I took Ultram yrs ago and it really helped my back pain but it finally started messing with my stomach so I had to stop taking it. I was sick about it since it was the first med to really help with the pain. I went through 7 yrs of pain before my fusion and I know how you must feel. If the Ultram helps you I would take it and not think about any effects of taking it. If it helps you return to a normal quality of life than it was worth it. I felt this way about my pain pills that I couldn't do without before my fusions. I didn't know if I would ever get off the pain meds but I did finally wean off of them. Good Luck!

Keith

Thanks for the advice - yeah I've tried to tough it out but sometimes I just can't cope [I've had this shizz for over 15 years now and it's more on than off these days]. Quality of life vs side effects and addiction....not much of a choice is there? Hopefully when I get my injection or whatever the surgeons offer me things will improve and I'll be able to wean myself off it.

It did nothing but eat my stomach up! To me it was like taking a extra strengh tylenol.........but if you need meds you need meds I have never heard of anyone getting hooked on Ultram or Tramadol only on the stronger opiads like Oxycontin, Percocet, Vicodin etc.I think your body will tell you if you are doing too much~ but always ask your docotor

I tried the Ultram a couple of years ago and it was like taking Tylenol for me also. I didn't take it for very long though. My doctor switched me to something else for pain. I didn't know you would have withdrawals from it. I did learn in nursing school that you can become addicted to having a Tylenol every day- your mind works wonders, doesn't it!?

I totally agree with you, pain avoidance is a huge motivation!

I would never take tramadol......

I have to say Tramadol is my wonder drug. It's funny to see how a drug can affect everyone differently. I can take Vicodin and it does nothing for me. When I take Tramadol, it takes my pain away, improves my mood, helps me sleep better, etc. I don't take it everyday, but at least 2-3 times a week. I also like how long it lasts, a good 8 to 10 hours of relief.

Tramadol personally has been the only prescription that has ever made me nauseated. Although it technically is an opioid agonist (binds to opioid receptors) and does have some risk for physical and psychological dependence, it is much lower than the other opioids such as hydrocodone, oxycontin, morphine etc.

I take Ultram because it is the only pain med my family doctor will prescribe me. Hopefully, that will change after my NS appointment for my neck next week.

For me, it seems to take about 30 minutes to start feeling it in my system; what little I feel it. It barely touches the pain, but it is better than nothing. And, once it's in my system, I might have benefit for 1 hour - 1.5 hours.

Have told my Doc for 3 years, repeatedly that I need something additional and/or different.

She told me once that it would be okay to take 2 Ultrams at a time. The problem with that is it makes me dizzy, which in turn makes me nauseous, and for no more pain relief that I get from it, it isn't worth the extra aggravation. And, I have Meneire's disease so I don't want any additional periods of unnessary dizziness caused by a med. Plus, it's hard for me to take it and work due to dizzy/nauseous effects.

I hope you have better results with Ultram that I do.

It was just my opinion......not against it,just saying it wouldnt work for me....

I took it for a time before I had my hip replacement due to osteoarthritis. My pain from DDD is too great for it to make much difference now, though.

I (along with hubby) noticed it made me a lot more forgetful!

I was prescribed Promethazine Oral (Phenergan)to help with the dizziness and nausea caused by my pain meds and it really did the trick!

Phenergan also helps boost pain medicine a bit!!

You must have pain relief to get on with your life, and if you have to have Tramadol or whatever else works, then go for it.
i understand your fear of addiction, but there is physical addiction and psychological addiction.
Psychological addiction is what you would get from street drugs, for instance.
Physical addiction is when your body needs the drugs to get by on a daily basis, and you don't get any psychological high, just pain relief.
If that is your lot, then so what?
I've had to think it through too, as I always wanted to minimise any medication. But I've now realised that i just have to have it. The alternative is not worth considering.
I have read recently that this fear of addiction is stopping GP's from adequately treating pain, yet the risk with people in severe pain is very slight.
So a lot of people are being under medicated through irrational thought.
This can be a hard one to get your head around, but you may find some good discussions on the internet.
http://209.85.141.104/search?q=cache:nhfvrGsMCrkJ:www.cpmission.com/main...
Good luck.
I have been on Tramadol for a few years now, and it works well for me most times. Keeps me awake though.

I feel lucky that I have a pain management guy who believes me about my pain levels and I don't have to beg him to prescribe meds that will provide me relief.

I do have to sign a pain contract, though, that I won't abuse them or do sneaky things to get more.

My doctor put me on Tramadol about a week ago after letting me know I have major neck surgery coming up. I'm not sure what all they will be doing. I know that I have DDD and nerve impingement involving c3 thru c7. The c3 and c4 sections aren't as bad.

My doctor also increased my Lyrica (I'd been taking that for diabetes) to 100 mg 3x a day.

So far I don't really notice the Tramadol doing anything. It might be. If I do much with my left arm espcially I have lots of pain (I'm left handed). My right arm hurts to tho, just not as much.

Ken GreyEagle

This is an extended-release version of Ultram/Tramadol. I've used it in the past with Phenergan (anti-nausea) to manage my pain. Only need to take it once a day & releases 50mg every 8 hrs. Currently I'm on a 12mig Fentanyl patch. I like the convenience of replacing a patch every 3 days vs. oral meds. But I would need to take much more potent strengths that I cannot tolerate to get my pain to an acceptable level.

Thanks for the advice everyone.... I'm trying to just take 100mg only when the pain kicks in really badly or in the morning [along with an anti inflammatory]- it does work for me - I get 8 or more hours relief can sleep and don't feel too bad. For someone like me who likes a drink now and again it's meant I've had to abstain if I'm on them but this is no big deal.

I started taking Tramadol ,50mg every 8-hours it really helps with my disc pain,but does nothing for my nerve pain.i have taken 100,mg every 8-hours,i did notice when i did,i would make my skin itch all the time.
Robert

I have taken ultram for 8 or 9 years i take two 50mg in am and 2 more in afternoon when i first took it many years ago it made me itch alot the doc told me to hang in their and the itching would stop i remember i would cut the pill in half and spread it through the day well itching did stop.and i have never stopped taking it. i can not take it after 2pm because it gives me energy and it will keep me up during night. i dont need that because i have a terrible time sleeping as it is, it does help with my pain,i have tried waiting and not taking it in AM and see if just moving around might ease the pain sum and thats not ever worked ill take 2 ultram and about 15 min i feel it start to work even after years of taking it

Benedryl worked for me with the itching. Never had the problem with Tramadol but I did with the opiates. Hope you get some relief.

I just started taking this drug and, it is working pretty well so far. I have noticed that my ddd pain is not as bad.

In 2005 I had an L4S-L5S1 microdiscectomy.

I'm currently taking Tramadol, and lemme tell you!! I've never felt so crappy! They had to up my dosage because it wasn't blocking out the pain anymore. Every morning I wake up feeling like I have a hangover, when I don't take it I get the shakes, cold sweats...I feel sick to my stomach and just ache everywhere. I'm also on Celebrex and Tizanidine (Zanaflex). It might be the combo, but my poor stomach has had it.

I know my Aunt who's currently going to school for her Ph.D in medicine or something similiar has told me to look into alternative medicines. I'm still learning what that means.

Tramadol/Ultram is not a narcotic. I asked My NS for something that's not addictive and she prescribed Ultram. Since My surgery is Monday and Ultram thins your blood, she prescribed Me Darvocet.

Knocks me out. I'm pretty easily looped though. In the beginning of all of this, before MRI, they thought it might be muscle spasms. Flexerill and Ultram were given. ha ha ha

I took 1/4 of each and felt like a pile of Jello. No kidding. 1/2 of each and I was out. I tried taking one or the other and the side effects were not as intense but still very out of it for me.

I've been on Tramadol for some years and am addicted to it. I take 200 - 300mg a day and without it would not be able to work or do most other things - before it I hardly got any sleep and was slowly slipping into terminal exhaustion as well as taking vast amounts of paracetomol and Ibuprofen. My injury is inoperable, so I'll always need painkillers, so the addiction aspect is actually not a problem (as long as I make sure I never run out!). I'd like to shake the hands of the folks who developed Tramodol! I find if Ii have a particularly bad spell and have to up my does to 200 at night, it can cause sleep "disturbances" (really wierd nightmares, itching, being hot etc), but like I say, without it, I would be in constant pain and unable to function anywhere near the level I can now.
I definitely would not recommend it as a short term medication as I've heard several tales of people on it a couple of months or more, then suffering withdrawal when stopping it (or else they should maybe get a properly phased withdrawal), and I know people who could not get past the initial stages of taking it. I remember at first, a good 2-3 weeks of feeling a bit woozy and a strange "detached" sensation. However, now I feel perfectly normal on it of course.

All it did for me was tear my stomach up...I lost 6 lbs just because I couldn't keep anything in my stomach and it didn't even touch my pain. I wish you success with it!
dusty

Tramadol is not a true narcotic. It has some narcotic-like activity, and some analgesic-like activity.

I've been using it for 2 1/2 years. It works on mild-moderate pain for me. I would agree that my very casual discussions with people seem to indicate that it either works or it doesn't for people, no middle ground. I haven't heard many for whom severe side effects were an issue, and I haven't heard of anybody who became addicted. That's not research, that's just me being nosy.

Right now I'm on 100mg Ultram ER.

Remember that if you're on Cymbalta, you're limited as to how much Ultram you can take. If you're on Cymbalta and start having symptoms while taking Ultram, discuss the possibility of Seratonin Syndrome with your doctor. My doctor limits me to 100 mg/day and I've had no problems. This is a listed interaction in the prescribing insert.

I am so, so sorry

If you do a search you'll find quite a few forums where folks talk about bad experiences coming off Ultram/Tramadol - I tried to after about a year on it and the effects were awful (I was going to a party and your not supposed to mix Tramadol with alcohol, so thought I'd not take it that day and fill up on Paracetomol, and iboprofen and put up with the pain for the party,- now I can drink if I want as after so many years, being full of Tramadol as my "normal" state, I find alcohol has no different effect on me than it ever did).
But, if I'm more than a couple of hours late taking mytramadol I start to feel quite ill - now thats happened even when I've completely forgotten, so it's not psychological - in fact, my wife even knows before I do as she says she can see a change in my eyes and asks me if I've taken it. In my work I dealt often with drug addicts and the descriptions they give me of early withdrawal are often similar in some way to what I experience if I forget (or at least the sweating, flu like sysmptoms, and a black, black depression when I ttried that first time- really scary! - which goes away within 20-30 minutes of taking a dose). I obviously have a lot in my system because luckily if I have forgotten, the pain does not seriously reappear for a couple of hours. However, like I said, since I'm going to be taking it forever, it is not an issue, but it certainly would be if my condition was operable and I had to come off it.

seems my doc. doesnt have time to talk. he is kinda meen. but insurance won;t allow to switch. he ordered cervical esi, didnt do anything for pain, have another appt. in june. i don't want to do painkillers but tylenol is not working. cant take aleve or ibuprofen. i now take zoloft , seroquel and xanax xr. does anyone have any sugestions on meds good for me, i'm facing a c-4 to c-7 fusion

I took tramadol, didn't get much relief from it, and couldn't sleep, sometimes it would get me bugeyed and wired as if i had taken speed. Also nausea, more than I get with the vicodin i take now.

I took tramadol, didn't get much relief from it, and couldn't sleep, sometimes it would get me bugeyed and wired as if i had taken speed. Also nausea, more than I get with the vicodin i take now.

I've been taking Tramadol for almost 18 months. It only helps a little but it's all my doctors will prescribe. I've been having a lot of nausea for the past few weeks after taking every dose with or without food. I'm also taking Prilosec OTC, Wellbutrin XL, and either Flexeril, Norflex, or Zanaflex (I take whichever I think may help that day but none work very much). Nothing has changed so why would it start causing nausea now? Has this happened to anyone else? I'm happy for those who get good relief from it.

Debbie

Hi all

I'm new to the forum, but definitely not a stranger to back pain.

In 2003, I went to my (then) PCP for pain in the lumbar area of my back. I'd tried Tylenol, Motrin, and Aleve with no luck. He put me on Ultram, and I had a good reduction in the pain level I was experiencing, so he kept me on it until last year (2009).

I'd like to quickly add that even though the DEA does not list Ultram as a scheduled drug, it CAN be by each individual state (as of now, I think there are 3 or 4, including my state). Anyway, when Arkansas classified it as a C-IV in 2007, my doctor became a horse's behind about refills. He took 3 days to authorize them, and if you ran out before then, you just had to tough it out. And to make matters worse, his office wouldn't call and let you know if he didn't authorize it.. so you'd wait 3 days, not knowing anything. And if he said no-- you had to come in first, usually it was at least a 2-3 week wait.

I did have withdrawal symptoms. My insomnia became even worse, and then I'd get the "creepy-crawlies".

The doctor got in trouble with the state, beacause at one appointment where I went in for a refill, he jumped on me about having taken "x" amount of the pills in a 6 month period. I told him, "Look-- I don't take them more often than is prescribed, and I don't refill them before it's time. I take them just as the label says. My back hurts, and I take them, because that's what they were prescribed for." He then tried pinning it on me because there was no test documentation in my chart on what was causing my back pain. By this time, I was pretty "hot under the collar". I said in a raised voice, "How in the #$%& am I able to send myself for an x-ray or MRI? That's YOUR job--not mine!"
So to make a long story shorter, he refilled the medicine--- and FINALLY ordered x-rays. He said they were normal, but I told him I wanted further testing. He ordered an MRI in April 2009. The nurse called me and said nothing was wrong, and it was ALL IN MY HEAD (he actually DID say that, but I knew better). I finally had enough and referred myself to a specialist when, after I went to the hospital to get a copy of the MRI report, saw that what he considered "normal" wasn't "normal" at all.

Well, that specialist kept me on the Ultram throughout several tests (EMG/NCV; discogram; facet blocks). I went to ANOTHER specialist because that one wouldn't even consider surgery because he said my insurance didn't reimburse him enough.

So fast-forward to the end of December of last year. The 2nd specialist did a set of x-rays, and about fell off his stool--- my back was in HORRIBLE shape! {I will list them in the "signature" part of my profile as soon as I can get to it}.

Because of the x-rays, he wanted another MRI since my last one was >6 months old, before he did surgery (to make sure there were no "surprises" in the O.R.--- and there were--- MRI didn't show everything that was wrong).

I'm almost 3 months post-op after an ALIF L4/L5/S1 and posterior laminectomy L4-L5, and more than likely will face more surgery--- and I'm only 33. I didn't mean to be so long-winded and get a little off-topic, but there was a reason. My surgeon told me that if the old doctor would've sent me for tests LONG before he did, instead of just medicating me, I could've avoided having to have had a 4 hour operation.

But-- the good news is that while taking post-op pain meds, I've been COMPLETELY off of Ultram since March, and luckily, I avoided the withdrawal symptoms this time.

Each person is different in what's best to treat their pain. Yes, the Ultram worked o.k. for me, but I regret masking the pain and not knowing what was wrong before it was too late... I was only doing further damage to my spine and didn't know it. You migh want to consult the specialist you'll be going to see, or a pharmacist, to see what they advise you to do, based on the problems you've had with withdrawing from it.

Good luck!

Each and every person reacts differently to meds...Ive been on Tramal for over 3 years and up to doses of 600mg a day... I found it made me feel sick at times but overall I found it helpful...I took the 50mg instant doses and also the Slow Release 200mg tablets for night..

Here in Australia they prescribe Tramal over Oxycontin and MOrphine etc

Hope you find the right meds for you

tramadol has been a nightmare for me. at first it didn't do squat for my pain I took 300mg in a 24 period, 100mg every 4-6 hours, it made me sick to my stomache. it's been a full 36 hours since i took my last pill and I still have a horrible headache, upset stomache, shakes, and weak feeling. but my pain level is down:P I called my doc and was told that it sounds like I'm alergic to them. surgery is next week and as long as the pain doesn't get too bad i'll stick with ibuprofen until then.

I have 3 herniated disk. i have been on several narcotics. some of you say that ultram is not a narcotic. it acutualy is cosiderd a narcotic in several states. ultram is almost like codien, but is stronger. i have been on it for 4 years. at one time i lost my insurence and could not afford my perscription. let me just say there were serious withdraw symptoms. no sleep,cant eat,restless legs,and enhanced pain. once i was back on it,the withdraw instantly went away. if it works for you then i would suggest that you take it. just remember it is a narcotic and the more you take ,the harder it will be to get off of it.

I was prescribed this medicine for moderate pain after surgery. My incisions bothered me, and I took 4 pills a day for the first 3 days, then usually 2 a day. However, the side effects: nausea, palpitations, dizziness, drowsiness AND sleeplessness, constipation and mental vagueness were really too unpleasant to be rid of minor pain, so after a week I stopped taking it. It is annoying that after stopping it, I suffered nausea, palpitations, and weakness/drowsiness after large meals--possibly due to withdrawal.

I have been taking Tramadol for several weeks, 2 at bedtime. I was worried about taking them during the day, when I am driving. They don't seem to affect me much at all. Only make me a little bit sleepy, and they're not reducing the pain. I don't notice bad side effects. The druggist mentioned that he did not recommend taking this with my Wellbutrin, because it could cause serotonin syndrome. I left that message with the doctor to see if he wants to switch me to something else. I am expecting to get fusion surgery in mid-March, but need something to hold me over until then. My last couple of ESI's didn't last long enough. My morning pain is excruciating.

Hi there, I'm on Tramadol and it used to work just on its own, but since my back and leg pain got even worse I've been taking it with Pregablin, Temgesic and Codeine aswell. I'm not sure if i just got used to it or if it just doesn't work as it used to. It used to give strange side effects which i don't even get anymore such as itchiness, hightened senses such as sound and light (or as i call it, my spidey senses! hehe), constipation and difficulty with number ones aswell! My doctor prescribed a different brand of it as he said they can vary. The pharmacy usually just gives out the cheapest brand unless specifically requested by the doctor. In honesty though its just my back up pain relief now. If i've taken all the others and the pain is still there i take it just for good measure. I'm going back to the doctor today to see if there is anything else he can prescribe to help.

When I recently saw the doctor and asked for other pain meds, he told me to try adding Tylenol to my daily Aleve. It seems to help me during the day. He didn't want me to take anything stronger than Tramadol before the surgery. So I'm just taking the Tramadol at bedtime. At least my days are a little less painful now. Guess there's no way I'm going to wake up pain free until the surgery is over... Mornings are still very tough.

One after hour taking my first doctor-recommended dose of Ultram, I was writhing in bed, vomiting, hallucinating, too-dizzy-to-walk and a screaming headache to boot. It took a good 24+ hours to flush that first and last dose out of my system, but suffice it to say that I cannot recommend this drug to anyone.