tramadol

[Piecrusl1]

hi everyone hope you all had a wonderful Xmas I have been taking tramadol for quite a few years now I am taking the high dosage of 2 x50 mg 3/4 times a day it has a little effect but not enough to celebrate.I hope this email helps you .Best Wishes to you all and hopefully RLS free nights

[SueJohnson]

That is a very high dose and since it is only helping a little and can lead to augmentation I would suggest you wean off it with your doctors help and try buprenorphine. Tramadol is less potent than other opioids.

[Tbone87 in reply to SueJohnson]

Tramadol can lead to augmentation?? I thought opioids were safe from augmentation!

[SueJohnson in reply to Tbone87]

All are safe except tramodol.

[ChrisColumbus]

As Sue writes, and these are the suggested starting and effective opioid doses for RLS as given in the Mayo Algorithm:

mayoclinicproceedings.org/a...

[Starbug747]

hi , I have been taking Tramadol slow release 200mg one in the morning and one at night, for 12 years. It does help although not as much as it did . The only problem is that I would get terrible withdrawal if I don’t take it . Xxx

[MumofSam]

I took Tramadol for about 3 years, initially for sciatica, and was on the maximum dose for at least a year. Tried coming off it after I’d had surgery and the withdrawal was hell, so went back on it for another couple of years before weaning off it slowly. Before taking Tramadol my RLS had settled down to only bothering me for a few days a month, and was only ever in my thighs. As I was weaning off I found my RLS had spread to my neck, left arm and shoulder and base of my spine. Plus I was experiencing severe RLS in my legs every night and suffering from insomnia. I realised that Tramadol had caused permanent augmentation of my RLS. It’s now nearly 5 years since I stopped taking Tramadol and I’m still struggling with RLS in my legs and base of spine pretty much every night. I haven’t had a really bad attack in my arm and neck for a while, thankfully, but that could change.

All I would say to anyone contemplating taking Tramadol for RLS or any reason is DON’T! It’s totally messed me up and I wish I’d never heard of it. I didn’t need any meds for it before, hardly suffered and now I struggle badly every night. Codeine seems to help, so I’ve started using that, but would never have been in this position if it hadn’t been for Tramadol.