Effectivness of long term tramadol use?
 

I have been taking tramadol for years now but sparingly. Sometimes I can go weeks until the pain is to much. But other times like vacations I use it much. 100mg twice a day even. I don't wont to spoil the day for others so I have done this to get through the day.

My question is, if one uses a drug like tramadol and the body gets accustom to it and needs more and more can that be reversed? Or in other words if I don’t take it for some time will it go back to being as effective? If so does anyone have any idea on how long a time it takes? I worry because it does do the job and I don't wont this to happen.

I believe Tramadol has addictive potential. I used to see patients forge Rxs for it, and consume huge amounts. But it is not a controlled substance by the FDA.

It IS difficult to come off, esp high doses, for long periods of time.
One should taper down when this happens, when you need to discontinue.

We are finding that all drugs that sit on neurotransmitter receptors do this. The body notices that the sites are filled and makes more receptors so pain can be felt again. This is some survival mechanism. Opiates do this, and since tramadol sits on mu receptors it does too. Tramadol also affects serotonin receptors to some extent too. SSRI drugs also do this to receptors, and require tapers. Even things like Neurontin/Lyrica an require tapers. The age of neurotransmitter manipulation is still new with Big Pharma...and unfortunately many patients have suffered because of this factor.

This is why I reserve it for occasional use for myself. I've seen the the Good, Bad and the Ugly of this drug. But for nerve pain, I think it is better than opiates overall.

I use topical agents, Lidoderm, or Salonpas, magnets, for much of my foot pain, and only use the Tramadol when more than my feet are awful (severe weather changes, and overuse issues, mostly).

It is each person's decision on how to deal with this factor. Some use it well, for long periods, and others may become habituated to it or need ever increasing doses.

My DH used it within rx limits for many years. He said recently it didn't kill the pain anymore, and stopped using it. I took one of his once. In about 20 minutes, geez, I felt good! I also didn't get any sleep that night. No more for me either.

Hi, I used Tramadol [ER] 300 mg x twice a day for a number of years, it did work well for me, at times I did think it was loosing its effectiveness so I would just drop down to 200 mg x 2 times a day for a short term then back up to the original dose and it worked fine again.

I just posted about this on the other thread. This was the reason why my pain doctor long term did not like this med because he said I would end up needing more of it. Also I think my brain would become more sensitive to pain. I am not sure if it was this med or vicodin or both.

Thanks for the information everyone!

Sometimes I go months without taking it. But then I do take it twice daily at 100mg a dose for 2 weeks or so. I believe I'm building up a tolerance to it's effectiveness. Honestly it works much better than anything else including Lyrica, Cymbalta and Neurontin. I would just take it daily if I could but it does loose its effectiveness and then what would I do? :eek: Nothing else works and I’ve tried many of the opiates as well.

If I stop for a month or so will it once again work as well as it did. Any thoughts or experiences with doing this?

I don't know if two weeks is enough to set up a tolerance or not.

I do know that when I took my first tablet, of 50mg, I hallucinated all night, and didn't sleep at all.

Then I used 25mg a night here and there, for about 7 doses. I then bumped up to 50mg and no more weird mental effects. But sometimes it does interfere with my sleep. But the next day I feel so much better...it is like it lasts the whole next day for me too. I don't even take it once a week. But I have found bursts of 3 days in a row very good for major pain issues. (mostly arthritis, and some foot burning). It works really well for the burning. Less well for deep intense pain. And it worked pretty well when I had my root canal last year.

Thanks mrsD. Pretty much the same with it's effectiveness for me too. It’s the only drug I’ve found to help with the burning. But I’m really careful with it because it makes me feel so good I want to take it every day. Much more energy, better mood, more talkative and less sleep is needed. I don’t remember it working so well while one Cymbalta or Gabapentin so I think it works better in conjunction with Lyrica. I wish I didn’t need such a large dose though. What’s the prescribed limit for Tramadol?

Tramadol's suggested Rx limit is 400mg/day.
I was taking that amount for about 6-7 years,
but tapered off 25% and now only take it 3x day
(100mg) with my Lyrica (200mg- 3x/day).
It has worked for me, for years.

I just bought some ULTRACET for break through pain. In asia i have to self med although Im very responsible and titrate responsibly usually low dose to medium dose any way i hate meds :mad: but hate pain more ;)

its 37.5mg tramadol (HCI) and 325mg paracetamol

any thoughts on the mix appreciated