Tramadol

[Smoff]

Still having pain after my period finished 5 days ago so I went back to the doctor today and have been prescribed Tramadol (on top of the co-codamol and ibupofen)!

What is everyone's experience of tramadol? I have never had it before and am a bit concerned about the side effects etc.

My other concern is....they keep giving me stronger pain killers which is great for my pain management but I feel this is just masking the problem not curing it......aaaaarrrrrgggghhhhh!!!!

Sue

[FMcB79]

Hey,

I got prescribed Tramdol when I couldn't take codeine any more because it makes me very sick... The Tramadol makes me very dizzy, I certainly wouldn't want to try and drive after taking any! It also doesn't seem to help with the pain quite as much, but it does take it down to a more manageable level.

I think it's like codeine though and quite addictive, so do be careful how long you take it for - I try and keep the serious painkillers to just a couple of days, and then the rest of the time rely on ibuprofen with paracetamol and hot water bottles.

Hope it comes back under control soon,

xx

[heraldc]

Tramadol is good and is part of the morphine family of medicines it's very powerful but can cause sickness, headaches, dizziness & can make you very sleepy I'd recommend just taking 1 every 6hrs initially and paracetamol in between and see how you get on I have a wheat pack that can be moulded in pain area and find this helps in between medication. Hope pain eases soon nothing worse

[lunar84]

I find Tramadol works really well but be very careful and dont just come off it. I researched the drug a lot when I used to take it and found out it is unofficially used in some cases in USA as an antidepressant as it has some od the chemicals in like prozac, of which I noticed these effects when taking it. I didnt realise you could just stop taking them like you do co codamol etc, so when I stopped them I felt awful emotionally as they had been perking me up for months without me realising it. When you decide to come off them reduce the dose gradually.

Www.tramadolfacts.com/pros-and-cons-of-tramadol/

Xx

[Smoff]

That kind of adds to my concern because I already take Prozac!!

I saw an orange triangle pop up on the screen when I was with the gp (not my normal one), but he didn't say anything!

I had one last night and felt reasonably ok...I will just trial and error with timings and stuff to see how it goes. I just wish someone would cure the problem instead of keep masking it with pain killers.

Thanks for your advice guys

[Hidden]

I was prescribed tramadol after my lap and my experience of it was really nasty. It gave me really vivid, strange dreams and made me feel very disorientated. Obviously everyone reacts differently but I stopped taking them because I felt so strange on them, even though I really needed the pain relief. My advice would be to be cautious with them. I totally agree with you that they're just giving you painkillers and not looking for the cause of the problem. Good luck with it all and take care. xx

[applebird]

Hi there,

I've a lot of experience of the pain meds you're on.

Gave up on Co-codamol daily use as it causes constipation and pain for me.

Also gave up on the ibuprofen daily use as I was prescribed so much it caused crohns symptoms, wrecked my intestine and had to go on steroids for 6 months.

Became a massive fan of tramadol. At first I was nauseous and itchy but then with cyclizine and an antihistamine things calmed down. I eventually was on 400mg a day, very out of it, couldn't drive. Took paracetamol with it as it helped the tramadol to be more effective.

If you're just starting with it I would keep it for emergencies or if you really need it in short term try taking the ibuprofen and Co-codamol at say 8am then tramadol eg. 50mg at 10am and continue taking through the day up to max dose if necessary. I found taking something every two hrs after last surgery gave better pain management (though I had to write times/dose down to keep track).

Now I'm on paracetamol infrequently as last op helped. Also gastro doc advised long term high dose (400mg) tramadol was causing pain with bowel so came off it. Pain worse for a few wks, sweats etc. Now much better.

Hope that helps x

[Lmc123]

I take tramadol, and am cautious with the dose. I will only take 2 if I am in sever pain. It makes me itchy as hell, confused and dizzy, so I reserve it for the most extreme times when nothing else works. I still find it only just takes the edge off the pain anyway. Better than codeine based tabs that cause stomach issues though.