Just got back from seeing one of my GPs to discuss my medication. I said I was principally taking Tramadol for relief from RLS. This is when she told me that (a) Tramadol isn't really used for RLS and, you'll love this, (b) the relief you get from Tramadol is largely all in the mind! I told her that couldn't be, as I had no idea it was used for, or provided relief from, RLS before I started taking it but then noticed it did. I also told her I knew people who were being prescribed it for RLS. Well, she was one of those GPs who just dismisses anything you have to say.
I've already told another GP at the practice that I would be interested in finding something else to treat RLS, but I'm most definitely not prepared to stop taking Tramadol until that is happening.
So, you guys out there who've been prescribed Tramadol to treat your RLS, you don't exist, and it's all in your mind anyway!!
It really is exasperating how much ignorance there still is out there - I guess it tends to stay with the sorts of GPs who don't listen to their patients and who arrogantly assume they already know everything.
Needless to say I'm going to make sure I never make an appointment with her again!
Written by
MumofSam
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
Yeah, doesn’t it just piss you off?? I’m afraid to bring up anything RLS-related to my medical team for fear that I’ll get angry when they bring up psychological stuff. I agree that psychology plays a role to some extent, but surely it’s not the answer for a very physical syndrome!
GO to the RLS UK web site and print off the RLS info and pass to GP. RLS is also fully reported on the NHS web site with info on NHS prescribed medicines.
There is also a very useful RLS symptom monitor that you may find useful to relay your RLS suffering to a GP. When they see in paper terms how and when you suffer they become willing to assist with NHS prescribed/ approved meds
If you can, you might want to record one of your attacks. That will show your doctor that it is all very real. Once my psychiatrist implied to me that I was sleeping through my symptoms, I told him I’d have my husband tape an attack and let him (the dr.) decide for himself if I was asleep or not.
My GP was much the same. I asked for Tramadol a couple of years ago as I had heard on this site it was a useful drug. He grudgingly gave me them, and said “if these work it will be what we call the placebo effect”. I had taken Pramipexole for a couple of years, had augmented, and was trying to get off them. Now the Tramadol isn’t working as well as it used to. I went back about a year ago and was offered Ropinerole which I rejected, telling him about augmentation, and what I had read here. He said “oh, you’ve been listening to the odd one or two people who might have had problems, well the offer is there if you change your mind”. That was it! Nothing else was on offer.
I have another appointment next week with a different gp at the same practice, but I don’t hold out much hope of getting help, because they seem to sing from the same hymn sheet at my practice, but I will be taking print-outs with me this time. These people need to WAKE UP!!!
If this is true, why are there TESTS that can be done?? Are the test results in our head as well?? I was with a company that oversees clinical trials and it was recommended that I apply to a trial for RLS. Unfortunately, you had to have a sleep study done and at the time, I just couldn't go thru the process. But, YES, testing can be done to confirm it.
I don’t think she meant that RLS is all in the mind but, rather, that Tramadol must be like some kind of placebo, which we all know is completely untrue.
I have taken Tramadol for RLS for 30 years. Only drug to truly work for me. Keep in mind A GP is nothing more than a person who knows a narrow amount of medical information and is not to be used for all types of problems. That is why we need specialists in this fields to help us. The RLS org. knows who is in the know for RLS and can give you a much better DR. for this problem. Lets just say your doctor is ignorant on treatment of RLS.
I’ve been on Tramadol for five years now and it may be in my head but my RLS is 95% better because of it. My GP wouldn’t give me more tha 50mg and told me to see a pain doctor. I saw one right away and got a prescription for 200mg and my RLS is all but gone. If you can find a doctor who will listen and is willing to work with you it’s all good. I spread my medication out to three times a day. If for some reason I miss a dose I’m suffering with RLS that night. It works!!!
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.
Tramadol
All in the mind? 
Tramadol
