opioids

Shut up bitch, but please pass the sugar.

Treat yourself.

Have another.

will you come over to my house and warm up my bones?

It is up to you, how you use them.

i don't want to abuse them. i want them to help me.

I don’t want to become a junkie.

Tramadol is not that intense. They are not the hardcore opioids - like oxy, percocet, etc. The majority of people use them as needed and move on with their life. Be grateful your doctor prescribed them. Nowadays you could have a leg amputated and doctors are too scared to prescribe painkillers because some hillbillies in West Virginia got hooked on them when they were giving them out like candy 10-15 years ago.

Tramadol is a Schedule IV opiate, and was added in 2014. It’s perhaps better known under the trade name Ultram, and frequently prescripted for moderate pain.

There are potential side effects, many of which are serious and some include the potential for self harm. Oddly, I’ve had doctors prescribe this with migraine drugs even though there’s a blackbox warning expressly against combination with triptans (Maxalt, Zomig, Imitrix).

These days, you need a spreadsheet to track your prescriptions, side effects and the blackbox warnings. But, if you are taking this drug - don’t immediately stop taking it if you’ve been on it. This is one of the drugs for which titration is requied, like steroids: a gradual reduction in dosage over time to reduce the risks and impacts.

Tramadol is nothing. A very weak opioid.

fuck you!

The more you take, the more constipated you'll get.

Tell me about it! I had to move a turd out crossways today.

I have severe back pain that causes pain in my legs so bad that I'm on disability and only leave my house for doctor appointments. I can't even get into my shower with out a health aid. My doctor gave me 5 mg. oxycodne. I took it with breakfast as the label said, "Take with food." I got so sick after just taking one, which btw, didn't do all that much for my pain, I was throwing up, dizzy, and most frighting shivering so bad my teeth were chattering. My temperature went down to 94.3. I thought I was dying. I had no health aid with me. I was alone and didn't know if I should call 911 or what. I didn't want to spend the entire day and maybe night in the ER if I didn't have to. What scared me most was the low temp. I Googled and read anything lower than 96 is dangerous.

Anyway, I piled on blankets and just waited. After about 3 hours I started to warm up a little and the dizziness and nausea got about 50% better and by nighttime I was back to normal.

I've since asked every doctor I see, including the pain management doctor who prescribed the oxy to me. None of them ever heard of Oxy lowering body temperature like that. They said it might happen if someone took it for a long time and then went cold turkey but never someone taking one 5 mg pill for the first time.

Needless to say I won't be taking any narcotic again. So I feel so hopeless. There is no help for my pain at all. Surgery isn't an option.

Has anyone else had that kind of experience with Oxycodone?

I haven't had oxycodone, so I can't comment. I was given Darvocet after a fracture. It knocked me all the way out, which I don't like, so I took as little as possible. After orthopedic surgery, I was prescribed Norco, which includes hydrocodone. Again, I took as little as possible as I don't like that dazed or knocked out sensation. I've been given Tramadol in the past and loved it. It takes the edge off the pain without knocking me out. Unfortunately, r9 has it right. Because of the opioid epidemic, some doctors are too hesitant to prescribe it, even though I have multiple, well-documented ailments that cause pain.

Is swinging from one extreme to another an American trait, or are people like this around the world? I long for a happy medium.

[quote] I long for a happy medium.

Americans love the extremes. That's why get either total sensory deprivation (with possible addiction) OR screaming in agony while the advice nurse tells you to take two ibuprofen. Don't forget that you can always try to pray through the pain.

Oxycontin and Tramadol have similar histories. I recall when Oxycontin was released; drug reps were hawking the drug as safe, and doctors started prescribing it as a maintenance, rather than as needed drug for pain. Tramadol was similarly marketed as safe for diabetic neuropathy. Initially, doctors were writing prescriptions to be taken three times daily, every day. Now we know better, although tramadol is considered Oxycontin-lite.

R13, I'm sorry for your Serious pain and suffering. I've been on Pain management and various procedures and therapies of one kind or another since a doctor fucked up a surgery a year and a half ago.

First of all, don't completely give up on opiates. How you respond to one means absolutely nothing to how you will fell on another. I am horribly allergic to Dilaudid ( though it provides pain relief), but do well on many of the other narcotics available.

I admit I know a very little about the treatment of Arthritis. However, I would like to recommend an option that I have recently investigated for myself: ketamine. Formerly used for decades as an anesthetic ( and yes party drug) Ketamine has now gained notariety in the last 5- 10 years in tge treatment of unresolvable Depression and Pain conditions. One goes to a clinic and receives infusions for about 4 hrs over 3- 4 days. For those for whom it works, patients report a comolete "reset" of the body"s pain pathways to "0". Similarly, for Depression, the success can be just as miraculous.

Drawbacks are, as it is a rather "new" treatment, insurances do not cover, and a treatment estimate might be $800.00 (+). Also, as I intimated above, the treatment doesNOT work for everyone and response seems to be in the 50%-60% range. I personally have reached the point in my journey that I am SICK of opiates, and no longer want to live this way.

Good luck to you and all other pain patients. It is hell.

I'm sorry you're in pain, r13, and that reaction to Oxy sounds terrifying.

I have read, over and over, that Oxy is only supposed to be used for acute pain, not chronic pain. If you get shot or break a bone or get stabbed and rushed to the hospital, opiates are the perfect thing to block those pain receptor signals and keep you comfortably numb for a few days until the bones are reset and the wounds are cleaned and sewn up and the casts are on. But long term? No.

It is probably for the best that you didn't take a liking to it because the people who take it and other opiates for chronic pain become addicted to it and then it hijacks their pain response to make them feel agonizing pain if they STOP taking the opiates. They'll fight for the right to keep taking it for their chronic pain but the reality is that most of the pain is withdrawal symptoms.

I would read up on Ketamine for chronic pain as r17 suggests. Best of luck.

R13: I do a lot of pain management in my practice (family medicine, not specifically a pain specialist)--mainly because I'm one of the few, these days, who isn't afraid to prescribe opiates/opioids, if there is sound medical justification--and I'm with your physicians: I've never had a patient report oxycodone lowers their body temperature. It can cause rigor--i.e., the chills--but due to fever, which is a known possible adverse reaction.

It sounds like you are an ideal candidate for chronic opioid therapy for pain management, so I wouldn't give up, yet. If you're willing to "risk it," I would recommend trying to take 1/2 or even 1/4 of a pill to start: 5 mg certainly isn't a large dose (immediate release oxycodone [Roxicodone] comes in 5, 10, 15, 20 & 30 mg formulations and the combination of oxycodone & acetaminophen [Percocet] comes in 2.5, 5, 7.5 and 10 mg of oxycodone + 325 mg of acetaminophen) and the general dosing parameters for 5 mg would be 1 or 2 tablets every 4 to 6 hours for acute pain, possibly a little less for chronic pain at the initiation of therapy (e.g., 1 tab. every 6-8 hours). You are well within therapeutic range, obviously, but some people just have a sensitivity to opioids (what many people call an "allergy" to certain drugs is really just a sensitivity: you're experiencing known adverse reactions--for opioids, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, sedation, et al--to the medication, but perhaps in a more pronounced way; unless you're breaking out in hives, have a rash, swelling, etc., or go into anaphylaxis, it's not really an allergy/hypersensitive reaction). Perhaps if you start with a smaller dose, and space the doses out further--if it's prescribed every 4 hours, go to every 6-8 hours--you will give your body more time to adjust to the medication and any adverse reactions will hopefully be minimized or eliminated.

Alternatively, as R17 pointed out, even if you experience adverse reactions to oxycodone does not mean you will experience the same with every opioid. For example, opioids are semi-synthetic drugs; they are synthesized from codeine, morphine, thebaine, etc. Oxycodone, specifically, is synthesized from the opium alkaloid thebaine, so it tends to have a little more stimulating/uplifting euphoria compared to other opioids. A different I.R. opioid option, hydrocodone, is synthesized from codeine, so you may tolerate it better than oxycodone; and hydromorphone (Dilaudid) is synthesized from morphine, which is, likewise, yet another option that you may tolerate better than oxycodone. Opposite opioids, opiates are direct derivatives of opium: morphine, codeine & heroin (diacetylmorphine) [though codeine is a prodrug: it doesn't really have pharmacologic activity itself, its effects come from being metabolized into morphine in the liver, so generally, if you can tolerate morphine, you can tolerate codeine and vice versa] and as such, you may tolerate an opiate better than an opioid. All that to say: if you decide to not try a smaller dose of the oxycodone, or if you do and still experience adverse reactions which preclude its continued use, it's not the end of the road: tell your pain specialist the side effects you experienced and ask if there is an alternative (but never ask for a specific controlled substance, particularly opiates/opioids, by name, as it's seen as aberrant drug-seeking behavior). Good luck.

R13 could be you're a "poor metabolizer" for opioids. Meaning that you have two non-functional alleles for CYP2D6, which is one of the main liver enzymes that helps break down and metabolize drugs like oxycodone. But that probably wouldn't be enough...maybe you are also taking other drugs that are CYP3A inhibitors as well and the combined effects caused your AE. Good luck.

They’re not too bad. They’re lightweight pain killers.

In Mexico you can get Tramadol at any Farmacia without a prescription, over the counter.

I must be a weirdo because I was given Oxycontin recently when I had a perforated bowel and was in hospital and i didn't like it and wouldn't have it again. I would specifically request something different.

Are opioids the absolute only form of strong painkillers that humanity has invented? Is there nothing else. Nothing at all?

Opioids work on me the few times I’ve had them - appendectomy and gallbladder surgery. I had severe nerve pain and the doctor refused to give them to me. I suffered without sleep for days. Finally got 5 or 6 - which allowed me to get sleep and my nerves to get slightly better. It’s all I needed - but it’s ridiculous that no doctor would give it to me even after I said I was in intense pain and not sleeping for days. Need to stop the insanity of forcing people to live in pain - so that a few people won’t get hooked. And if it’s ONE friggin prescription.

No, r23, there's acetaminophen (Tylenol). And NSAIDs, like aspirin, ibuprofen and naproxen. For rx, I've been put on Gabapentin and found it helpful. I was also given an old-school anti-depressant (can't remember the name right now) that helped with pain management. It doesn't stop the pain; it just makes it easier to tolerate.

R25: Likely amitriptyline/Elavil, a tricyclic antidepressant, which is used off-labeled for several types of pain.

Why does a part of me think there's a financial incentive by insurance companies to place limits on how and if a Dr should prescribe anything? If you need an opioid, just take what is prescribed. If you have a bad reaction, then your dr can revise your meds. However, most drs are bound by what is or isn't covered and if they'll lose their license if they do prescribe it. ( I'm having a hell of a time with my Psych.). Why should those with a legitimate condition hesitate to take an opioid just because someone else abused it?

Tramadol is over the counter in many countries. Don't worry about it

thanks r28. i need tramadol for my psoriatic arthritis pain.

I use it for osteoarthritis, OP. I don't use it regularly, though, just when it gets bad. I don't find it takes away the pain completely, it just dulls it so it's more tolerable. I can't take it that regularly because it fucks up my stomach if I take too much.

i like to pop one and lie on my couch and finger my shit box.

Let us know when you move onto the good stuff.

there ain't gonna be no "good stuff". my ass is not gonna move up the opioid ladder unless absolutely necessary. tramadol or nothin'.