Pain Medication - Ultram

[firmhonda]

This question is for people that suffer from chronic pain and are prescribed Ultram/Tramadol. This is not for people that use pain medication recreationally.

I'm wondering if anyone else has any experience with this medication. After missing my 2nd day of work due to being in pain and general discomfort I ended up in the ER yesterday. The doctor that I saw prescribed me tramadol, which is the generic ultram. I declined them giving me a shot of something while I was there because I had to drive myself home, so I waited until I got home to take it. After taking it and eating I laid in bed for a good long while and it just had no effect on me whatsoever. Today the pain started coming back again so I took another one.. Same result, no relief at all. Upon reading about it it says that it is prescribed for moderate to severe pain in adults. This means that it should at least work, right?

Anyways, I was wondering if anyone else had taken this medication and what results they had with it. I almost feel like I'm taking a placebo or something as it is utterly useless.

[OffHeGoes]

I'm on Tramadol for back pain from a car accident. According to my doctor and the physical therapist who treated me, it's just muscle pain and should go away eventually, but it hurts nonetheless, so until it does the medication helps a lot. I never take it if I know I'll have to drive, only when I'm done with any errands for the day. I have a feeling the lady who hit me was on something, I don't want to end up doing to someone else what she did to me, so mad props to you for waiting til you got home to take it, I'm the same way. Sometimes I feel it more than others. I was originally prescribed Valium and that just didn't really work for me, but for other people it works great. My doctor said "different strokes for different folks".
Tramadol usually works pretty well for me, but sometimes one doesn't feel like enough. Two usually takes the pain away, or at least makes me not care about the pain as much when I still feel it. I hope this helps, and I hope you feel better.

Also, Vicodin works extremely well, you might want to give that a try.

[firmhonda]

Originally Posted by OffHeGoes

I'm on Tramadol for back pain from a car accident. According to my doctor and the physical therapist who treated me, it's just muscle pain and should go away eventually, but it hurts nonetheless, so until it does the medication helps a lot. I never take it if I know I'll have to drive, only when I'm done with any errands for the day. I have a feeling the lady who hit me was on something, I don't want to end up doing to someone else what she did to me, so mad props to you for waiting til you got home to take it, I'm the same way. Sometimes I feel it more than others. I was originally prescribed Valium and that just didn't really work for me, but for other people it works great. My doctor said "different strokes for different folks".
Tramadol usually works pretty well for me, but sometimes one doesn't feel like enough. Two usually takes the pain away, or at least makes me not care about the pain as much when I still feel it. I hope this helps, and I hope you feel better.

Also, Vicodin works extremely well, you might want to give that a try.

Thanks for the reply. I actually wish that I had been prescribed hydrocodone instead of this as hydrocodone has always worked for me (Norco, namely). I guess I could try taking two of these at some point, but I definitely can't deal with just taking one. Most of the time when I come across these issues it's because I've taken a lot of the drug in the past (former addict), but I've never taken this or anything like it before so I don't quite understand.

As far as the driving thing is concerned; I hate it when people drive under the influence and I refuse to do that. I won't even drive if I've had so much as a sip of alcohol, much less if I've been given a shot of pain medication that is supposed to be for severe pain.

About 2 hours ago I took a Norco and it's worked wonders, but when I take the tramadol it seems to do nothing. :\

[OffHeGoes]

Originally Posted by firmhonda

As far as the driving thing is concerned; I hate it when people drive under the influence and I refuse to do that. I won't even drive if I've had so much as a sip of alcohol, much less if I've been given a shot of pain medication that is supposed to be for severe pain.

Me too. I had a date a couple months ago, met up with the girl at a bar. I had just a coke and she had 3 vodka cranberries and then got behind the wheel (after telling me she's had several DUI's in the past, and an accident in the past resulting from her being drunk). I never called her again, it was a huge turn-off. I'm all for people doing whatever they want, as long as they do it responsibly at home where they probably won't kill anyone.
If you continue to take it and it doesn't work, ask your doctor if taking 2 is alright (I should probably ask mine, heh, I think it's OK because from what I've heard they prescribe even higher dosages to people with liver problems and they're alright with it). If it still doesn't work, have them try something else. It's weird, sometimes something that works great for one person might do nothing for someone else.

[TafEx]

what is your dosage of tramadol and how often are you taking it? i think it MAY be due to tramadol having weaker opioid agonist properties compared to Norco, which is a hydrocodone/acetaminophen formulation, with hydrocodone being a much stronger opioid agonist.

[firmhonda]

My dosage is 50mg 4 times a day, but I ended up just taking it once today because when I really started hurting I didn't want to mess around with something that didn't work when I had another option at hand. The thing that sucks is that the Norco's aren't mine at all, but I don't know what else to do when it's hurting.

[TafEx]

Ahh icic, well maybe you can ask your doctor or pharmacist about taking 100 mg every 4-6 hours, but make sure you don't exceed 400 mg/day. Or you can ask to switch to Norco, since it has worked for you in the past.

[Buffalo Sabres]

Tramadol is a weak pain killer that has never worked for me. Talk to your doctor and tell him this. He should be willing to work with you and get you prescribed something stronger.

[firmhonda]

Thanks again for the replies.

The problem is this: My doctor basically told me the other day "I give up." He then told me to go to the ER because of my issues and my not having health insurance. When I was there I talked to the doctor and this is what he gave me. Something tells me that a follow-up isn't the easiest thing to do..

Also, my primary care doctor (or who used to be my PC doc) refuses to prescribe pain medication so I've been given everything under the stars other than pain medication to see if it helped.. I finally just gave up on taking all of his meds because they just made me more sick.

But that's a rant for another time..

[Jonas]

From what I saw while I was a pharmacy tech, and from some family experiences, tramadol is a hit or miss drug. Some people it works for, and works well, others might as well be taking a sugar pill.

[firmhonda]

An update: It seems as though this is much more effective as a preventative method than it is to treat existing pain. This is something that I am definitely not happy about as I don't feel like I really should be taking a pill all day long just in case I end up in pain.

I've figured that the best route that I can take is to take one before I go to work to keep me from hurting while I'm there, but it kind of leaves me high and dry when I'm at home.

[C-Nears]

I am in the same boat, i have been dealing with major back pain for over a year now. I started on Vicodin and then moved to percocet 10/325. I have tried some of the long acting meds like MS Contin(morphine) and oxycontin as well but I really don't think that they did anything. However, i highly reccomend, DO NOT EVER TAKE ANYTHING THAT HAS OXYCONTIN IN IT. I was taking the lowest dosage pill they make for about a month 3 times a day, then I decided its not working so I don't need it so I stopped taking it, i was not prepared for what came next, the worst withdrawls ever. I lost 8 pounds in three days because i spent most of my time in the bathroom. So needless to say, i will never touch it again and even taking the lowest dose as reccommended can lead to major problems later. So after trying a bunch of others, I have just decided to take only Norco and thats it. It works ok just doesn't last a long time.

[06 Civic Ex]

oxycontin/oxycodone = basically synthetic heroin but its amazing stuff

withdrawals are pretty awful

[Sleepy]

I am currently on Hydromorphone for fractured ribs, I have tramadol at home but they do not do anything I have 100mg and 200mg tramadols. I put them away, doc and I have been going through testing out pain meds and now I am on a strong one. It is the sister drug to oxycontin.

[06 Civic Ex]

i am the resident opiate enthusiast

[kgee]

medical MJ?

[Sleepy]

Originally Posted by kgee

medical MJ?

For me that doesn't work for pain, it just keeps my mind off the pain for an hour.

[06 Civic Ex]

depends on the type of weed

[kgee]

Originally Posted by Sleepy

For me that doesn't work for pain, it just keeps my mind off the pain for an hour.

Really? You may have had a type that wasn't good for body pain. I know edibles tend to be great for pain.

[firmhonda]

I'm in Texas, medicinal Marijuana is not an option.