I must be a huge failure.....

[KillerStack]

Look bro, first and foremost I think you are a good guy and a loyal contributing member..you are family..so I am not trying to attack you or put you down..I am gonna try and help you...this is what I think (and yeah I could be wrong) :

Your 'friend' is you -- look I had a REAL problem with painkillers, I know all about addiction and the life..TRUST ME.. Kind of a coincidence that your pal happened to get the same meds you were hooked on, and he got a script for them due to migraines -- there are other meds specificly for them. And as an addict you will NEVER forget how you tapered down, or quit. It is too dramatic of a life changing experience not too. It is a lifelong struggle and you know it. The symptoms you just mentioned are pretty much the EXACT w/d's you get from opiates. So are we talking tramadol or something else? I can feel your pain man and I only want to help. This drug has kidnapped your life, and your soul is struggling to be free of it, hence this post. We are family here so harbor no shame. If you have ANY questions, PM me and we will talk. I will be happy to help you recover. Your bro,

Ivan

If this is the case maybe tied to the liver issue as well, if other pain killers were involved?
Anyways, good luck to you and your friend Zephyr.

 

[Stone]

The good and bad of it is as follows... yes you are at the least physically addicted to tramadol, if this is the extent then when you brave through the withdrawals you'll have little chance for (another?) relapse. However, this is RARELY the case with addiction. It is almost alway tied into phsycological addiction of some kind. In that case you really need to seek treatment in order to maintain your sobriety and mostly for your own peace of mind. With work and time, you will be able to have a different outlook on the situation, trust me. The good news is you picked the weakest possible opiate to become addicted to. Tramadol is considered oral Nubain, and is even weaker than the 'bain (many use it to come of bain). And yes you are withdrawing as those are the symptoms, and I think you could have answered this question yourself. Now if Ivan's insight is correct (which I also suspect it is, as you wouldn't have brought up this old post for no reason), you probably will have a bit harder time getting off this time as it really shows phsycological addiction as you sought the drug out, as opposed to being prescribed it with no knowledge of it.
Not a flame, but your reccomendations for cleaning up, AllBeef, are simply setting him up for transference. Your basically reccomending that to come off of a relatively light drug, he use 2 considerably stronger substances, benzos, and alcohol. Again, it was apparent your heart was in the right place, but it seems to me you don't have much if any first/second hand experience with addiction.
Now for some Zephyr, a taper period can help, but the trap with this is the "taper" just lasting indefinetly and ultimately going back into full blown use. Since you are using such a weak substance, my reccomendation would be cold turkey on a set date. If you can taper before this, all the better, but you need to have a stop date set (that others know about for support) and stick to it.
I would also reccomend some form of treatment, at least for the first 90 days or so, as this is when you will be most vulnerable for relapse. It may seem daunting, but I promise it will make it easier and clear up many/all of your issues surrounding this area.
Good luck, bro. My PM is always open if you want to talk about anything.

-Stone