In the wake of the death of Prince a pain specialist doctor was speaking on radio 4 this morning about the danger of certain painkillers especially tramadol which has been linked to 240 deaths in the U.K.
She warned about the danger of increasing drug doses because taken long term most pain killers cease to be effective and do damage to vital organs.
It is so hard living with constant pain but from experience I feel it is better and more healthy to find other ways to distract oneself from pain than drug dependency.
I wonder if others share by view and have abandoned the so called pain killers that are dished out like smarties to us dopes.
Written by
Suzyhayes
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
Yes I agree that the pain killers & antidepressants are being used too much.
If only Dr's and specialists would prescribe things such as massage therapy bowen technique or & or herbal remedies more often I think we wouldn't have so many deaths.
I'm aware that there are people who need these medications but are being prescribed too often to people.
Not sure exactly what you disagree with but it is a fact that many people have died from taking tramadol long term and in excess. Never heard of anyone dying from daisy juice though.
I think most people try anything they can to relieve chronic pain without having to take medication but when medication is the only thing that helps they don't have a choice. All medication needs to be taken strictly to the book. No different to anything else in life to keep healthy. Everyone's pain levels are different so if medication is the only thing to get relief long enough to have a life then go for it but don't take more than needed. I take tramadol only when needed but I take at least one every day. By doing that I can keep a bit more active which is also good for my health.
I agree with you and one tramadol a day shouldn't be too harmful but sometimes doctors prescribe very high doses of pain killers and even paracetamol taken at high doses can be dangerous.
I'm afraid trying to live a normal life whilst coping with constant pain is not easy.
I tend to treat my pain as an annoying inconvenience which I try to block out mentally as much as possible and just get on with things. Finding distractions from the pain instead of focusing on it is important.
Good luck to you and Bon continuation as the French say.
Paracetamol in any dose can be dangerous for some and actually kills a number of animals. Fortunately there are more and more concerns being raised about the overprescription of pain medications - particularly as awareness grows of alternative treatments that can be more effective.
agree about paracetamol - its now well known to have a cumulative effect so the longer and more regularly you take so called "safe" daily doses, the more likely you are to get damage from it.
Thanks for that reference . Everybody using this forum should read this article.
It confirms exactly what I have come to believe.
A French medical journalist wrote a book on the pharmaceutical industry a while ago suggesting that 85 percent of prescribed drugs were pure poison and best avoided.
I think that there is a growing awareness of the damage that medications are doing to our health. Australia's Dr. Maryanne Demasi inspired a controversial documentary investigation into the over prescription of statins. What we need now is a similar investigation into pain medications and antidepressants.
The pain-cycle is a terrible situation to be in and anyone thus caught has my utmost sympathy but the medical profession does little but treat the symptoms rather than the cause - it makes life easier!
More than half a lifetime ago I was crippled with arthritis. It influenced every aspect of my life, which was gradually becoming more and more confined, and painkillers provided very little relief. Purely by accident I started eating a vegetarian diet and all pain disappeared. Needless to say I stayed vegetarian despite the fact that meat was my favourite food. Food sensitivities can be the cause of a wide spectrum of chronic pain. Because there is no obvious reaction - vomiting or diarrhoea - and often a gradual degeneration, the association is frequently not made but following an elimination diet could help identify the answer for many.
An amazing number of problems can stem from digestive issues. If these are sorted out the problem miraculously disappears. Antibiotics are a common cause of these as they destroy the natural microbiome. Healthy eating can resolve this problem but not always. The addition of probiotics like kefir or kombucha to the diet can resolve all kinds seemingly disassociated issues.
Whilst a teenager I started to suffer migraines. They got so bad at one point I spent a number of years suffering 5 to 6 days a week. A chance conversation with the proprietor of my favourite tea shop introduced me to the herb feverfew. A spoonful of infusion in a cup of tea (sweetened because feverfew tastes ghastly) taken at the onset of an attack stopped it from developing. Or if I missed the start then the same every hour stopped it from getting unbearable and shortened its duration. Over time the incidence of attacks reduced to the point of just one a year. Now I haven't had one for ages.
Lavender is brilliant for a number of aches and pains, including headache and especially burns.
Red sage is great for period pains.
Ginger and mint both work well for the discomfort of dyspepsia amongst many things.
To be honest I believe that nature has a cure for every ailment she creates - we just haven't found all of them yet
Heat or cool pads can be very effective in the control of pain and/or inflammation.
I have a stick (like a shortened broom handle) that I use when I get pain from a stiff back. I simply catch it, behind my back, in the crook of my elbows then, pulling it in as tightly as possible, bend backwards. I gradually work down from as high as I can fit the stick to as low as my elbows will reach and get great relief from this.
Core stability exercises are a great way to get control of back pains. Building up those muscles give a lot more strength to the back.
Yes, I got to the point where painkillers weren't killing pain sufficiently, but were fogging me to the point where I had difficulty managing daily activities. I had wanted to come off (max daily doses of codeine) them, but it wasn't until I got a nasty flu and was too sick to take any pills that I ended up cold turkey coming off. At that point I refused to take any more, and went onto low dose naltrexone (LDN) as an alternative. You can't take LDN with any kind of opiate as it is an opiate antagonist, but it really does seem to work for me in modifying my pain responses so I can actually cope. My pain is inflammatory in nature, so I was lucky enough to be able to use a short course of steroids (which are antiinflammatory) to tide me over between the codeine and the LDN. I'm not sure how you would manage a transition between stopping opiates and LDN if it wasn't inflammatory pain.
There is no such thing as 'a pain killer'. No pharmaceutical company has managed to make one yet. There are medications to help reduce pain or cause an effect in the brain that means you don't care so much about the pain ie, Ketamine or Diamorphine that's used in acute trauma cases, but no drug will 'kill' or stop pain.
The advertising and promotion of pain medication, whether OTC or prescription, cannot claim to be a painkiller. The leaflets that come come with drugs will maybe say the drug is in a group called 'painkillers' but this is just to explain the drug to people who wouldn't otherwise understand what a med is. We've all grown up with the term 'painkiller' but it's just a turn of phrase.
People's expectations of drugs are so high, through the sheer desperation of wanting their pain reduced but you've either got to take the weaker ones to 'get on in life' or the stronger ones that render you unable to function in 'normal life'. We have to make a choice which one it's going to be.
The pharmaceutical company that comes up with a drug that kills pain but let's us work full time, drive, socialise etc will be multi billionaires so believe me, they're trying to manufacture it; that drug isn't being kept from us!!!
I'm accepting that by taking the stronger meds, I'm probably shortening my life and am definitely curtailing my quality of life but I need to take them. And to be honest, I really don't care if my life ends prematurely through them; at least I'd then be pain free!!
Yes, I absolutely agree with you on this, Suzyhayes! I've always been very wary of drugs since my mum (also a chronic pain sufferer) ended up on a cocktail of prescribed anti-depressants, sedatives, sleepers and OTC painkillers. In the end, we didn't know if she was worse from all the side effects of the meds rather than the illness itself.
So, when offered tramadol by the pain doc, I refused. I'd much rather do things "naturally", so I use distraction techniques, relaxation and gentle exercise. I was put on pregabalin for fibro (though that diagnosis now looks to be a wrong one) but never went higher than 175mg per day. Even then, the brain fog got so severe I had to cut down on my freelance work. I'm now cutting down gradually - I'm on 75mg per day now and feeling much less "foggy". Oh, I also take the occasional 250mg of naproxen - maybe two or three times a week, if I get desperate for some pain relief and really can't cope.
It scares me when I see people talk about how much strong meds they're on - and such a mix of meds too.
Dear Dan, By talking about my rejection of prescription meds was in no way .meant to be an attack on you or anyone else who depends on certain drugs in order to have some quality of life.
I have been criticized on this forum for turning to alternative remedies such as krantom. For me it helps and since the other meds were affecting my liver I think I am doing the right thing.
I don't think you are weak and I admire you for carrying on working with your health issues to cope with every day.
You are I know very knowledgable on drugs and I am sure you are doing what is best for you.
I wish you well and hope especially as you are so young that there will be a cure for your condition in the future.
I wrote long reply to suey although can't see it. Can see short reply. When I had one of first diagnosis of fybromyalgia after ibs which isn't ibs but still not sorted I tried everything from devil's claw tens hot cold baths ice packs freeze sprays and all that worked was hydrotherapy which I had 20 yrs after telling professional very hot bath water worked bit only whilst in it. I not got that now as I got wet room with falling. I don't disagree with you not taking drugs as I've nearly died trying get pain relief. If others don't understand your view then they not been what I called myself on many occasions a junkie going through cold turkey after nearly dying and in ice trying get relief from pain. I've tried all kinds of herbal remedies and I've witnessed first hand a combined herbal remedy cure a stage 4 cancer with 3 mths live that baffled cancer specialist. There are herbal remedies that work. I've noted some yours and others down to try I'm on pre gabolin with fentanyl and many others atm. I think it's admirable you don't want take hard drugs and your managing without and as you stated it's not for everyone but the more you take the more you need as you got feed the addiction first to then treat the pain. I've listed the doses I was taking more than any long term cracking heroine addict taking mass dose get same high except my pain relief. The actual drugs oramorph oxycodeine oxycodone all cause severe pain when taken in high dose after start then increased to point of swigging the bottle then just drinking it down like pop and taking handful of tablets not the one or two as the pain isn't only the condition/disease it's now the addiction and disease. I wish all people herbal or prescribed best wishes and hope for some pain relief and someday a cure from miserable existence which it is regardless of friends family support which I've no one as everyone dead. X
I take 29 pills a day and it's not what I want, it's hard to find ways to take away the pain but have found sometimes meditation works. I thought it was a load of rubbish untill I tried it just wish I could last.
Hi, I take 32 tablets a day for pain and heart problems. I accept it would be nice not to need drugs, but I enjoy my life and if I needed 50 a day to keep me going, I would take them. I accept this is controversial but quality of life is the most important. I've only got a couple of years to live, so sod it, let's have as much pleasure as possible. Wish the tablets would eliminate the pain which they don't, but they make it tolerable.
I do understand that many people suffering chronic pain feel obliged to take strong drugs to get some relief and improve the quality of life. This is not to say that we shouldn't explore other ways and means to reduce pain.
I abandoned prescribed meds because they simply had no effect on reducing the pain and I discovered they were also doing me long term harm. Perhaps if they had worked in the short term I might have continued taking them.
There are no easy answers and everyone is different so I certainly wouldn't judge the decisions that others take.
I just think we need to be wary of the effects of prescription medicines and not to dismiss alternative medicine before trying it.
I turned to alternative therapies because I am highly sensitive to chemical medications and usually suffer badly from the side-effects. I don't forswear tablets for all conditions but I do limit what I will accept. It is usually my luck that the ones I do well on are the ones that are withdrawn!
My uncle was given 6 months to live. He was in a terrible state and could barely stand on his own let alone walk. He said 'right, no reason to keep taking all these then' and threw all but one of his meds away. Within no time he was sauntering off down the streets on his own and ended up surviving more than a decade.
I hate tramadol it is an awful drug. It reacts with so many other medications including anti-depressants. I have had drug induced seizures caused by tramadol reacting with venlafaxine. It is completely artificial and handed out like smarties. Safer off with morphine but it's cheaper to make. Horrible horrible drug that should be banned.
if you read the instuctions for using tramadol you would and should have know that you should never use antidepressants with tramadol, so thats why you have seizures, also your doctor should have known that and for your information morphine is also very addicitive and some people actually find tramadol as useful painkiller, so please dont say that it should be banned, as I say again you and your doctor should have not let you take both antidessants and tramadol at the same time, this is a well known fact about tramadol as they interact with each other badly.
There's been an american website with USA govt trying to ban tramadol since my deceased husband found it in 2006 and told my Dr get me off tramadol immediately after 7 yrs on it. When looking for drugs conditions always use America first as they are far more advanced and our govt uses the drugs America uses and ours carry on using even if America bans it. My dad used to also search Americas as did my sisters both qualified nurses social workers and my mother was nurse. My dad's drugs caused prostate cancer and banned by America but used here. He got prostate cancer through drugs used to treat him for bladder problem that wasn't prostate ca at time. Thanks
Thanks Dan, I've just checked and at the moment Krantom has not been banned in the U.K. The suppliers are still in business. Have you thought of trying it?
I can't imagine why anyone would think you are weak. Constant pain is so debilitating and I think you are very brave to keep going as you do.
I've been on tramadol for a decade now after having been weaned off Oxycontin. I was on a bottle a day of the stuff and it's effects had become redundant. I took it for multiplereasons of which I'll spare the boring details! I was on 200mg of tramadol 4xdaily but soon I didn't benefit. Now I'm on 150mg slow release twice a day. It's negligible effects are realised when I don't take it - pain increases.
Anyway, I tend to use distraction techniques to help deal with daily struggles. Absorb myself in films and video games! A distracted mind seems more beneficial than a handful of drugs. Sometimes.
You need get off tramadol and search America where websites been trying get it banned since before 2006 when my husband who deceased found it. America was banning it. I was on tramadol 7 yrs within 30 mins missing dose flu symptoms pain everywhere excrucuating. Then on oxycodeine oxycodone both 12 hr and instant relief temgesic sublingual and many others inc oramorph 500 ml bottle drank a wk with 17x10 mg tabs oxycodeine a day nearly killed me as spent my whole time unconscious. Came off lot cold turkey not first time and put on fentanyl patch which I'm still on with Oramorph I recently got back but take 1 in 14 days. I also have pre gabolin new to me as had everything else like naproxen etc no use. I need anti inflammatory but can't tolerate with stomach and hives. I now have fentanyl 3 day 75 mg patch 4 mg diazepam cut from 16mg pre gabolin 4x day. Nitrazepam for sleep but take occasionally even though pain stops me sleeping and I'm in hospital bed bedridden 6 yrs and housebound and only sleep right side due to bone paint on right side I have keep out of bed 5 yrs. I also take bladder tabs as slipped discs with sciatic nerve trapping both sides inoperable due to staphylococcus and streotylcoccoli in spine with arthritis in spine. Fybromyalgia diagnosed in 96. Osteoporosis osteoarthritis diagnosed 97 fallen arches flat feet deformed knees and narrowed arteries back of ankle no balance or college ordination and hyper sensitivity diagnosed 97 allergies 106 to date diagnosed last 5 yrs caused by antibiotics on 5 yrs for hidradenitis supportavia which untreatable as only 1 tablet treats I'm hives allergic Inc all antibiotics now. Reoccurring pneumonia since 98 had 10x now. Liver disease caused by roaccutane treatment for hidradenitis with 10 inch abscess they had eventually cut out as couldn't stay on roaccutane as liver damage done within 4 wks on it and was unconscious on it. I also have ulna nerves compressed both arms carpel tunnel both hands so drop everything. Ibs which I know is wrong diagnosis as more like I did or chronhs disease won't test me for despite this morning and gmtv drs telling them with lymmes disease and rickets. Asthma. Chronic bronchitis in past but now only 1 lung works with other lung lining packing up due to bedridden. Bracadale 1 &2 gene cancer had early 20's hysterectomy and UK first double mastectomy 96. I take vitamin d pure form hospital 6 day. Folic acid daily. Colofac 3 day motillium anti sickness 2 day last 15 yrs those lot. Fentanyl 3 day patch. Pre gabolin4 day last 6 wks. Clonazepam stopped yesterday after 9 yrs. Diazepam 4 mg from 16mg. Nitrazepam 10mg. Bladder tabs. Oramorph when want but take occasionally approx 1x 2 wks even though just home major surgery. Oxycodone instant release and oxycodeine 12 hr release rarely take approx last took 5 wks ago. All so on prescribed shampoos hibbi scrubs Ave enough cream and others out of Dosset box. All my meds are less than half I was taking. Until 6 wks ago I was only taking 4mg diazepam 2x 0.5 clonazepam cut from 5. Fentanyl patch vitamin d folic acid colofac motillium anti sickness after 30 yrs on morphine but the pain was unbearable after stopping most meds Feb till just. I question if fybromyalgia and ibs. Refused chronhs disease lymmes disease and rickets tests and was being treated for rheumatoid arthritis by rheumatology for 5 yrs until last wk when they tested me and found it wasn't. That's incompetence.
Yes I think when drugs fail to reduce pain distraction techniques are all that is left.
Anything that takes the mind off the pain instead of focusing on it can only be a good thing. Sadly there are no magic bullets. A glass or two of red wine might help.
Tramadol I was on for over 7 yrs and within 30 mins of a dose missed I knew about it with flu like symptoms. Tramadol is the no1 prescribed and I try tell everyone whose put on it not take it. On 2006 my husband who died sudden death pulmonary embolism found an american website dedicated to tramadol and its effects all bad. Prince was killed by fentanyl which I'm on along with Oramorph. I was on oxycodeine and oxycodone 12 hr and instant with clonazepam diazepam and or oramorph I was taking 17x 10mg oxycodeine 12 hr mixing with oxyodone instant release caps all daily plus drinking from bottle oxyodone and oramorph daily 500ml bottle a wk. I came off both those plus oxycodeine and oxycodone caps and swapped to fentanyl patch plus still on clonazepam till yesterday and temazepamtill 6 mths ago I stopped myself but now on nitrazepam last few wks occasionally meaning not 1 in 2 wks. Still on diazepam but 4 mg not 16. Oxycodeine and fentanyl both played big parts in prince and mj death. I been close in my happy hazard way I took. Antibiotics I was on 5 yrs have cause 106 to date allergies hives anaohalytic shock. I was diagnosed nearly 25 yrs ago with fybromyalgia or chronic pain as some call it. Also fallen arches. Knee deformities. 1 leg shorter than other. And flat feet also diagnosed narrowed arteries back of ankle and needed insoles inside shoes. No longer wear shoes last 10 yrs as too painful for feet and back. Have 2 slipped discs sciatic nerves trapping both sides. Reoccurring pneumonia I had 1st time caused by council with respiratory failure. Bracadale 1 and 2 gene cancer early 20's hysterectomy and UK 1st double mastectomy fibrositis disease. Hidradenitis supportavia. Osteoporosis and osteoarthritis plus arthritis in spine. Ulna nerve compression both elbows carpal tunnel both hands. Double incontinence caused by discs as can't be operated on due to staphylococcus and streotylcoccoli infections untreatable as hives allergic to known meds that treat. Liver disease and heart disease caused by roaccutane and other drugs I been prescribed. Roaccutane caused liver disease. Was resuscitated 4x last op and 7x last 3 ops. Have latex free micropore tape plaster free lint free theatres as I had weds this wk when finally had op for double ruptured breast implant with severe compression been waiting have done since April but cancelled on heart disease found in pre op plus pneumonia and infections. Fell from hospital bed. Wasn't checked. When I'm already bedridden and wheelchair. Wouldnt have fell if nurse had answered all the alarm calls going off but she was asleep at nurses station with my blanket as i photographed her. Because i told sister i was discharged why on phone to my Dr they had packed my bags evicted me from ward and forced me into a normal taxi with my wheelchair when I'm ambulance transport. My Dr came yesterday to find me black with bruises back bilutyocks legs and I feel desperately I'll as my neck is killing and back and light sensitive. I came across you looking for those symptoms which point to spinal or neck damage. I felt fine after op even being high risk until fall and thrown out for phoning my Dr they had just lied to him. I had 39 hrs care until care co sacked after 27 died in 4 wks I had tried save for 6 wks before 1st death telling ss but ignored and subjected to 3 psychiatric assessments all stating I'm fine. No care put back in. All my family dead. Test gmtv & this morning TV drs state I should have for 2 yrs for chronhs and lymmes disease ignored and I have undeactive thyroid took 7 yrs diagnose after put 4 st in 4 mths from 7 st to 11 st. Hadn't been over 7 st. I keep saying I'm misdiagnosed there's something missing as the it's doesn't fit with its diagnosed. Fybromyalgia I've questioned as diagnosed in 96. Can anyone help me or suggest anything to help me get test I need or just your views please. Thanks
Of all my tablets, I have been taking 2 x 50mg 4 times a day, which is 8 a day for 6 years. Not sure how good they are at killing the pain now, but have big problems if I don't take them for a day, because of sickness etc.
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
Desperately getting off short term Tramadol - update
Tramadol side effects 
TRAMADOL
Tramadol Availability in UK
