Remeron is a tetracyclic antidepressant. It affects chemicals in the brain that may become unbalanced and cause depression. It is thought to increase the activity of norepinephrine and serotonin which help elevate mood
Remeron is an antidepressant and anxiety drug but it does not have the SSRI in it. I take it with very good results. The only thing that could be a drawback is that you are always hungry. I didn't mean to jump in for Wrambler but I seen the post.
Sharon
_____________
ACDF C4-C7 Sept 06 and then revision surgery posterior Feb07...I think the surgeon got it right this time. The way I look at it, they broke my neck and put it back together. I am 1/2 inch taller now but still in pain.
I was prescribed Ultram for something unrelated to my back pain (Bite from a Brown Recluse Spider) I took one pill and 20 minutes later, I was having a full blown seizure!
Needless to say, it's in my record to never be given that again... My current doc actually recommended for me to get a MedAlert bracelet about this med so I wouldn't take the chance of accidentally being given it in case of accident or needing treatment out of my area.
I am glad that it works for some people. I, however, have become ulta-sensitive about meds, and I always ask questions about new meds and if they're related in any way to Ultram.
_____________
L3-L4, L4-L5, L5-S1 Anterior/Posterior Fusion scheduled for 4/7/09. This will be my 1st back surgery.
Hi I took Tramadol for 3 days and it was the most awful experanice. The first day i took it it made me itchy and the second day It gave me a migrain the worst I have ever had and made me sick to my stomach. The third day it did the same thing i began vomiting and could not eat or drink and became dehydratied and had to go tho the hospital.
I am very limited on what i can take due to me being alergic to codene I even have to be careful on what perscripiton cough syurp i take becuse it has codeene in them.
So Patsy - you said you've been on this medicine for years, so I was wondering if that means that you don't build up a tolerance for it like other pain meds? I hope not because it seems like you can't up your dose too much on this.
I've been on it 3 weeks now and I am still totally happy with it. It is controlling my pain very well when I am at work and not being very active. And one of the great benefits of this med is that my doctor wrote me a 4 month prescription - unlike my Vicodin that I have to call in for every month ( hate doing that ).
Summer, remember that you can't become "a little" addicted, either you are or you aren't. Another thing that is better about Tramadol, is it stays in your system for a lot longer, so even if you are physically addicted, symptoms don't show up for longer, so on those "good days" you can lower your dose and NOT go into physical withdrawals.
Kat, 45 year old female
20+ year history of pain from Spondylolysis and Spondylolisthesis. This was undiagnosed until about 5 years ago, tried PT, and pain meds, starting with Ultram, and working up to Oxycodone. Numbness and nerve pain down my left leg finally had me scheduling surgery for 1/13/09. Prior to that, I refused surgery due to the "odds" I was given.
1/13/09 Min invasive decompression of L5-S1 nerve root with TLIF with cage and BMP. In the notes, it says they removed a free-floating lamina (w/e that means) and did a diskectomy as well. One week after I got home, the explosions of pain started. These continue even now when I go to bed at night. Nothing helps them, and it has caused such a depression due to not being able to get out of bed quickly (takes over 15 minutes every time I need to go to the bathroom), and lack of sleep. I'm told these are muscle spasms, yet relaxers do nothing. Finally got a tens unit and another script for Valium, but after 5 days of bliss, the night problems returned. Going to insist on CT next visit, or I'm going for a second opinion. Because pain pills don't touch my night pain, I am weaning myself off percocet to see how that goes.
My personal experience with Tramadol is this; I took the short acting version for over one year. I forgot to call my dr for a refill in time, and ran out. The withdrawal was excruciating, and yes, this medication can cause dependence. I wasn't addicted, but my body was definitely dependent on this medication. Afterwards, I was put on Vicodin for daytime pain, and Percocet for nighttime pain. When I got a job, I knew I wouldn't be able to function on Vicodin at work. So my orthopedist decided to put me on Ultram ER. I wasn't crazy about gong back on the same drug I had such an awful time withdrawing from, but needed something I could take during my workday. I have a S.L.A.P. tear in my right shoulder. So far, the ER version seems like a good fit for me. I just have to remember to call in for a refill before the month is up. All I can really say is to be VERY careful when taking Ultram, either version. It is a drug of abuse, as stated on the Ultram website. Count your pills, be sure no one else is taking them, etc. Also, beware of taking SSRI anti-depressants while using tramadol. There is a risk of serotonin sydrome. Be cautious too of the risk of seizure with tramadol. Never increase your dosage without your physician's authorization. Tramadol itself has anti-depressant properties, as I've noticed personally. The medication has major drawbacks, but as a person with severe chronic pain, I know it can work wonders. I just hate to see anyone go through what I did. If you need this drug, PLEASE take ONLY as prescribed, and read all the warnings and facts before beginning the medication. My current dosage is one 200MG Ultram ER tablet daily, whereas when I took the short acting version, I was taking upwards of 8 50MG tablets everyday. Once daily dosing is a big plus.
My husband has back probs like me. He has loose hook from his rod in his upper part of his back and is feeling a lot of discomfort. Our PCP prescribed 50 mg of ultram/tramadol for him to take at night. It works wonders for my husband. he sleeps good(doesn't snore at all when he takes this med). anyway my husband wakes up very refreshed in the morning and so far has not had any side effects.
Doc has asked me to wean myself off of 10/325 percocet and take 50 mg Tramadol instead, prior to surgery which is tentatively scheduled 1st or 2nd week of April. From what I understand it is not a narcotic, but I am still concerned it may have narcotic like tendencies. I am filing prescrip tonight and have some questions:
What dose were you on?
Did you have any side effects?
How was it in treating your pain as compared to other meds?
Doc has asked me to wean myself off of 10/325 percocet and take 50 mg Tramadol instead, prior to surgery which is tentatively scheduled 1st or 2nd week of April. From what I understand it is not a narcotic, but I am still concerned it may have narcotic like tendencies. I am filing prescrip tonight and have some questions:
What dose were you on?
Did you have any side effects?
How was it in treating your pain as compared to other meds?
At first the doctor put me on tramadol for pain. And I'm sorry to say if your in severe pain this drug will do nothing for you I am now on Morphine (Kadian) 220mgs Na a nerve medicine (Gabapentin) 300mgs three times aday which still doesn't seem to be helping.
If your in severe pain this will do nothing for you. I am now on Morphine (Kadian) 220 mgs and Gabapentin 300mgs (nerve medicine)three times a day which doesn't seem to be helping much either.
It started to lose it's effectiveness a while ago, but I always tried it to see if it could prevent me from needing to take oxycodone. i stopped taking tramadol all together last week.
When you are going to take tramadol, you must be very carefully.
I have checked 844 reviews from webmd.com and found 50% people 100% satisified, but some people do have addictive on tramadol. For some patients, it even cannot reduce pain.
One year before, 70% people satisfied tramadol.
_____________
Tag line removed by Moderator - Jeaux. Spine-Health reserves the right to edit any messages posted or submitted or e-mailed to the Company and use them for content on the website or in other company materials. No e-mail solicitation or advertising of other companies, products, services, or web sites is permitted in the Spine-Health.com forums.
Tramadol has been a lifesaver for me. I take it for daytime pain. My 2 complaints are: 1) if I take it after 3:00pm, I cannot sleep that night. 2) sexual side-effects (not ED, things just take a LONG time to finish).
On the positive side, I personally get almost as much pain relief from Tramadol as I do Percocet, but it does not get me high or mentally fuzzy. It also elevates my mood much like anti-depressants have in the past. I also do not seem to be building any tolerance to it. My initial effective dose is still my current dose.
I think Tramadol is just very hit-or-miss. It either works for you or it doesn't. I have 2 colleagues here at work with very severe back issues. One of them gets no relief at all from Tramadol and had bad side-effects. The other (who is confined to a scooter for mobility) switched from oxycodone to Tramadol and has better pain relief from the Tramadol. It is a very odd drug.
_____________
Male, 37 yr old. Wonderful wife. Two AWESOME daughters (9 & 5)
Bilateral Pars defect with grade 1 spondylolisthesis (stable).
No surgeries. 2 ESIs. 8 weeks PT.
Meds: Tramadol, Gabapentin, Vicodin, Elavil, Flexeril and Lisinopril
Still working fulltime but with unpaid intermittent FMLA leave (up to 16hrs per wk)
Remeron is a tetracyclic antidepressant. It affects chemicals in the brain that may become unbalanced and cause depression. It is thought to increase the activity of norepinephrine and serotonin which help elevate mood
Looked it up on Drugs.com hope it helps.
Debbie
Remeron is an antidepressant and anxiety drug but it does not have the SSRI in it. I take it with very good results. The only thing that could be a drawback is that you are always hungry. I didn't mean to jump in for Wrambler but I seen the post.
Sharon
ACDF C4-C7 Sept 06 and then revision surgery posterior Feb07...I think the surgeon got it right this time. The way I look at it, they broke my neck and put it back together. I am 1/2 inch taller now but still in pain.
I was prescribed Ultram for something unrelated to my back pain (Bite from a Brown Recluse Spider)
I took one pill and 20 minutes later, I was having a full blown seizure!
Needless to say, it's in my record to never be given that again... My current doc actually recommended for me to get a MedAlert bracelet about this med so I wouldn't take the chance of accidentally being given it in case of accident or needing treatment out of my area.
I am glad that it works for some people. I, however, have become ulta-sensitive about meds, and I always ask questions about new meds and if they're related in any way to Ultram.
L3-L4, L4-L5, L5-S1 Anterior/Posterior Fusion scheduled for 4/7/09. This will be my 1st back surgery.
NA
Hi I took Tramadol for 3 days and it was the most awful experanice. The first day i took it it made me itchy and the second day It gave me a migrain the worst I have ever had and made me sick to my stomach. The third day it did the same thing i began vomiting and could not eat or drink and became dehydratied and had to go tho the hospital.
I am very limited on what i can take due to me being alergic to codene I even have to be careful on what perscripiton cough syurp i take becuse it has codeene in them.
So Patsy - you said you've been on this medicine for years, so I was wondering if that means that you don't build up a tolerance for it like other pain meds? I hope not because it seems like you can't up your dose too much on this.
I've been on it 3 weeks now and I am still totally happy with it. It is controlling my pain very well when I am at work and not being very active. And one of the great benefits of this med is that my doctor wrote me a 4 month prescription - unlike my Vicodin that I have to call in for every month ( hate doing that ).
NA
That's good to know, Patsy, thanks for answering!
Summer, remember that you can't become "a little" addicted, either you are or you aren't. Another thing that is better about Tramadol, is it stays in your system for a lot longer, so even if you are physically addicted, symptoms don't show up for longer, so on those "good days" you can lower your dose and NOT go into physical withdrawals.
http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/drugs_concern/tramadol.htm
Kat, 45 year old female
20+ year history of pain from Spondylolysis and Spondylolisthesis. This was undiagnosed until about 5 years ago, tried PT, and pain meds, starting with Ultram, and working up to Oxycodone. Numbness and nerve pain down my left leg finally had me scheduling surgery for 1/13/09. Prior to that, I refused surgery due to the "odds" I was given.
1/13/09 Min invasive decompression of L5-S1 nerve root with TLIF with cage and BMP. In the notes, it says they removed a free-floating lamina (w/e that means) and did a diskectomy as well. One week after I got home, the explosions of pain started. These continue even now when I go to bed at night. Nothing helps them, and it has caused such a depression due to not being able to get out of bed quickly (takes over 15 minutes every time I need to go to the bathroom), and lack of sleep. I'm told these are muscle spasms, yet relaxers do nothing. Finally got a tens unit and another script for Valium, but after 5 days of bliss, the night problems returned. Going to insist on CT next visit, or I'm going for a second opinion. Because pain pills don't touch my night pain, I am weaning myself off percocet to see how that goes.
My personal experience with Tramadol is this; I took the short acting version for over one year. I forgot to call my dr for a refill in time, and ran out. The withdrawal was excruciating, and yes, this medication can cause dependence. I wasn't addicted, but my body was definitely dependent on this medication. Afterwards, I was put on Vicodin for daytime pain, and Percocet for nighttime pain. When I got a job, I knew I wouldn't be able to function on Vicodin at work. So my orthopedist decided to put me on Ultram ER. I wasn't crazy about gong back on the same drug I had such an awful time withdrawing from, but needed something I could take during my workday. I have a S.L.A.P. tear in my right shoulder. So far, the ER version seems like a good fit for me. I just have to remember to call in for a refill before the month is up. All I can really say is to be VERY careful when taking Ultram, either version. It is a drug of abuse, as stated on the Ultram website. Count your pills, be sure no one else is taking them, etc. Also, beware of taking SSRI anti-depressants while using tramadol. There is a risk of serotonin sydrome. Be cautious too of the risk of seizure with tramadol. Never increase your dosage without your physician's authorization. Tramadol itself has anti-depressant properties, as I've noticed personally. The medication has major drawbacks, but as a person with severe chronic pain, I know it can work wonders. I just hate to see anyone go through what I did. If you need this drug, PLEASE take ONLY as prescribed, and read all the warnings and facts before beginning the medication. My current dosage is one 200MG Ultram ER tablet daily, whereas when I took the short acting version, I was taking upwards of 8 50MG tablets everyday. Once daily dosing is a big plus.
Hi All,
My husband has back probs like me. He has loose hook from his rod in his upper part of his back and is feeling a lot of discomfort. Our PCP prescribed 50 mg of ultram/tramadol for him to take at night. It works wonders for my husband. he sleeps good(doesn't snore at all when he takes this med). anyway my husband wakes up very refreshed in the morning and so far has not had any side effects.
Kate
At first the doctor put me on tramadol for pain. And I'm sorry to say if your in severe pain this drug will do nothing for you I am now on Morphine (Kadian) 220mgs Na a nerve medicine (Gabapentin) 300mgs three times aday which still doesn't seem to be helping.
If your in severe pain this will do nothing for you. I am now on Morphine (Kadian) 220 mgs and Gabapentin 300mgs (nerve medicine)three times a day which doesn't seem to be helping much either.
It started to lose it's effectiveness a while ago, but I always tried it to see if it could prevent me from needing to take oxycodone. i stopped taking tramadol all together last week.
When you are going to take tramadol, you must be very carefully.
I have checked 844 reviews from webmd.com and found 50% people 100% satisified, but some people do have addictive on tramadol. For some patients, it even cannot reduce pain.
One year before, 70% people satisfied tramadol.
Tag line removed by Moderator - Jeaux. Spine-Health reserves the right to edit any messages posted or submitted or e-mailed to the Company and use them for content on the website or in other company materials. No e-mail solicitation or advertising of other companies, products, services, or web sites is permitted in the Spine-Health.com forums.
Ultram made me very nervous and unable to concentrate,
For me the side effects were too much, It also did nothing for my pain
susan
Tramadol has been a lifesaver for me. I take it for daytime pain. My 2 complaints are: 1) if I take it after 3:00pm, I cannot sleep that night. 2) sexual side-effects (not ED, things just take a LONG time to finish).
On the positive side, I personally get almost as much pain relief from Tramadol as I do Percocet, but it does not get me high or mentally fuzzy. It also elevates my mood much like anti-depressants have in the past. I also do not seem to be building any tolerance to it. My initial effective dose is still my current dose.
I think Tramadol is just very hit-or-miss. It either works for you or it doesn't. I have 2 colleagues here at work with very severe back issues. One of them gets no relief at all from Tramadol and had bad side-effects. The other (who is confined to a scooter for mobility) switched from oxycodone to Tramadol and has better pain relief from the Tramadol. It is a very odd drug.
Male, 37 yr old. Wonderful wife. Two AWESOME daughters (9 & 5)
Bilateral Pars defect with grade 1 spondylolisthesis (stable).
No surgeries. 2 ESIs. 8 weeks PT.
Meds: Tramadol, Gabapentin, Vicodin, Elavil, Flexeril and Lisinopril
Still working fulltime but with unpaid intermittent FMLA leave (up to 16hrs per wk)