when i was on it ..i have the most horrific hallucinations and voices!!!!! in my head and when i closed my eyes all i could see were blurred skeletal faces,it was like being a a floyd concert when Sid barratt was there !! i had to come of it .it was a lousey pain killer i was better on KAPAKE
STRAKER

I was given Tramadol after stopping Percocet. I did not have any side effects at all but I also still have pain. So it really doesn't do much for me now. Maybe I've just been taking it too long now. Usually any pain meds make me sick at my stomch. This one didn't do that at all. That was a first for me.

Hiya,

I have been using Tramadol since feb 09, it works a treat for me. Downside i felt sick/nausus and tired at first...however ensure you have enough fruit and roughage in your diet as constipation is common i use a laxative alongside diclefenic and tramadol (6 a day) plus valium.

the side effects should wear off after a week or so.

Wayne

Hi kattoo
I've been taking Tramadol for about 3 months now, I take 100mg in the morning and another 50mg at noon. I actually do get a little relief and it doesn't completely knock me out. I do get drowsy. I haven't had any side effects except for insomnia so I don't take it at night. I'm also on hydrocodone 5/500, which doesn't even touch the pain but will put me to sleep so I take that at night. Interesting the Tramadol doesn't make me take a nap.
Jay

was taken 1 1/2 hours ago after dinner and pain is definitely diminished!! i also am able to function. i'm a little spacey, but not too bad. i also feel a tad wired. thanks for sharing your experiences.

Glad to hear it is working for you. Some people do really well on it.

This post has reminded me I want to not be on this Norco as soon as I can get away from it. As soon as I get a timeline I will be suggesting a stop down to tramadol so I can taper it off and quit before the permanent SCS gets installed. That is, if it all gets approved by insurance

You will want to watch how you quit it to when the time comes and taper down if you take it regularly. It can give you some withdrawal symptoms too. Been there done that.

You will probably be fine. I don't think you have been doing this as long as some of us, which is indeed a good thing!

yes!! it is definitely working..more so than the percocet!! when do you find out about your insurance? thank you for your advice!

I switched from Hydrocodone 5/325 mg to Tramadol 50 mg & did much better on it. No side affects or nausiea. It took my after surgery pain away & I slept 10 hrs a nite. I started out with 2 tabs every 4 hrs, then after a few days I cut it down to 2 tabs every 6hrs, a few days later it was 1 tab every 4 hrs, Then it was 1 tab at the end of the day before bed. Now after 2 wks it's Extra Strenth Tylenol when needed. No withdrawls by weening myself off it after 2wks.

I was taking Tramadol for about 6 months. The only side effect I had, was it gave me a huge energy boost...which really wasn't a bad thing, since I took it first thing in the morning. It definitely helped to take the edge off of my lower back pain, but it never came close to touching my sciatic pain. But I cured my sciatica by using an inversion table, so the Tramadol not working for that was not that big of a deal for me. I will say, that when I decided to quit taking Tramadol...I experienced pretty bad withdrawal - flu-like symptoms, extreme fatigue, felt like total crap for about a week. If it weren't for the bad withdrawal, I'd probably still be taking it...but I just don't want to go through an episode like that again.

getting that energy boost, too. i just took one about an hour and a half ago and right now i feel very much "on the go"..it is now 10pm.

did you ease off the tramadol or did you just stop abruptly?? it's working very well for me and i hope it lasts. i also started lyrica tonight and so far, no side effects. the pharmacist told me it would "knock me out", but i feel awake. from what i've read, it can take a week to kick in.

NA

Works great for my lower back pain and actually seems to give me "energy"! I don't have health insurance so my doctor actually gave me the webpage for an online pharmacy that sells pain relief meds like Tramadol for great prices and you don't need a prescription or insurance as they use U.S. licensed doctors and pharmacies and FDA approved meds. All I had to do was fill out a short medical questionnaire and then they approved my request, filled my meds and shipped them overnight. The site is www.nowhere.com
Hope you can use this information.

Post edited to remove URL. Solicitation is not permitted on Spine-Health, member has been warned

Ron DiLauro, Spine-Health Administrator 03/29/09

I could use some advice about Tramadol. I have been taking Vicodin for at least 2 years now. During the week – I sit at a desk in an office for 8 hours – I take 2 x 500’s at 11:00 am and 2 more at 3:00 pm. This gets me through the worst part of my work day. I take quite a bit more than that on the weekends when I have to do all my physical work – laundry, cleaning, errands etc.

But recently I finally got to the point where it is just too painful waiting for those 11:00 pills and asked my doctor if I could start taking an extra dose. She asked me try the Tramadol instead. I was skeptical because the Vicodin didn’t even seem strong enough anymore, but it turns out I am really liking the Tramadol! I don’t know if it’s because since I’m taking in first thing in the morning that I’m not getting to that really painful point at all or if it’s really just that good, but I have not taken any Vicodin since Sunday morning ( 3 days ago ) and I am doing fine.

So my question is, would it better – in terms of addiction and tolerance – to take a dose of Tramadol in the morning and another in the evening and 2 doses of Vicodin during the day so I would be “just a little” addicted to 2 medicines, or to just keep using the Tramadol all the time ( 4 times a day ) and save the Vicodin for the weekends or the times when I really need something a little stronger in the hopes that the Vicodin will start working better for me since I’m not taking it so often and I won’t have to worry about addiction to it?

What do you all think?

Thanks,

Summer

It worked fairly well for me for a month, then it didn't even phase me. I was taking 1 50mg dose every 4 hours. My prescription said take 1 or 2 every 4 hours, so I upped to 2. That's when I couldn't sleep at night (which I still don't too well even off the tramadol) and it did give me an energy boost. That seemed to help the pain for another month, then it didn't either. I was feeling sorta spacey and had a racing heart feeling at times. I didn't have any withdrawal symptoms when I stopped, but then I moved over to Lortab's and muscle relaxers and had two surgeries.

I hate that our bodies get used to something and then it doesn't work as well.

I've just now started back trying to take tramadol in the morning (one 50mg dose) and see if it'll help again. My neck and shoulders are horrible. I'm going to take the hydrocodone the rest of the day (every 4 hours) and see if I at least get pain relief and a little more energy.

I went from 5/500 vicodin, to 10/325 percocet, to 50 mg tramadol (once every 6 hours) and it really helps. keep in mind, i was also taking it with lyrica, but unlike vicodin and percocet, i did not have to up my dose to get the same amount of "pain killing" effect. i have read while it is NOT a narcotic, it IS a "narcotic like" medication. if it is helping you w/o the vicodin, i would just forget the vicodin all together but that is just MY advice..

I was given percocet and weaned down to tramadol too, and then weaned off completed. Though I could still feel pain in my back, but it wasn't enough to pop another pill. While I was on tramadol, I had only one side effect - feeling cold. I guess the strength of tramadol is not as strong as percocet. After a week, the coldness stopped.

I'm pre-surgery (4/13/09) but my NS gave me this to try for the neck pain. I'm allergic to any codeine based pills. All I can say is Yuck! I took one and over twelve hours later suddenly felt dizzy and had nausea. I'm not taking any more of those! I try to keep the pain under control with Advil, but soon I must quit that too! Guess it will be Tylenol and maybe at my pre-op appointment I can get something for my nerves like Xanax.

i stopped the lyrica suddenly last week and went through a crazy withdrawal..when i was on it, it was great! really helped with the pain and i had no side effects. i decide to stop, because i was told my surgery coordinator to stop meds prior to surgery. and tnx for the luck..

NA

I'm noticing that when dose of Tramadol is wearing off, I feel nauseous. That nausea seems to magically disappear when I take a new dose. I don't like that.

The nausea is likely a symptom of withdrawal. I can go about 20-22 hours between doses of Norco before I experience pretty much the same thing. Since you doctor told you that you can take the Tramadol I would not worry to much about it at this time.

After surgery you will want to carefully taper off. Remember that the longer you are on meds the more likely you will be to have withdrawal symptoms when you stop. The nasty side of most all meds for pain.

I know Tramadol is touted as nonnarcotic, but it can be just as big a P.I.A. to stop Don't worry about that now! You will be fine! You will likely need to be on something stronger after surgery so you will probably get moved to something else anyway. I never had an issue moving back and forth between narcotics and tramadol, it was only when I quit them both that I had to taper and work through the withdrawals.

see i had no issues stopping the percocet, because i was given the tramadol...but man..i don't like being nauseous.

Do you like Gingerale? That may help. I often drink it when my stomach bothers me and I don't want to take anything for it.

I also know peppermint is good for nausea. I always forget I have mints, though lol

I keep reading so much about this drug and I know a little bit about it. 6 weeks after surgery this is what my surgeon switched me to. I took it for well over a year and was switched to the Ultram ER. The entire time I was on this drug it felt like I had the flu and not until I stopped it cold turkey did I regret ever taking it. You do have w/d on this drug and don't let anyone tell you that you don't. It was a week that was much worse than my surgery. You name a side effect and I had it. My pcp told me it was the SSRI in Tramadol. Also the flu like symptoms are a serious side effect and I am now told not to take it ever again and believe me I will not.

Sharon

unfortunately that is one of the problems with all meds, everyone is different. I'm surprised you took it for an entire year feeling that way! Wow, that's a raw deal, I always try and look at what to watch out for when I start new meds. Usually my docs are pretty good about telling me what to look for.

I also tend to look online in several places to get a feel for what people think of the drug. I've been on all kinds of SSRIs Tricyclics, you name it. With fighting depression for 15 years I always try and make sure I know what I am getting into when I start or try a new med.

Glad to hear you're off of it!

i can take to ween myself off tramadol when it comes time to?? this whole withdrawal thing just sucks. and what's even more annoying is it is one of the only meds i've tried that's really helped me out. i was so happy to finally be on a non-narcotic and now this

http://www.doctorslounge.com/psychiatry/forums/backup/topic-21878.html

Unless your an old hat at the narcotics usage thing. The first time or two I did not have much trouble. Just follow advice. It seems to get a little harder every time you do it though. Seems that way to me anyway I been around the block a few times you might say! yay! Not

i think it was just that cold turkey thing that threw me for a loop on all meds! lol never again, my friend!!

I think with the Tramdol 50mg where you take maybe 2 a day there probably would not be the kind of w/d you would have with the UltramER. With the UltramER it is always in your system and never leaves. This is how it was explained to me. I did tell my surgeon several times that I felt like I had the flu and he told me it just takes a long time to recover from the surgery. It was when I was sent to pain mgmt and that doctor put me on the UltramER it really got bad and again I told him about the flu like symptoms. That is when I got busy and did some research on the drug and stopped it cold turkey. I had taken Paxil years ago and had the same experience with it, SSRI's are not my friend. I now take Remeron and it has been a wonder drug for me, my pain is much less, so along with it and neurontin I can function almost normal.

I have a 12 month perscription for Tramadol, 4 x daily, 50 mg each pill. I've actually been on Tramadol for over 2 years and have never had any issues. I very rarely take more than 2 pills a day, and never near bedtime. It keeps me awake but so does any prescription pain med for that matter.

Dick

Geez, that sounds like a real one off situation! I never heard of it lasting that long and nobody putting two and two together.

Wow, As for Remeron, Ain't no way! I can take Tramadol all day long, feel fine, works good for me. Remeron no-no! I took one once, slept through my alarm clock and my wife trying to wake me up the next day! I was out cold for like 20 hours! Felt like a zombie the second day. I called Dr. Shrink and he convinced me to take 1/2 tab. Silly me, I slept till only 2 pm the that time!

I can't take remeron at all...

everyone is different! indeed!

I guess I must be the type person who can't take anything with an SSRI so maybe why Remeron works so well for me. It does not make me sleepy at all and my mood is so much better. Now Paxil that was another nightmare for me, stopped it cold turkey also and talk about horrible w/d. It took a while but finally figured it out that SSRI's are no user friendly for me.

Sharon

NA

I believe that is the condition to which you are referring. It is caused by too much SSRI that allows sertonin to run rampant

Quote from wikipedia, so take it with a grain of salt!
"it is a predictable consequence of excess serotonergic activity at central nervous system (CNS) and peripheral serotonin receptors.[1] For this reason, some experts strongly prefer the terms serotonin toxicity or serotonin toxidrome because these more accurately reflect the fact that it is a form of poisoning.[2][3] Rarely it may also be called serotonin storm, hyperserotonemia, or serotonergic syndrome."

where i only needed 50mg twice a day, especially when i was on lyrica. sometimes i need it 3 times a day. but trust me...the nausea is from withdrawal. it comes right at the end of my dose and as soon as i take the next dose..it's gone.

been using it now for 3 yr s. 100 mg 4 times aday .

I used to take tramadol 3 times a day. I drew out a plan to wean it off, I replaced the mid-day dose to tylenol extra strength. At times, I found I didn't need to. Then this lasted 3 days, then I skipped the morning dose and replaced that with tyenol for pain. That also lasted 3 days. The worse to let go was the night dose, because it gets cold and I'd feel cold. So, I really put on lots of coverings and used a heat pad, drink hot liquids; eventually I stopped feelig that way, 5 days later. During withdrawal period, I had diarrhea 3 - 4 times a day.

NA

I was given ultram a long time ago and it gave me panic attacks. I was in such a bad state and I was literally freaking out. Thankfully I was told to stop taking it at once, and I swear I'll never touch that medicine again. Has anyone had a reaction like that with any med, and why does that happen?

Hi Dr. K., what helped me with nausea/vomiting was Emetrol, a OTC liquid which is safe to take for morning sickness. It tastes like cherry and it's not bad at all. You can also try Cola syrup and you'll find it on the shelf next to Emetrol. It tastes like really sweet, warm flat Coca Cola. Yum

My script says 1 or 2 pills ( 50mg ) every 4 to 6 hours. That would mean 400 mg a day. When I did an online search, one site (drugs.com) said never take more than 300 mg a day and another ( rxlist.com ) said never take more than 400 mg. I see razzle5150 up there posted taking 400 a day, but does anyone else? I'm hoping that one website is just wrong?

I'm still doing pretty well with this med. I plan on not taking any Vicodin at all this week until Saturday, and only then if I have a ton of housework to do (which I will, of course and start to be really sore).

I am not too terribly concerned with the withdrawal part since I'll probably be on it a pretty long time so there's no sense worrying. I came off Lyrica and some anti-depressant pretty easily (can't remember which one - we've talked about it here before and how horrible the withdrawals on that one are - it's the "older" one?) and not taking the Vicodin so much lately hasn't really affected me either, so I think I'll be alright.

NA

the Tramadol The weaning was definitely a better way to go than the cold turkey!

I took Ultram for many years starting shortly after it came out on the market. When I just stopped taking it for a few days early on (within the first month of starting), I started having the worst withdrawals ever! Vomiting, diarhea, insomnia, mania, you name it, I had it. The problem was the doctor told me no way it was caused by Ultram! I begged for another prescription, and sure enough, the withdrawals went away. From that moment on, I was afraid to go off it, as no doctor would believe me that I was physically addicted! After more reports were filed by others on the drug, my doctor finally weaned me off of it. I have NEVER had this kind of problem with any other narcotic drug! When narcotics weren't enough, my current doctor gave me Ultram to work with them, and even though it actually helped, I made sure to wean myself off of them before I went into surgery. Glad to hear you were able to do the same Kattoo. They may make you feel "alive" but they are really dangerous in my opinion, be careful if you are taking them, and make sure you find documentation of the fact of physical addiction to take to your doctor in case he ever just says "ok, no more tramadol for you, goodbye" without letting you wean off of it!

http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/drugs_concern/tramadol.htm

NA