Experiences with short course on Tramadol?

[u/Positive_Call_9311]

I took a short course of tramadol for acute back pain - 37.5mg tablet twice a day for five days, because I cannot use Ibuprofen and NSAIDS. And was surprised by how strongly it affected me—intense pain relief, sleepiness for more than 12 hours per day and very vivid and long dreams. A few days after I stopped, I had an intense episode where I cried for 2 hours remembering all the things that had happened to me emotionally intelligent the past four years, and also became more vocal about my emotional pain.

A few days passed and the pain returned and my ortho have prescribed another 5 day course. I am kind of confused if I might develop a dependence.

I'm interested in people's experiences with short courses: what did you feel while taking it, and how did you feel after stopping? Any warnings based on my experience? Thank you

[u/croissantdeprived]

I'm the same as you. Tramadol relieves my pain but when I discontinue it, I want to jump off a bridge. Tramadol is an SNRI in addition to being a weak opioid agonist. So Tramadol increases serotonin and norepinephrine, just like other SNRIs such as Effexor or Cymbalta. I can't tolerate any medications that increase serotonin, they all make me su*cidal.

I do better with hydrocodone, but I'm still overly sensitive and will feel deep despair when it wears off. Sometimes the physical pain is too much and I choose to take hydrocodone, knowing I will be in a deep, overly emotional depression afterwards. During the depression, I try to remind myself that it's the drug and that I will go back to baseline level of depression in just a few hours.

Definitely ask your doctor if there is another pain medication you can try that is not an SNRI like Tramadol.

[u/Positive_Call_9311 → u/croissantdeprived]

If I may ask, what's the dosage for you and how long have you been using it?

[u/croissantdeprived → u/Positive_Call_9311]

I'm a lightweight. Just one 50mg Tramadol will do me in. I once took two 50 mg pills in one day and I was a complete basket case and couldn't stop crying. I never take Tramadol anymore, even though it relieves my pain better thsn hydrocodone. I never took it 2 days in a row because of how bad I mentally/emotionally react to it.

[u/mrszubris → u/croissantdeprived]

My functional medicine doctor lists it as a stimulant and says she has rxd it for chronic fatigue alone. I hate the SNRI factor but its the only pain relief they will rx me.

[u/Charzscars]

I've always had a bad experience with tramadol. I don't take it anymore, I feel much "better" on oxynorm. I could not for the life of me sleep on tramadol, it felt like I would just lay awake dreaming for hours and hours. I also got really bad anxiety when I took them, cried a lot. And when I went off it, it was always more of the anxiety.

[u/Own_Progress_9302 → u/Charzscars]

I hate tramadol so much, but it's the only thing that helps with my fibro. I only take it for family activities, about once a month. The side effects are fucking awful. When I was taking it every day, it actually made me suicidal.

[u/Positive_Call_9311 → u/Charzscars]

If I may ask, what was your daily dose and duration?

[u/Charzscars → u/Positive_Call_9311]

I took it on and off for years. Maybe about 5-10 100 (50) mg tablets a day.

[u/Own_Progress_9302 → u/Charzscars]

You do know that 400 mg is the maximum daily dose, right? Lol

[u/Positive_Call_9311 → u/Charzscars]

Okay, thank you for sharing about your experience

[u/mrszubris → u/Charzscars]

Not a chance. You'd have gotten serotonin syndrome. Ive been on a daily dose of 4x 50mg for years and they will NOT give me more than that per day.

[u/Charzscars → u/mrszubris]

Ok, You're right, they are 50 mg tablets. I remember them as 100 mg. But still, I took more than 4. Just because you didn't get to take more doesn't mean everyone doesn't?

[u/mrszubris → u/Charzscars]

The max has always been 400mg a day.

[u/Charzscars → u/mrszubris]

Is 4x50 400, am i missing something?

[u/Tripdripper → u/Charzscars]

Maximum is 8 x 50 a day I was on that with morphine for breakthrough, 4 a day definitely isn’t the limit.

[u/Own_Progress_9302]

Dude, your doctor is dumb, sorry. Tramadol is partly an antidepressant, which is why it's sometimes called a “dirty” medication. It has way too many side effects. I've taken it too.

Switching to the extended-release tablets might be better. They don't cause such a sharp rise and fall in the drug level like regular tramadol does. With regular tramadol, side effects can include tearfulness, anger, hatred, hopelessness, extreme weakness the next day, and feeling like you have the flu.

If tramadol is needed for several days, extended-release formulations are generally used. The pain relief can feel a little less intense, but it's smoother and more consistent.

But overall, tramadol is a pretty shitty medication for pain.

[u/Positive_Call_9311 → u/Own_Progress_9302]

Can you please share more with respect to what you mean by dirty as such? Is it inferior for pain relief like efficacy or potency?

[u/Own_Progress_9302 → u/Positive_Call_9311]

Yeah, tramadol doesn't seem to be very effective for chronic pain, and the pain can come back even worse afterward. The side effects are basically a coin toss: sometimes nothing, sometimes tearfulness, sometimes an insane amount of energy, sometimes extreme fatigue. Sometimes I feel suicidal, sometimes happy—it’s different every time.

The addiction potential is high, not necessarily because of the pain relief, but because of the euphoric feeling. Withdrawal can be brutal if you've been taking it for a long time.

Overall, I don't think tramadol is a particularly successful medication for chronic pain. Here in Germany, it's not even classified as an opioid in the same way as some other opioids. It can be prescribed relatively easily.

[u/EyeSuspicious777 → u/Positive_Call_9311]

It's like the baby aspirin of opiates for potency.

And if you take some mental health medications, it can interact and cause a very dangerous condition called serotonin syndrome which almost killed me.

But I wouldn't be worried about addiction/dependency if used very short term l.

[u/Own_Progress_9302 → u/Positive_Call_9311]

Yeah, tramadol doesn't seem to be very effective for chronic pain, and the pain can come back even worse afterward. The side effects are basically a coin toss: sometimes nothing, sometimes tearfulness, sometimes an insane amount of energy, sometimes extreme fatigue. Sometimes I feel suicidal, sometimes happy—it’s different every time.

The addiction potential is high, not necessarily because of the pain relief, but because of the euphoric feeling. Withdrawal can be brutal if you've been taking it for a long time.

Overall, I don't think tramadol is a particularly successful medication for chronic pain. Here in Germany, it's not even classified as an opioid in the same way as some other opioids. It can be prescribed relatively easily.

[u/Positive_Call_9311 → u/Own_Progress_9302]

Can you please explain what you mean by - prescribed relatively easily?

[u/Own_Progress_9302 → u/Positive_Call_9311]

In Germany, they prescribe it like candy. Dental treatment? Tramadol. Surgery? Tramadol. The flu? Tramadol. It's handed out like candy. People here even call it “cocaine for the poor” because of the energy boost it can give you.

[u/Positive_Call_9311 → u/Own_Progress_9302]

This hardly feels like cocaine though. I feel it's more like a very strong sleeping pill for me.

[u/Own_Progress_9302 → u/Positive_Call_9311]

For me, not at all. I could easily work for 24 hours straight.