 2 or maybe 3 pills at a time and I am still not feeling anything after that. It simply does not work for me anymore. I personally have found this to be really strange and I wanted to ask you people… is there anyone else who has something similar to what I am describing here? Does this happen to somebody else? And yeah by the way… I have noticed that this can also happen to me with ambien too… this is very strange and I do realize that I am one of few people having something like this… as much as I can see I am having a very strange body chemistry…

 

[Melina]

So, I don’t know, maybe indeed we do have strange body chemistries…. But I do know what are you talking about here:

 

however, what I have found is that it is losing its effects completely on me after more than like 3 or maybe 4 days of continuous usage with it. I can take like 2 or maybe 3 pills at a time and I am still not feeling anything after that. It simply does not work for me anymore. I personally have found this to be really strange and I wanted to ask you people… is there anyone else who has something similar to what I am describing here? Does this happen to somebody else? And yeah by the way… I have noticed that this can also happen to me with ambien too… this is very strange and I do realize that I am one of few people having something like this… as much as I can see I am having a very strange body chemistry… <br /> 

</p><p> </p><p>You are right on that and you are not alone with this. I’m also this way… I mean, it is also losing its effects on me. I’ve been taking soma for headaches and it has done absolutely nothing for me. then I have went to Vicodin and to Valium only for this. and yeah, ambien as well. </p>

 

[RoseDee]

 Agreed on the fact that it is a very strange drug… it is all over the place for me, I am feeling like complete crap whenever I am using it… and in the same time I am also feeling like completely crap whenever I do NOT use it anymore?!?!?! This is so so annoying. I am currently trying my best to taper down, however I am getting that horrendous fuzzy and foggy feeling and it is hard for me to deal with it. I am currently sure that I must to cut back with it because otherwise I am going to be at 10 per day next week for sure.

 

But you know… I have found a forum post somewhere on the internet with a guy out there saying that he was (or maybe is still, not sure) taking 180 of them per week!!! I mean… WTF?!?! But you know… I absolutely believe it and I don’t think that it is a lie or fake… I believe because tolerance is building faster than anything that I have ever used. What I cannot understand is how do people still are able to function on that dosage but anyway… if there is anybody out there that is having a good taper plan then I would really be very and very happy to hear it. in my entire life I have come off a lot of drugs out there, however this is one of the drugs that has me baffled… I am still having a few etizolam and gabapentin left.

 

Also, Suffes, thank you very and very much for you advices and recommendation. That’s really good to hear from you. I have been following your posts for a while and you really seem to be an intelligent person. You’ve given me great advices many times so thanks for everything.