Has anyone ever used this for pain? I've had some chronic back pain for a couple years. My Doc wanted me to try this (ER 100 MG) twice a day. Anyone have any experience using this? Thanks

Just got a script for it yesterday and it's the first time using it. Seems to work pretty well, does make me 'sleepy'

Tramadol is a sub for Ultram. I've had a Rx for several years due to my arthritis (Ankylosing Spondylitis). I take it on occasion when I need a bit more pain relief than the NSAID I take daily provides. Ultram works pretty well.

I've taken Ultram off and on for years now. It's a pretty mild pain killer IMHO. I've always gotten more relief from Tylenol #4, but every person is different when it comes to this stuff.

Brian.

I have used it off and on for a few years. It does'nt allways kill the pain ,but does take the edge off and make things bearable. It is a narcotic but one of the lower on the scale. Another good one is Tordal. Either one is not likely to be addictive.

Small world. My Doc said it was less powefull than Vicodin, but my Pharmacist said it was a little more powerfull than Vicodin?

First pain med I've had since the early 90's and I don't know what that was nor remember how it worked.

Buddy of mine took it for shoulder pain.

He liked it until it made him drink brake fluid, strip nekkid and get his ass hung on the steeple of a church.

May have some side effects.

Sounds like trying to nail down burn rates of powders.

I took it many years ago when my back pain first started. It was mildly effective, but like the Norco (vicodin) that it preceded, it caused severe constipation. I didn't find it much more effective than NSAID's ibuprofen or naproxen sodium (Advil or Aleve). I've heard that it's one of the harder synthetic opiods to quit if you take it for extended periods of time.

Most of the tramadol prescriptions have some aceteminophen content (Tylenol), so be careful with it when taking cold/flu medications that have heavy Tylenol contents. Any EMT will tell you that an aceteminophen OD is unrecoverable.

BTW, it made me sleepy as well.

It's much milder than Vicodin, in my experience.

Brian.

I OD'ed accidently on aceteminophen once (took two, forgot and then took two more a few minutes later).

The closest thing I can compare it to is being stung by bees over your entire body. It alternatly stings and itches.

In other words, it really really sucked.

Brian.

I take the version that is 37 mg. Tramadol and 325 mg. of acetaminophen in each dose. It was prescribed for use after my fall. Broken heel.

I take 4 or 5 per week, when Motrin etc. aren't enough.

So far, even early on, when taking 4-6 per day, no sign of dependence.

As Tex said it may not kill the pain but, it takes the edge off nicely. I'll suffer a little to not risk a Vicodin/Lortab addiction.

I'll let you know in a couple hours.

Hope there isn't a church nearby...

Yup....much milder. Good side is Toradol, Ultram are much less addictive than Vicodin, Perc's....

I think toradol is very different from opiates. I know that I can only get a toradol shot every two weeks. Ultram is like candy, but does help a little if I take four a day. I decided a while back I was tired of the hard stuff. I tried the Ultram for a week or two after that, then quit taking it too. I decided I would rather live in pain than in a haze. About once a week I have to have a little relief and try to get by with Ultram only, sometimes something stronger is needed.

Now that JM mentions it I do get a powerful hankering for some dot 3 occasionally

I have developed an allergy to Codine and don't like some of the other pain meds out there. It has worked well for me for the past 2 years or so and seems to be easier on my system.

yeah took it for back pain before surgery, didnt faze me one bit. so IM not a big fan.

It's been 4 hours and it hasn't done shiat. Maybe since it's time release it might take longer? Back is barking like a bish.

Got some vickies on the bench.....

Doesn't help me with spinal pain. I take Tylenol w./Codine #3.

Tramadol is a good non-narcotic pain reliever. It's roughly equivalent in pain relief to propoxyphene (Darvon), which is no longer on the market. It's considerably less potent than hydrocodone or codeine, but as others have pointed out it's much less likely to cause habituation than narcotic pain meds.

I've found tramadol pretty effective, both in my personal experience (knees) and in my professional practice. If it won't cut the pain, a narcotic may be needed. I usually try tramadol first, then ramp up to hydrocodone (Vicodin) if necessary. Oxycodone (percocet, percodan) is reserved for severe pain, as it's the most potent oral pain reliever short of morphine. I do not prescribe codeine often at all.. lots of side effects with codeine.

If tramadol isn't cutting your back pain down, you probably need to escalate to hydrocodone.

Thanks Doc for the info! I have some vickies, but my Doc thought that the Tramadol might make me take less of of the Vickies. So far I'm not that impressed with the Tramadol.

I have a script for Tramodol and for me it is much better than lorotab (Vicodin).

Takin' Tramodol right now for back pain,seems to help.As Steelhead says it makes me sleepy.When my back first went I had to dig in to the Hydromorphone that the cancer clinic gave me,just to get some sleep.It worked,but I didn't take that for long. Monashee

The vickies are kicking in.

Well, I hate to contradict another pharmacist, but I'd put them one step below Vicodin. More along the lines of Tylenol #3.
Just be careful if you are prone to seizures. Tramadol will lower your seizure threshold.

Ah, pain meds and back pain. My Doc gave me a script for Tramadol when I first hurt my back in '08, didn't work. He gave me a script for Hydrocodone (Vicodin, Lortab, Lorcet, Norco) two days later. They worked much better. I've been on all types of pain meds over the last two and a half years. Tramadol, Hydrocodone, Embeda (Morphine ER), Morphine IR, Nucynta, Oxycodone (Percocet) and Oxycontin. I've had seven spinal injections, radio graphs (where they burn nerves in the facets) and a discography (the most painful thing I've ever had). Had two different Chiropractors and went to Physical Therapy.

Had back surgery Mar. 11th. two weeks ago today! They took two disc's out, the disc between my L4 and L5 vertebra and the disc between my L5 and S1 vertebra and put spacers in there place (on each side of my spine), screws in each side of my L4, L5 and S1 vertebras, affixed rods to them, scraped bone from my pelvis and wrapped it around the rods. Still using the walker and taking pain meds. 1 to 2 10/325mg Hydrocodone every 4 hours as needed along with two 50mg Embeda a day, one in the morning and one at night and 3 Flexerils 10mg 1 every 8 hours.

I was having horrible low and mid back pain. My MRI's only showed a slight bulge in the disc between the L5 and S1 vertebras so the insurance company (workers comp) thought I was full of $h!t. They never denied any treatment, but they made me wait as long as they legally could before they would approve what my doctors wanted to try next. Even after I had the discography which clearly showed internal disc damage to the two above mentioned disc's and BOTH my Dr. and the Dr. that did discography said surgery was necessary, they made me wait until the absolute last minute.

If you're having back pain, I'd try to find the problem and fix it. Pain meds get old real quick. Hopefully I'll start feeling better soon and can start weaning off of them. My surgeon and pain management Dr. say it'll be a while before I'll be totally off of them. That's our goal though, the sooner the better.

Wow. And I thought I had health problems.

Best of luck to you sir. Hope you get some relief from the surgery. And don't quit fighting those Worker's Comp bastards.

Brian.

+ many! Geez!

NYH1, how long before your moving around? I am probably having something similar mid june, if I can put it off that long. I have a PD trip first week of June that I am not going to miss this year. I have not got into recovery times with my doc, and am curious as to time frame.

I should have gotten surgery on my neck years ago, but I'm not too keen on having some five thumbed bastard playin around with my brain stem. Have had major surgery twice before, never want to go through that again.

Brian.

That's quite a list of meds- I hope your surgery gives you the relief you've been searching for.
It's pretty well been resolved that surgery is the only thing that's going to help my back problems too. All I can say is that meds, regardless of strength, are not the answer to chronic pain.

I hear that, had a little brain surgery last year. The complications were a byytch. Never had a problem with my lower back until I was allowed out of the bed from the surgery. I have not been without low back pain, right leg pain and weakness since.

Someone here once said we should have a forum called " Oh my aching back" there seems to be alot of us suffering from a bad back.

Maybe you should get your neighbor to join....or was that a finger. He would fit in except for being a scum bag thief. BTW I am not on disability, just stupid I guess.

Broken hand.

I've had a bum back for years. Already had two surgeries. Now they are talking about a selective nerve block.

I've had all the above mentioned drugs plus Robaxin. None of them ever helped the pain. And some just made it seem you didn't care about the pain but it was still there.

The only drug I ever took that relieved the pain was Cyclobenzaprine. They relieve the pain without knocking your junk into your watch pocket. I take one a day and am doing pretty well. The only bad experience is muscle stiffness.

On Monday I am talking to the Surgeon and will go ahead with the Selective Nerve Block. I am also looking at Physiatry, thats where a really educated Physical Terriorist works with you on an excersize program. I am going on 75 years and don't have much physical exercise at this point and don't care about exercise anymore. Walking long distance is pure Hell.

I was in the Military when anybody who had back problems was said to be riding the sick book. Hence you got little care and that is why my spine is in the beautiful shape it's in right now.

Well good luck to all you back pain sufferers. I hope we can ALL find a way to better health.

Best wishes, Bill

If that's the one where they shoot you full of various drugs using a needle to the area.........it's not all it's cracked up to be. I've probably had 20 of those shots over the years and if you're really, really lucky it lasts about a month. On average it lasts one to two weeks. I usually get one immediatley before the opening of deer season, so I can hunt the first week and not be in total agony.

Brian.

I'm scheduled for a selective nerve root block as well. I'm skeptical, at best, especially since the other two times I've allowed needles in my back put me in the hospital with spinal headaches; the runaway winner of the most intense pain I've ever experienced. Nothing else even comes close.
Supposedly these root blocks will pinpoint where the worst of my issues are. They are not intended to be a permanent solution, or so I've been told. The neurosurgeon I'm seeing uses them to pinpoint where worst of my troubles are coming from, given the large number of discs affected.

Might as well have been a placebo for me. I have sciatic nerve pain down my left leg and foot. Couldn't tell I was taking it at all.

It's extremely hard to treat sciatic nerve pain with pain killers. The only relief I have ever gotten for it is from stretching and chiropractic adjustments.

Brian.

He said Tramadol, not my grandpa's "shine". And for that matter, what's wrong with a good ol' boy having a night out.

The inmates will take crushed Ultram and hold it under the tongue then trap it while drinking the water so as not to swallow it. Then they dry it out and snort it. Anything for a buzz.

I feel for you low pressure headaches are the worst. I had a pituitary tumor that ruptured acting as a fistula allowing my spinal fluid to leak, plus swelling against my optic nerves. Oxy had nothing on the pain. Unfortunately, my MRIs and contrast CT scans occured before the rupture and leak, so the doctors were in no big hurry. A few weeks of low presssure headaches will make you crazy. Ironically my headaches caused by the tumors began 5 days after a spinal injection. They checked me for leak, and found the tumor, but at the time of the MRIs the leak had not occured. I got an appolagy from the doc after surgery. He did not realize what was going on until he got in there rooting around.

The thing that kills me is not only the workers comp insurance company, but the company I work for is they don't seem to bother the career guys and gals that aren't really hurt but don't work, get paid and aren't bothered. You know the guy that has a bad back and can't work, but he rides his Suzuki GSXR 1000 crotch rocket bent over like a pretzel everyday, go's golfing or go's skiing and snowmobiling in the winter. I couldn't even sit on my Yamaha Big Bear 4x4 with a 5' plow on it long enough to plow my driveway. I had a hard time snow blowing my drive way with my Ariens ST1024 Snowblower which is self propelled and pretty much completely automated before the surgery and my wife or neighbor would have to finish it for me some times. that feels real nice, having your wife do what you're supposed to be doing. It's just great.

I worked up until a month before my surgery. I just couldn't stand long enough to do anything anymore. My Dr. took me out of work once my surgery was finally approved AND scheduled. The d0@che bag lady that handles comp and FLMA for the company actually asked me, "if your surgery isn't until March 11th., why is your Dr. taking you out of work on February 14th.". I've never felt the urge to hit a woman before, but if I could of smacked her though the phone...I would have. Now I just have my lawyer deal with them. I didn't want to hire a lawyer, the company and workers comp insurance company gave me no choice. 13 years of DEDICATED survice even after I was hurt, now they're closing our plant and want to jam as many people up as they can so they can get rid of them. I wasn't going for that one bit. Seen to many good people get screwed. Had to get a good workers comp lawyer.

I hope your Lawyer sticks it up their a$$ !

The Physical Therapy lady at the hospital got me out of bed and into a chair the day after I had surgery (that hurt like hell!). Then she left me in the chair and said to try to sit in it for two hours and to call the nurses when I wanted to get back into bed. I thought she was crazy. I couldn't move my mid section at all. Not even to move over in bed. It was almost like I was paralyzed, kind of hard to explain. I could move my legs, arms even turn my upper back a little, nothing in my mid section though. It was like that for a week after surgery. Then I started to be able to move my mid section while in bed a little. Now I can move and turn in bed fairly easy. I still have to grab the headboard for assistance. I need to use the walker to go up and down the stairs and to get up while sitting and to sit down. I've been able to walk around the house without it for a few days now as long as I haven't over done it, then I need to use it. It just takes a lot longer to get around without it because I really have to take my time.

I have a few days in a row where I really feel like I'm making progress, then all the sudden I'm out of commission for a day or so. I just have to really take it easy or it catches up to me real quick. I drove my truck twice. Once last Thursday to make sure I could do it and I took the kids to school yesterday. Thursdays trip was a little to long. I was really sore afterwards. Yesterdays trip was about a ten minute trip so it wasn't bad.

I was a little overwhelmed by the surgery. I had my knee scoped in 1991 (was 16) and had hernia surgery in 2000 (was 25). They were both one day surgeries. In in the morning, out in the afternoon. This time I went to the hospital Friday morning and came home the following Monday afternoon. It sucked big time lol. I didn't get a wink of sleep the whole time I was there. My Dr. said it can take up to a year before everything is totally healed up. The bone they scraped from my pelvis and wrapped around the rods takes the longest heal. Doesn't mean that I won't be able to do things sooner. Just have to wait and see. The plant will probably be closed by the time I'm ready to go back to work so I'll probably go right on unemployment. We get NAFTA TAA/TAR benefits because they're sending 90% of our work to Mexico and Canada. Good things to look forward to.

I honestly just want to be treated fairly and be taken care of the way I should be.....that's all. I always did the right things for them. Now I need them to do the right things for me. Then we'll part ways.

the physician assistant who first recommended it to me called it a narcotic derivative, but not narcotic in and of itself.

i view it as a mild pain reliever, which in conjunction with either 1 extra strength tylenol, or 1 200 mg motrin, per 6 hours, will get me through the worst of days...

i take tramadol ER 200s....
1 most working mornings...