tramadol

[sayheykidsf24]

I am new to this site so i hope I am posting the right place. I have been clean and sober for 6 years. I have been having foot pain increasingly over several months. I have a neuroma that needs surgery. The pain is causing me not to be able to walk. I wanted to do something for the pain until surgery can be scheduled. I asked my doctor, who knows I am in recovery in fact has been my doctor since before my recovery, If there was something I could take that was non narcotic. He perscribed Tramadol. I picked up the perscription and took half a tab and then started reading the inserts and have been freaking out ever since. Should I be taking this stuff? Will it lead me to a relapse? Am I just being a big baby about the pain? Who needs to walk anyway? I have heard so many stories about people relapsing from pain medication I am freaked out. I had been taking 800 mg of ibuprophen every 4 hours with very little relief.
Any advice?
Melanie

[suki44883]

I would say call you doctor back and ask him.

[ksos]

Hi Melanie...

It seems to me that your topic is quite suitable for this forum, as you are dealing with Pain and Recovery issues.

One tenet of this entire site is that we cannot offer medical advice to anyone, which is probably why suki44883 made the suggestion to contact your MD.

However, you are certainly free to discuss your concerns regarding the fear of relapse while taking pain medication. Many of us are on pain medicines and are addicts in Recovery.

By the way, and this is just something I did read this morning, Tramadol or Ultram, is a medicine that is considered an opiod by some medical personal. This medicine, in my experience, has had an addictive quality to it and has also had withdrawal symptoms upon abrupt cessation. While it is not Heroin or Percocet, it actually, according to the literature, enters the bloodstream and metabolizes into some sort of morphine derivitive.

I am not saying your doctor is incompetent, but if you read the precautions about Tramadol, you will see that it is not advisable for this medication to be prescribed to substance abusers or those with a history.

Yet, pain is very real to the person experiencing it, and I am someone who does take a hefty dose of a narcotic medication for chronic pancreatitis pain, but I made this decision only because I have a Recovery based program in my life, am administered this medication by a pain management clinic and am on a contract which requires random toxicology to be taken, a policy that the clinic is the only place where I can be prescribed pain medication, and if I come up "dirty" three times, I will be discharged from the service.

My own belief is different from other people who may post here, and we all try to respect each other's viewpoints. For me, I cannot move without pain control and my quality of life would be severely compromised. Others choose to not take medication and opt for non-medicinal ways to manage their own severe pain. I believe that this method is very helpful as well.

So, welcome to SR, and I hope you find this to be a helpful place for support and true caring.

Always the best,

Ksos

[lizw]

Talk to your doctor. If he/she doesn't know you are in recovery let them know. Whenever I start taking new medication I ask what the side affects are, how long they should last for (as some of them are just as a result of my body getting use to them) and what I should do if they don't pass etc..?

I have MS and Fibro and the drugs I take sedate my centeral nervous system. When I first started taking anything in 2007 I spent the 1st week stoned (which the doctor said may happen) but then I went back to the doc and said I can't live like this so they decreased the dose, and everything was fine.

I also started taking a new drug last week which made me feel a bit sedated (the doc said it might) for 24 hours, then it past.

Hope you sorted it out and I think fear that you may relapse is probably a good indication you are being mindful of your limits which is great.

[Latte]

I'm not giving medical advice, but I suffer from a chronic pain problem and I have to admit, Cymbalta has saved my rear. It is an antidepressant and I can't say enough about it. I have put on about 10lbs but it is a great trade off for me.

I have several friends who are addicts in recovery and suffer from chronic pain issues who share my feelings about antidepressants in general and think this one is a good option. Cymbalta cannot be taken with Tramadol though.

Speak to your doctor and do some of your own research.

My thoughts are with you.

[jazpoppy]

sayheykidsf24;

Welcome. I am also an addict and chronic pain sufferer. Everyone of us is different and we all react to pain differently. Some of us have painful conditions that cause severe breakdown of any quality of life unless we take powerful pain medications that can be addictive, and some of us can get by OK with non-narcotics and non-medicinal intervention. I wish I could be OK with tylenol, Motrin and some therapy, but I have to take strong addictive medication. I hard on my recovery program, talk to others (like everyone here at SR), go to meetings when I can, and have someone else in control of my medication so that its not in my hands and cannot be abused (although I have not felt like abusing anything in a very long time, yet I am an addict and cannot be trusted with the bottle). You need to speak to your doctor and your sponsor (if you have a sponsor) about Tramadol and the risk factors based on your history of drug abuse. Your doctor needs to know if you had a specific drug of choice, or if you just used anything that would get you high, and how much recovery you have, did you complete a drug rehab program (in patient or out patient), do you still have a tight support group (home NA or AA meeting(s)), and assure then you and your doctor can decide if the Tramadol is worth the risk of a relapse of if its not really anything to worry about as long as you take it as prescribed and maybe have someone (a non-addict) hold on to it for you and give you your daily dose as prescribed. Speaking to your MD about your concerns is the best way to go. So don't keep reading horror stories online about Tramadol addiction, until you first speak to your doctor about your concerns, as reading these "war stories" will only upset you and put you in a bad frame of mind. I wish you well and hope you can get your surgery soon and feel better!

Sincerely

Jaz

[sayheykidsf24]

Just wanted everyone to know I have decided agains't the tramadol and am starting to take gabapentin which is for nerve pain and is not contra indicted in people with addictions. I also have an appointment today for accupuncture. The accupunturist is sure she can help with the pain. Thanks for being here. I have a sponcee who suffers from cronic pain and I have suggested she check out this site. Sometimes though I want to give her support I have not experienced what she has. My experience with my foot pain is giving me a tiny insight into what she goes through. And it scares the S___ out of me.

[hopefully tryin]

Hi, Just popped into this forum and browsing around and I would like to let you know that I had an addiction to Tramadol which led to a siezure!! It is bad bad stuff

[Alera]

tryin, this forum is for people in chronic pain. We are in recovery but we have to learn to balance our needs for pain control with our addictions.

This includes not abusing any pain medication. Sadly, for many of us, our lives often include using narcotics for pain treatment.

Narcotics, when abused, have bad side effects. When they are used as prescribed, they can save our lives (anyone with extreme pain that causes suicidal thoughts knows what I'm talking about).

Just because a drug caused a side effect when abused does not make it "bad bad" but it does make the addiction "bad bad"

[hopefully tryin]

sorry, I do know what you mean by chronic pain as I have it myself and actually came into this forum to find out what I could do about it. I did not mean to offend or upset anyone. I was going to try to read through some post and see what I could do naturally or likewise for my pain as at this point in recovery I cannot take narcotics atleast not trust myself with them. again, I am truly sorry if I upset anyone.

[Alera]

Originally Posted by hopefully tryin

sorry, I do know what you mean by chronic pain as I have it myself and actually came into this forum to find out what I could do about it. I did not mean to offend or upset anyone. I was going to try to read through some post and see what I could do naturally or likewise for my pain as at this point in recovery I cannot take narcotics atleast not trust myself with them. again, I am truly sorry if I upset anyone.

There are a couple sticky posts at the top of the forum that might offer you some help. The List of ten (Spiritual Tools for Pain Management) is especially helpful for me.

[nandm]

Trying, I don't think you upset anyone. From what I understand of Alera's post is that she was trying to clarify that this area is about balancing pain management with recovery. Your original post appeared to just be in the wrong forum.

Glad you are here and welcome to our pain managment forum. I hope you are able to find some good support here just as many of us have.

[Alera]

Tryin' you didn't upset me at all. I hope you find the support here that many of us have found.

[Digginit]

Some types of musculoskeletal problems can be treated with periodic steroid injections with great results and no systemic medications. It might be worth talking to your doc about.


dig

[barb dwyer]

I recently found out that what I've been taking is a generic form of this - and let me tell ya - after eight months of being unable to walk from my back door to my trash cans - this past month has been a GOD SEND.

I'm sticking with it.

But then - I'm also practically camped on my doc's back step, as well. I am in continual contact with them. They know my history, and ... well, this is working ... the last month has been unbelievable good for me.