Tramadol and other Medications

[Oscar Medina]

Is tramadol addictive or not? Many people want to know.

As for my experience I know it is. I took Tramadol for three years thinking it was helping me. It turns out the feeling I got every time I didn't take medication on time wasn't anything caused by post surgery symptoms, but rather the withdrawal effects of not having taken Tramadol.

I was traveling from Costa Rica back to California from one of my concerts and got stuck at the Dallas airport together with my mother who accompanied me on this trip. Well, the Tramadol was in my suitcase and they could not retrieve it for me that night. I had never experienced a night without Tramadol so I wasn't too concerned. I'll make it through the night, I thought. Well, I was wrong. I was sooooo wrong!

After four hours I couldn't stay still in bed. My sensory system went haywire and I could feel every hair in my legs alive. I wanted to jump out of my skin. I finally decided I couldn't take it anymore so I went to a local hospital. They took me in and gave me Tramadol and was back at the hotel in two hours sleeping like a baby.

I felt ashamed for a long time. I didn't understand anything about medical addictions. That situation helped me to understand that I needed to do something myself because my doctor was just not helping at all. They just wanted to give me more medication to calm the withdrawal symptoms. Plus, they didn't believe Tramadol was addictive.

Six months ago I started to be weaned off Tramadol. What the doctor thought would be a two week experience has turned into a six month odissey so far. I've gone down from 200mg a day to 80 mg a day. I'm coming down 10 mg a day and it takes two to three weeks for my body to fully adjust, then I change the dosage again. The first five days are hard every time. I'm almost there, but it certainly wasn't the two weeks they thought it would take.

I'd like for as to tackle this issue with Tramadol and other medications if we can. Hopefully, we can help someone avoid making a mistake because of bad doctor advise.

Oscar

[Charity R.]

I too take Tramadol and haven't had any issues. But then I only take it when I have days that I just can't function because the pain is sooooo bad.

On a normal day I'm in pain, but I deal with it. If it gets to be extreme I'm able to take Alieve or a muscle relaxer and I'm fine. But several times a month I have to break out the Tramadol and take it for a day or two.

My doctor says it isn't addictive unless it is combined with other meds and taken for a long period of time. He chose to put me on Tramadol because of the lack of drowsyness factor. All of the other meds I tried made me too tired to go to work and I have to still bring home that bacon.

My body doesn't react well to lots of medications but like I said, Ive had no problems with this one.

If I were you I would try another pain med.

Charity

[billanschell]

My rehab doc allowed me to trial more meds than I can count, but Tramadol was never one of them. In fact, that was the last one I requested, but by then he felt it had nothing to offer that the other meds wouldn't have accomplished.

I've settled on Neurontin (2,700 mg/day), Xanax (just 1mg/day) and a very low dosage of Vicodin on days where my pain is highest. I plan to experiment with getting rid of the Xanax soon; it seemed to make a clear difference at first, but I think my body has habituated to it, and I don't want to up the dosage to chase the good effects.

I weaned off Neurontin to try Lyrica at one point, and that was when I learned that Neurontin has made a big difference for me. As I gradually ramped up Lyrica, I found that it did about the same amount of good for me as Neurontin had, but since Neurontin's been around a lot longer I felt safer taking it (plus it's cheaper), so I switched back.

You seem to have come out of your surgery in better shape than most of us, so I wouldn't be surprised if you can go without meds. That would be a great accomplishment, and I wish you all the best.

--Bill

[valerieb]

I was on Tramadol, Lyrica and Neurontin (and random nights of Xanax) for about a year after my surgeries. I stopped the Neurontin first because it made me a little spacy. My Dr then started giving me Celebrex as well for the musculo-skeletal pain that accompanies the surgeries. Ultimately I got to the point I couldn't afford to keep taking everything so I cold turkey quit and thankfully was able to do so.

I think for me the time came when I realized that even though I was taking all this stuff I was still feeling some discomfort plus I wondered what my real sensory issues were so I stopped it all. My Dr at first thought I was nuts and I would quit a while before my appointments so I could accurately tell him my pain levels. Ultimately I decided I would rather know exactly what pain my body is or isn't feeling. Oddly enough I have found that I am more responsive in my walking and motion without the meds because nothing is masked. Again this is all just how my body responds, we are all quite different.

I was worried about forming dependencies on the meds, as well as the financial aspects of them. I did not have any withdrawals that I noticed for myself but.....again our chemistry is personally unique. One other things - my pain is at bay most times as long as I continue to do some strength training or exercise on a semi-regular basis (I have a real lazy streak when it comes to working out). Also if my posture starts to slump or round forward then I suffer more pain. So the benefit of this is that my posture has improved as a by-product of avoiding pain.

Oscar I hope that you are able to wean off the meds if possible, it sounds as though you are making definite progress. I know it isn't always as fast as we would hope but I am sure you will get there, you seem determined to make it happen and that helps tremendously.
Valerie

[jack]

Oscar, you have brought up a very timely question for myself, about whether or not Tramadol is addictive. I know that the medical literature says that it "can be".

6 or 7 months ago, my prescription for Tramadol ran out. It was a couple of days before I could get to the doctor for a refill. I experienced psychological withdrawal symptoms, but not bad. I just felt "anxious" I guess.

I have had chronic constipation for over a year now, and opiates are known to cause this. So in desperation, I decided not to take the Tramadol. I was tired of all the cramping associated with "gentle" laxatives. I also take a heart medication that is also know to cause constipation. I cannot stop this med.

Anyway this weekend, I didn't take any Tramadol and did not this past Monday. I was in pure hell, but it was physical. Every muscle and bone in my body ached.

Then I wondered if all of this pain could be withdrawal symptoms from the Tramadol. I have been diagnosed with so many conditions that can/could cause pain of this king. Namely Osteoarthritis, Fibromyalgia Syndrome, Myofacial Pain Syndrome, Arthralgia, Peripheral Neuropathy and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

I cannot take any aspirin or NSAIDS due to abuse that caused ulcers years ago. So I tried some acetaminophen and it DID help with a bit of the pain. I give up on stopping the Tramadol, went and took 150 mg, my normal dose and was pain free. I think the physical pain this weekend over rode the psychological aspect of withdrawal from Tramadol.

I think that I must be having a bad flair of arthritis, and I have 2 nerves indented from herniated disc at L4-L5, and L5-S1.

Some people have addictive personalities I have read, as compared to others. I think this is inherited. I truly believe as long as you have real, chronic pain that you will not become addicted, however you can/will become "tolerant" meaning you need more of the drug and/or a different drug. Many Chronic Pain Doctors believe this.

I awake each morning before I get enough sleep with really, really bad stinging lower back pain that radiates through my abdomen. So the first thing I do is go for 150 mg of Tramadol and 120 mg of Neurontin.

Congrats on getting off Tramadol. I am at the point in my life where as long as I have pain, and a pain med does not make me "high", I will continue to take them, whether I am considered addicted or not. I have a very low threshold for pain it seems.

Thanks for bringing this subject up.

Jack