Everything is changing- tramadol

[tishbite]

everything is changing- tramadol

my pain is getting worst. my joints ache. i just passed a kidney stone a few days ago. i am being taken off my 800 mg of remicade because it is not making a difference and am staying on my 25 mg metho shot weekly. the new part is i am going to be taking place in a study for a new crohn's drug. not sure what it is called. i am just praying it works. if it doesn't my only other option at this point is a medication that has a 1 in 1000 chance of causing serious brain damage. to say the least i am at a stressful and painful point of my disease.
however, i did see a pain doctor today and he prescribed me tramadol to take on a constant basis to see if it clears up any of my pain? has anyone else taken tramadol/had good experiences with it? did it help your pain? we also talked about medical marijuana as an option. opinions?

 

[Deleted member 81255]

I have had both Tramadol(actually Tramacet[also has Acetaminophen in it]) and Toradol. I'm not sure if they are related or even do the same thing but I found that Toradol worked WAAAAAYYYY better for me. It's what I ask for what I go to the hospital for pain meds. The only problem is that they can't give it to you in pill form so you have to have IV in to get it.
But you asked about Tramadol. My family doc. gave me a bunch of samples out of his office at my last flareup. I only took one pill(although you can take up to two) and I literally was asleep for twenty-four hours straight. I just couldn't wake up. Albeit I was 115 pounds from not eating so it may have been too much without enough in my system.
My advice would be just to try it but be prepared to be having a quiet day at home after you take it.
And I don't think you can get medical marijuana up here in Canada.... Hopes this helps a bit....

 

[tishbite]

medical marijuana is legal here in washington state. the only thing i am worried about with the tramadol is even though my pain doctor said it is the least addicting option for me right now, it still appears to be addicting to many. i am in constant pain and have no intention of taking more then prescribed but am still worried about the addiction, weight loss and tiredness and or insomnia that apparently are some common side effects. i have not seen many forums about how tramadol works for crohn's so i am pretty curious. hmph.

 

[ThanksP]

Tramadol doesn't seem to do much for me other than keep me awake at night. I might be an odd case because nothing seemed to work for me. Not Percocet, Lortabs, etc. But Tramadol is not a narcotic, therefore less addicting. It certainly can't hurt to try it. If it doesn't work for the pain, try something else.

What drug trial are you trying? I recently tried to get into one for people who have failed biologics, something that targets Interleukin 16 or something like that. Unfortunately, my white blood cell count was too low. Yours sounds like something similar since you have to be off the biologic to get into the trial. I had to wait 70 days for the Cimzia to clear my system. Have you tried Cimzia yet? If not, that might be an option for you before trying Tysabri (I'm assuming thats what you were talking about when you mentioned brain infection)

Best of luck to you, I hope you find a workable solution for your pain. And ultimately, a drug that works for the Crohn's so you dont need pain meds at all.

 

[Mountaingem]

I have had both Tramadol(actually Tramacet[also has Acetaminophen in it]) and Toradol. I'm not sure if they are related or even do the same thing but I found that Toradol worked WAAAAAYYYY better for me. It's what I ask for what I go to the hospital for pain meds. The only problem is that they can't give it to you in pill form so you have to have IV in to get it.
But you asked about Tramadol. My family doc. gave me a bunch of samples out of his office at my last flareup. I only took one pill(although you can take up to two) and I literally was asleep for twenty-four hours straight. I just couldn't wake up. Albeit I was 115 pounds from not eating so it may have been too much without enough in my system.
My advice would be just to try it but be prepared to be having a quiet day at home after you take it.
And I don't think you can get medical marijuana up here in Canada.... Hopes this helps a bit....

I've taken Toradol and Tramadol; Toredol barely dulled the joint pain, but Tramadol works awesome for pain, both joint and digestive.

It didn't knock me totally out but then I didn't take two and (Ahem) I weigh a bit more than 115 pounds. I think marijuana is not as potent as a pain killer as these drugs; however your results may vary, as it is with everything we use lol.

There's a marijuana forum here if you need more advice on it/personal experiences. I've never tried it myself, for fun or for pain.

 

[allieinwonder]

I have been on tramadol for my pain for the past year, and I have had a decent amount of success with it. I agree with previous posters, it does keep you up at night. Not even sleep aids help me get to sleep if it is still in my system. I also have some issues with constipation with it, so I have to watch that as well. I have been flaring for about 3 months solid, and the tramadol is losing its effect because of it. But I'd say its a pretty good narcotic-like pain killer to get you through the day when you need it!

 

[Deleted member 81255]

I've taken Toradol and Tramadol; Toredol barely dulled the joint pain, but Tramadol works awesome for pain, both joint and digestive.

It didn't knock me totally out but then I didn't take two and (Ahem) I weigh a bit more than 115 pounds. I think marijuana is not as potent as a pain killer as these drugs; however your results may vary, as it is with everything we use lol.

There's a marijuana forum here if you need more advice on it/personal experiences. I've never tried it myself, for fun or for pain.

I didn't take the Toradol for joint pain, just Crohn's pain. During flareups I usually get that and if it doesn't work they add Morphine or Demerol which is a fun roller coaster ride for me let me tell you ;D

 

[muppet]

Tramadol has worked very well for my daughter's joint pain, but I don't know about GI pain with it. I haven't noticed that it keeps her awake but it may and she wouldn't tell me anyway.

I wish we could get more of it. The doctors are very reluctant to prescribe it to her. I think they're more worried about their liability than the risk of addiction for her.

 

[outlier]

I take Tramadol Pop (Tramadol with Tylenol) for my arthritis. I am up to 4 a day. the first week or so i took it. there was a moment or two of wooziness or tiredness. but after that it was fine and has been a great relief. It apparently has both narcotic like aspects and some anti-depression like aspects, with out being truly either.

Unfortunately since the one i am taking has Tylenol that can cause problem in life (liver), which may cause reluctance for some drs, for the same reason that Percocet and Vicodin have been threatened with being baned.

 

[Rebecca85]

Tramadol didn't keep me up at night, but it did make me feel a bit spaced out (I wouldn't want to be at work or driving or anything like that). I took 100mg at a time.

 

[tishbite]

yes, tysabri is the medication i'm trying to avoid somewhat. the whole brain issue really has me worried. i'm not 100 percent sure of what the study is to be honest. i don't start it for another couple weeks and still need to get the paperwork for it. i will post more about it once i know though because apparently this study is fairly new.
i have taken 3 50 mg doses of the tramadol so far since last night. it seems to be helping me quite a bit. my boyfriend noticed i was happier and more active today. it did not keep me up last night which i was happy about. also i seem to have the same appetite as before. the plus is a lot of the pain is far less noticeable
i'm advised to take 4-6 doses of 50 mg pills a day, so we'll see how this works out.
thanks for all the advice and responses everyone.

 

[Carrie]

I've been on Tramadol since I've had surgery, and it seems pretty useless. Paracetemol (Tylenol) is working better for me. :-/

 

[bushydougie]

I had to stop taking tramadol as it caused me to have extreme nausea to the point where every mouthful I tried to eat I thought I would be sick. It was very unpleasant. Never had that before
I didn't get any other side effects with it. I was worried it would make me spaced out but when I first started on it I was able to carry on teaching without any problems. It was only when I went up to 2 tablets that the nausea slowly crept up.
I have a recurring problem with insomnia but tramadol didn't effect me wig regards to this.
I hope you have more luck with it

 

[Grant]

I use Tramadol for pain & agree it keeps me awake & makes me spaced out. I wouldn't even think of driving whilst using it TBH. Bottom line is that for me it works for the pain.
Tgds
Grant

 

[allieinwonder]

I agree with the antidepressant/narcotic comment... when I was put on a low dose antidepressant to see if it would help the pharmacist kept telling me I can't take them at the same time because they both lower your serotonin levels in your brain! Not fun. I would use another pain med if it was offered, but this is all they will offer me until they know whats wrong. It makes me just as loopy as narcotics, yet I can't sleep and it doesn't work as well pain wise!

 

[tishbite]

so last night i had really bad pain and took two pills ( they are 50 mg each and on thebottle it advises to take 1-2 pills) and it made me feel completely different then just one pill. with one pill it was make me somewhat peppy but still not getting to the root of the pain and i was still getting worn out easily. with two pills i was laying down in bed after an hour and was slightly nauseous. however i felt little pain. i don't know how to feel about it. i'm just gonna give it a little more time. as long as it is not affecting my sleep, then i am fine.

 

[ThanksP]

I get slight nausea when I take 100 mg of Tramadol. When the wave of nausea hits me, I eat a few Ginger Altoids. That seems to take care of it for me.

 

[tishbite]

i will try said ginger altoids, ha. thanks