Your story sounds exactly like mine. At my peak I was taking 30
tramadol a day. I got up to taking 8 at a time. And I had at least 5 instances of having seizures.
I ended up taking
Suboxone. (same as Subutex) and while being on it is 100x better than being on the high dose of Tramadol, it is just as hard to get off of, and you will still get withdrawal symptoms. I am down to taking only 1/8th a pill a day and I will still go through withdrawal if I go cold turkey.
Here is some advice from somebody who's been through exactly what you have. Do not take suboxone for more than 6 months, otherwise you become very dependent on it and its harder to quit.
Unlike tramadol and other painkillers, Suboxone has a long half life, 36 hours. And less is more. You will not get any higher if you take 2 pills instead of one. I would start out with taking half a pill 2x a day, and taper down every 2-3 weeks.
You cant always trust doctors. Most would be perfectly happy to keep you on a high dose of suboxone for the rest of your life to keep your business.