Tramadol..

[lofty]

Not been on here for ages, but thought this could be a good place to ask!

I had a knee arthroscopy yesterday, and they have given me paracetamol, diclofenac, and tramadol to take.
They said the tramadol was optional, and that it WILL have side effects....

How true is that? They have given me 50mg tablets, and said to take 1, 4 times a day (im about 5ft and skinny as hell).

So, it's optional.... do I take it... or not... my knee hurts.. but I was throwing up because of the morphine yesterday and I really cba with that today!

Thanks!

[Fisty]

If you can live with the pain i wouldnt take the stuff. Made me hallucinate badly. I took it for 2 days last month after breaking my shoulder. Never again.
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[nowhere.elysium]

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[GSTEEL32]

Depends how much pain your in. I managed to break my shoulder blade (widthways) & a fair few ribs in the same "off" a year or two ago.

Tramadol kept me going to be honest, the ribs in particular were a nightmare.

They did, however, have 2 side effects that I remember

1) Time becomes irrelevant as you tend to "float" through the day.

2) Concentration levels are significantly reduced.

I went back to work on tramadol (I've got an office job, no heavy machinery) and to be honest, I dont really remember getting to work, nor do I remember much about what I did when i got there.


Work, ironically, saw no real change in the difference I made while I was at work during that period.....

I'd say go for it, I've saved a few "spare pills" because you never know when you might need them in the future, so to speak....

[Tonka]

I've been giving the Grottie tramadol after his elbow arthroscopy and have been keen to keep it at the minimum dosage and get him off it as quickly and gently as possible. It does a good job, but has nasty side affects from my experience - I felt pretty dizzy and nauseous when I was prescribed it.

He weighs in at 45kg and was prescribed 2 x 50mg tablets twice a day as his initial dosage*, but I've steadily reduced to 1 x 50mg once a day after 4 weeks, with a view to him being off them by the end of the 6 week rehab programme.

I suffer badly with motion sickness, so I attributed my lack of tolerance to that. I'd say take some and keep a close eye on how you feel - stating the obvious and not immensely helpful, but all I can suggest as everyone is different in regards of pain tolerance and drug tolerance!



*was told I could give him as much as I thought necessary and as often if he showed signs of discomfort, but I was keen to keep it minimal, for his sake!
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[P.addy]

I remember feeling all fuzzy on Tramadol, lasted around 4 hours after a fairly beefy dosage. Think I was told 2 capsule tablets every 4 hours for really severe pain.

I think I had 2 every 2 hours.. for about 8 hours. It was crazy.

Not as crazy as the 2 weeks on morphine though.

[yambabe]

The OH had it when he had his kidney stones out in 2010. He is quite a hefty bloke (15 stone) and had "up to" 4 times a day on the prescription.

He also complained of nausea and ended up just taking one at night (I had to keep them hidden from him as he was worried about dependence) for about a week as he said they did, after some initial dizziness, knock him out. He didn't bother with them during the day for that reason.
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[G]

Morphine didn't seem to have a massive 'drugy' effect on me.
Neither did Tramadol. Knocked me out a bit - was having day time naps which I could never do normally.

Only issue I had it was that I got addicted to it - after cutting back to one a night and finding any difference in pain, I decided I was fine to stop taking them, so I did.
Couldn't sleep that night despite two sleeping tablets, itchy-under-skin feeling etc. At 5am I decided it must have been the lack of drugs and took some, then was fine.
Cut down a bit at a time after that until I got to an 1/8th of a pill or something and was fine.

Worth giving a go and seeing how you feel - just be careful when coming off them. I had been on them for a few months to be addicted.

[lofty]

Sounds like it affects people in a pretty wide variety of ways!

I am going to try not to take any today, and hope that the other drugs keep the pain away to a tolerable degree, I have got to get in a car and go up to Norwich later, not sure being spaced out and possibly feeling ill on a long car journey is going to be fun.

Thanks for all the comments, def going to start off with the lowest dose possible if I do have any, im only 44kg!

[shereen]

My OH had to take 2 days off work after taking Tramadol, he was hallucinating and felt really sick.

Me - doesnt affect me in the slightest

[neatbik]

Might be worth seeing if they can give you Codiene instead?
I only say that because i was given some after a particularly unpleasant operation. The only side effect i got was feeling pleasantly stoned.
Nausea kicked in after a couple of weeks, but by then i could pretty much cope with the pain without any medication.

I'm not sure how similar Tramadol and Codiene are to each other though, chemically at least. I suspect Ghostrider is the man to talk to, he seems to know lots about this kind of stuff.

I did take a Tramadol last year, just to see what it would be like. I felt a bit fucked up, then promptly fell asleep.

Also, dont underestimate Cocodomal - I'm suffering from an infection after a nasty tooth extraction last week. The pain is intense, but Cocodomol and Ibuprofen seem to be keeping it in check. The only side effect so far is constipation.

[Simeski]

I have been suffering with sciatica for the past couple of months. After Diazepam failed to help I was given Tramadol to take at night to help me sleep. They did absolutely nothing to me and I spent most of the night awake in agony. About 9.30 the next day I started feeling really spaced out and nauseous which resulted in me being sent home from work. Seems the Tramadol had a delayed affect on me

After messing about with my meds a bit more I'm now on a mixture of slow release Tramadol and Amitriptyline to try and keep the pain at bay but even that's not working too well
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[Simeski]

[Lone-Wolf]

[Irn-Bru]

I have used it in the past when I had tooth ache, it did the job nicely, but I could feel a sort of addictiveness of it when I stopped taking it, nothing too strong mind, but I think someone with that sort of personality might get pulled in. For the first 2 or 3 days I felt a bit tipsy/buzzed and happy but after that nothing really.
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[Llama-Farmer]

Sent you a PM going into more detail, but I'll post up here for other peoples benefit, without quite so detailed personal experiences.


Diclofenac you MUST take with food. Although I'd strongly advise not taking it at all, certainly for no more than a week. Without food, there can be major major gastrointestinal side effects, extreme stomach cramps, stomach ulcers and vomiting blood are a common issue.

There are very worrying effects in some people and my orthopaedic surgeon and two parents who are GPs didn't want me on it at all, but there were very few drugs left for them to try get the pain under control. (I was maxed out on morphine and still in major pain, tramadol, nefopam and other high-dose opiods were not having much analgesic effect). There are also studies in orthopoedic patients which strongly suggest it is not beneficial to use it when weighed against the risks.


A better alternative would be nefopam, which is a non-opioid analgesic. Combined with an opioid analgesic (such as hydrocodone/acetaminophen [vicodin] or dihydrocodeine & acetaminophen) this will have better pain management.

Paracetemol (acetaminophen) effectively boosts the dose of these painkillers, making their analgesic effect increase, without overdosing. But on its own it does very little without the other drugs.


Tramadol can be good in many people, but there are things to watch out for which people have mentioned above. Because it triggers serotonin, when you come off the drug it can give you (false) feelings of depression, which are caused by your body being used to the increased levels. This is not anything to worry about, you just need to remember you are at a NORMAL level rather than an ELEVATED level, and you will once again begin to feel normal.


Speak to your GP and discuss with your orthopod if you have any worries. I told you about the other side effects of tramadol, but don't necessarily want everyone knowing that because if they use or abuse it for that purpose without consulting a doctor it could be very bad news.


And watch for opioid constipation too. Keep drinking LOTS of fluid to keep your kidneys working and flushing all the drug waste away.

[nowhere.elysium]

I'm still wondering where Paulington and his amazing pharmacopeia is.
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[Llama-Farmer]

[Pedd]

I take 8x 50mg of tramadol amongst a variety of other stuff, they have no druggy or hallucination effects on me at all, they do help the pain tho
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[cornish]

I think morphine can make most people a bit sick. If you have it as jabs etc in hospital they should give you the anti-sickness thing that goes with it, then it's all just fluffy and lovely. I've asked for it on the occasions i've had morphine tho to make sure, my friend who'd snapped her leg horribly didn't get it and was less than happy puking her guts up

You can get anti-nausea tablets from your GP quite easily that may be compatible with the Tramadol. You don't have to swallow them they just sit under your lip so they're good if you're already being sick. I've always got a stash in my house for tummy bugs as after the initial fun and games are over i need to stop puking quickly as it does my back no good. Also tablets etc i take for it don't stay put if i'm busy enjoying the throes of a child-bourne 'gift' from the school.

Co-codamol could be a good alternative to Tramadol. I've been on them for years with no problems. Co-dydramol also suits me fine.

I came off co-codamol suddenly when i got pregnant which was not particularly fun but i think it's the same as all of them, you probably get a tolerance very quickly and if you're on them long term are bound to have effects when coming off them. I think short term you are unlikely to have problems as long as you are sensible, which it sounds like you are.

Hope you're feeling better soon.
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[Llama-Farmer]

Yeah I got the antiemetic which melt on your tongue when they were giving me IM and IV morphine. Didn't when I was having oramorph, I don't know if they contain an antiemetic anyway, but it does taste like strong piriton, I nicknamed it "grown up calpol".

Co-dydramol is the compound dihydrocodeine/acetaminophen which I mentioned, I had better tolerance taking them seperately in hospital, so kept it that way when getting my scripts.


And when you come off a lot of analgesics like that it is hell, I stubbed my toe and it felt like I'd broken every bone below my knee.

[neatbik]

[Berk]

I was on Tramadol and slow release morphine in hospital when I had my shoulder pinned with added bone graft taken from my hip. The only affect the Tramadol had was to make me slightly more tired, but that may also have been an effect of being bed bound with dick all to do. I was most disappointed though, a wonderful cocktail of drugs and no hallucinations or other madness.

[Ariel Badger]

Nick.
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[neatbik]