How in the heck are you NOT supposed to be anxious with that kind of care...doesn't sound like the private system is any better than the public system or visa versa...

My ear pain is different, and it seems very PN related in my case.

Accident victims get terrible care....in our country it is bad as their is almost always litigation and if you don't come in critical you often get discharged and your injuries not found until later...for me years later...and serious injuries too. I was at one of the 'best' trauma centers too. Go figure.

If you had any 'whiplash' type injury, that will bother your ears, cause headaches, earaches, dizziness, sore neck all kinds of things....you didn't need that on top of PN. My heart goes out to you.

As far as tramadol goes, a fair number of folks get exactly the reactions you and I got from it...just do not take it, and let them know how sick you got. I got sick almost the same way, same dose etc.

I feel like you are my missing twin...and I pray you are not! (I know you are not, you are a lot younger!!)

I thought all my problems were anxiety driven for 15 years...they were not. When the cardiologist I saw, in 2004 told me....'IT IS NOT IN YOUR HEAD" I tried to convince even him that it was....I had been told that so many times by so many docs...I truly believed it.

(By the way...I had a muscle biopsy...it showed myopathy in my bicep...a surprising find. Doc said he knew I would have myopathy in my legs, but he was surprised to find it in my arm....in an area where it is highly unlikely to find PN....It is still being worked up for other stuff...I won't know more for a few weeks. I am likely looking at some hereditary stuff....but I won't know more for a while.)

I assume they did urine porphyrins on you. They can do testing to see if you carry a gene polymorphism for certain enzyme families...tramadol is metabolized by 2D6. Look at the cytochrome chart...link below. Remember in Australia, some drugs are referred to by different names...so just check that out...for example I believe acetominophen is paracetamol??? Both are tylenol. I know most drugs are the same, but not all...

http://medicine.iupui.edu/flockhart/table.htm

Also our ability to metabolize drugs is as unique as a fingerprint...no one is the same. 10% of Caucasians carry a polymorphism for 2D6. I have had reactions to just about every drug on that list, with the exception of a few, so I am drawing my own conclusions...

Sometimes it is a matter of how many drugs metabolized by one enzyme family you are taking....and then how many inhibitors or inducers you are taking....it is a good read if you have time to study it.

Take care of yourself.