Opiate or not....?

[kirsten117]

Is anyone familiar with " tramadol" or " ultram" ... I was given this during detox from opiates... When I entered treatment for chronic pain in las Vegas it was told to me it is not a controlled substance. In Calif, however it is a controlled substance and my new Dr has advised against it due to addiction in my past. I'm in a lot of pain....daily....I just want to function again. I can't say weather it helped the pain as I was withdrawaling and everything hurt....I was only on it for 12 days but friends have told me it works wonders....yet they are also on common opiates, so the results are unclear to me. Any advice is appreciated xx

[badbackjonny]

Tramadol is extremely addictive. I'm in the UK, here I was told that if I was on it for12 weeks it would take 6 weeks to safely come off it. I have now been on it for about 6 years and I am completely addicted.

It does work for many kinds op pain but your Dr did the right thing. I wish I had never been put on it. It works wonders for my pain, but if I miss a dose or if I'm even an hour late I get bad withdrawal symptoms.

What sort of pain do you have and where? Do you know what caused it in the first place?

Also are you under a pain specialist? If not you should do all you can to see one. Without knowing more I can't help as to what to do for your pain but I would strongly suggest you keep a wide berth of tramadol.

Best of luck.

Jonny.

[Hidden]

Hello

Sadly I do not know the American system and the States and medical Practices.

I have been on Tramadol now for about twenty years, the medication is an Opiate type medication and you will suffer when you come of this addictive type medication.

This medication has been a good choice for me and through Pain Clinics and Specialists I have learned how to pace the medication when I need to to control my pain. My dose rate changes daily from 8x50mg daily down to 4x50mg daily. After flare I do suffer when I reduce the dose,sometimes on rare occasions I will feed the addiction,although this is done very carefully and may need to take 2x50mg so that will increase the standard dose I take to 6x50mg daily. Generally I suffer this for a couple of days, then split the 2x50mg down to 1x50mg daily then revert back to the to 4x50mg daily as a standard holding dose.

I hope this will help you, if you have problems managing your medications you need to find out what suits you.

My GP hopefully understands how I manage my medications as I have just changed my practice,sometimes on flare I may increase my dose rate to 10x50mg,and will back up the tramadol with Paracetamol and a reduced rate as Paracetamol is a different type of Analgesic.

BOB,

[katieoxo60]

Hi there Kirsten117. Like the others I am not familiar with the states regulations as I live in the UK,that said Tramadol as I understand it is a opiate drug least addictive for mild to moderate pain. I have been taking it for chronic pain over a period of about ten years along with paracetamol at times of more severe pain. I am allowed one or two 50mgs tablets three times a day only problem I have ever had is it makes me sleepy and forgetful on occasions I have no signs of addiction. Everyone reacts different to drugs and not being allowed these sounds more like your own doctors choice as what is best for you. I am totally in control of their use as that is the way we do it here it's a bit about patient choice. You will have to talk to your doctor about pain relief hope you soon sort it out.

[vivikin]

if your dr has advised against it in the past because of addiction I think I would stay well away, has he not suggested an alternative that is not an opiate. I tried tramadol very early on with my problem but it made me very depressed, so I changed to pregablin. talk to your GP and or the pain clinic and see what they suggest. I wish you good luck whichever path you chose. xx

[Rose2408]

Hi there! I'm in Australia & it's a controlled substance here too. I believe the max (safe) dose is 450mg per day. I have been taking it for sever back/arthritis pain for over 7yrs. Later I found the pain cause to be cancer & high inflammation levels caused all sorts of back/bone probs. I agree it is incredibly addictive & had I of known I may not have chosen it...it is a man-made form of heroine. If I am late with my tabs I get shocking withdrawals so much so I ended up in emergency the first time it happened, I had no idea what it was!! And if I used to drink I'd have withdrawal symptoms even if I took it(?!) ...my theory though is that I don't care anymore about addiction as I have to live with immense pain or addiction...I choose addiction. The long term side effects, I believe are better than panadol, on kidney/liver. I use delayed release, 150mg x 3 per day...(doctors are more comfortable prescribing as its meant not to give a high!?) I don't see a difference myself but work better for me as 50mg fast release do nothing & I use panadine forte (codeine) 2 x 4 per day. Without it I can not do anything & would end up crippled...I have a 5yr old too so it's not easy. I've had morphine patches etc but find tramodol better. Take care...I do feel your pain xxx

[pinknosedcat]

Hi, I've been taking Tramadol for around 17years for chronic pain. As far as I am aware it is called a 'synthetic opiate'. As to whether or not it is addictive...again in my experience it depends upon the person. i know people who have had very bad reactions to Tramadol, feeling sick and ill, other people i know say it has had absoultely no effect on their pain levels and was 'useless', for me it's been invaluable...it is the only pain killer that has had any affect on my pain levels at all and I can't really function without it, and technically you could say I'm addicted to it.

From what I've read you have two issues, your past addictions and your present pain levels. I would strongly suggest you investigate non-drug related strategies for your pain if you can at all manage it. Do you have Pain Clinics where you are? Do you know the cause of your pain? cab you afford to see a nutritionist? I think most paople on this site would agree that relaxation techniques are invaluable for managing pain, and may have the happy side effect of helping with your addictions. I don't know what the american models for pain management are but over here although we've had Pain Clinics for years their efficacy has been somewhat patchy to say the least until relatively recently. They are getting much better here thank goodness.

One thing you may need to give some thought to is what 'functioning' means to you and whether or not your expectations are realistic. Having realistic expectations of what you can and can not do is vital and learning how to pace yourself will be very important. Forgive me if you know all this already but I'm kind of reading between the lines. I would be very interested to know what strategies you've already been offered...it would be interesting to see how they differ from what we have here but that is absolutely nothing to do with what you asked for help with so feel free to ignore my questions

I suppose what I'm really trying to say to you is that regardless of your history and current situation even if you do try them they may not work for you. So from that point of view your Dr is probably right, having said that if you are in severe pain and the Dr isn't offering any support that leaves you up the proverbial creek! But there are non pharmaceutical strategies that can help. If you want to know more let us know, there are tons of really knowledgable and helpful people on this forum. Good luck with your challenges.

[Hidden]

I put off taking Tramodol for years because an anaesthetist (anaesthesiologist) friend told me it has the highest psychiatric side effect profile of all the opiates. However on a lot of meds already I had a bad flare up and was given Tramadol. It was so effective, with no discernible side effects, that I have now been taking it regularly under the supervision of a pain clinic! for several years. Tramodol is NOT a controlled drug in the UK, but it is available on prescription only.

[ecnico15]

I found Tramadol very unpleasant and was warned of risk of addiction. I was only on it for a few days as it completely knocked me for six.

Nic (UK)

[earthwitch]

I believe tramadol is a synthetic opiate, which is a little bit different from codeine or morphine, but its still a strong painkiller with potential to get habituated to it. I personally didn't like it because I found I was getting withdrawal symptoms if I didn't take it absolutely regularly - whether I needed it for pain or not.

Pain control is something you need to work with your doctor on though. Everyones solution will be different.

[Fern369]

I came across Tramadol when my dog had a big operation and afterwards the Vet sent her home with Anti inflammatory drugs for me to give her for her considerable pain. After the anti inflammatory injection wore off that had been given to her during or after the op wore off during the night she was crying out in pain so I gave her the tablets the Vet had prescribed and she cried all night long. I rang the Vet and told her next day she prescribed Tramadol, and my poor dog was transformed into a comfortable happy girl , she appeared to be pain free. If I was in serious pain I would take Tramadol whatever, but I would save it for severe pain.

[Pete-repete]

I am familiar with it. I used it for several years for migraines in USA and England. It was to be a supplement to other pain meds I took. After several years it was not effective for pain. I did not take a large dosage so it was no problem to quit, however I know others who were adddicted and was hard to quit.

[Hidden]

As someone that took to opiates (illegal opiates) like a duck to water, I always remember just having all my pain lifted (psychological pain ) along with all my anxieties and any other thought's or problems that made me so unhappy and as someone who now does not use opiates, (up till I opened my drawer recently ) and I would never use , but my pain recently has become so painfull that I can't think straight , and I remembered my GP telling me about using another painkiller with the Gabapentin, and I remembered this kind doctor in the A/E dept was reduced to only giving me a decent painkiller, (I won't add more on the reason for his distress) but My knowledge of opiates made me hesitate in using them , but as I said this most recent pain made me jump to my drawer to search for the packet of this dihyrdrocodeine 30m and boy did they work, and I'm again scared to become an opiate addict (I am reducing another opiate-like prescribed medicine) and really want free of that one, but for some pain and for some people opiate based drug's really do their job and boy is it great to be free of pain.

So yes really really think carefully before taking any drug , but all drug's have side effect's and everyone is different, and experience of drug's must make you wary around the most addictive ones.

I am worried about the comfort and feeling pain-free from using opiate based drugs, and yet' do we worry too much about one drug, instead of educating everyone of the dangers of all drug's.

So Kirsten 117, I'll add the same as others and say be wary , but will add' if they are the only drug that works for you, well 'it's your choice, but keep it to a minimum and only use as advised by your GP doctor .

[vonie]

dont know how much this helps but while i am not a doctor i have been told tramadol is an opiod, addiction in your past makes it a bad idea, also i have severe stage 4 endo and cant stand for more than 20 mins at a time, im on max dose of tramadol as well as loads of other stuff and makes no difference. naproxen is like a strong ibuprofen and that gives me best relief though again nothing really works. i hope you feel better xxx

[NFDK]

A lot of us are in pain all day, every day. We are already suffering more than most and it's sometimes difficult to maintain a positive mental attitude. Let's not beat ourselves up too, about addictive / not addictive meds. You don't hear groups of people with diabetes worrying about being dependent on their insulin. With love, Wendy x

[toryscum]

It is an opioid