Just got my refill of Tramadol. Now it reads: WARNING! Opioid!

[Coventina]

And to think I used to give them by the handful to my 50 lb. dog and it was no big deal.

Now it's like it's heroin or something.

I'm so sick of this opioid hysteria.




On edit: I see now that Tramadol is an opioid. Still, tired of the hysteria over it.

[unblock]

1. In what way is it not an opioid?

It may be tame relative to others we hear about, but it's not lying to say it's an opioid.

[Coventina]

3. it's synthetic. There's no opium in it at all. n/t

[Recursion]

5. That means it's not an opiate. Opioids include synthetics and semi-synthetics (nt)

[tblue37]

70. Fentanyl is also a synthetic opioid. nt

[Eliot Rosewater]

77. That it is synthetic by itself means little, but tramadol is BARELY a narcotic

or opioid.

The reaction to painkillers is gonna sentence many of us to lifetimes of severe pain with no relief, many will just kill themselves.

[Crunchy Frog]

88. Maybe this country could go back to The Good Old Days.

One of the treatments for severe, chronic, intractable pain used to be frontal lobotomy.

Effective, and no evil narcs. Perhaps the old ways are the best.

[WhiteTara]

101. It is truly a worthless drug.

[pnwmom]

56. When it first came out it was marketed as non-addictive. I told a doctor post-surgery

I didn't want an opioid because I don't like feeling loopy, and he prescribed Tramadol. And he was right, it didn't make me feel disconnected and fuzzy.

At some point down the road they changed their minds about whether it was addictive or not.

This is from 2013:

https://www.medpagetoday.com/painmanagement/painmanagement/43554

Now, after 18 years of less restrictive treatment, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has proposed putting tramadol under the Controlled Substances Act. While that has not been done on the federal level, 10 states already have done so on their own.

SNIP

Morgan Liscinsky, a spokeswoman for the FDA, said she could not comment on the agency's decision-making process that led to the drug's approval as a noncontrolled substance. As tramadol's public health and abuse risks became more fully recognized, the FDA now has recommended making it a controlled substance, she said.

Liscinsky noted that, at the time, the FDA's advisory committee unanimously said the drug should not be put under the Controlled Substances Act.

[jberryhill]

2. It does bind to opioid receptors

How are you defining "opioid"?

[Coventina]

4. something actually made from opium. n/t

[jberryhill]

9. Uh, no

Typically, things made from opium are called "opiates".

Synthetic chemicals which have the same mechanism of action are called "opioids".

However, it has very recently become common to refer to both natural and synthetic opioid receptor agents as "opioids".

E.g. Codeine is an opiate. Oxycodone is an opioid. They have the same mechanism of action, but the former is made from opium while the latter is not.

[Coventina]

11. OK thanks, I was not aware of that distinction. All I every heard/read in the media was

"Opioid".

[jberryhill]

13. Yah, that's sort of taken over as the all-purpose term

I'm still mystified as to why anyone thought the synthetics were preferable or desirable for any therapeutic reason.

[peekaloo]

19. Thanks. I posted below before reading this response.

[Aristus]

23. The "-oid" in opioid is a Greek suffix meaning resembling or bearing the properties of.

Tramadol is an opioid that bears the properties of opiate medications and binds to the same cellular receptors. This means it has the same side effects of opiate medications; addiction, tolerance, constipation, and respiratory depression.

You want to see hysteria? You should see the drug-seekers who come in to my clinic when I tell them I'm not going to prescribe their favorite recreational substance for them.

[mr_lebowski]

29. Tramadol I believe is not technically an 'opioid', but does bind to opioid receptors in the brain

You're a doc, I'd imagine you know this ... there is more to being a opioid than receptor binding, there's a molecular framework involved in the class of chemicals known as opioids, and tramadol doesn't meet that definition. It does bear the properties EFFECT-wise, of course, but not strictly an opioid. Kinda like ambien isn't a benzodiazepine.

[Aristus]

32. In my day-to-day practice as a Physician Assistant,

my prime concern when it comes to medications is their effect on the patient, for good or ill. From a practical standpoint, Tramadol acts like any other opiate or opioid; it relieves severe pain, with the side effects of addiction and tolerance with prolonged use. These effects are germaine to their restricted use at the clinical level.

[mr_lebowski]

36. Fair enough ... I'm just saying ... chemically-speaking, it's more of a pseudo-opioid.

Opioids, chemically speaking, have a certain defined (though somewhat general) chemical structure, and tramadol doesn't meet the criteria. Even though it has a similar modus-operandi.

As it turns out, it also happens to have anti-depressant (similar to SSRI's) qualities.

Not saying caution is not called for in fact many people get hooked on it, esp. recovering addicts from stronger opioids. It's got quite nasty withdrawals if abused, and it's actually more dangerous to abuse than something like oxycontin, because large doses can cause seizures, and there's no 'tolerance' to that effect of the drug. I've known some people who've had a HELL of time getting off that crap, and people who've had seizures. They were taking like 15-20 tablets/day though.

[Crunchy Frog]

49. I think you're right about that.

For years it was not classified as an opioid, and was not a scheduled substance. They only changed that pretty recently.

In a recent, highly publicized study comparing opioid and non opioid pain relievers, people in the non opioid group were actually given tramadol. So it's not as clear cut as some here are trying to make it.

[moriah]

41. Maybe that's why docs have always thrown narcs at me when I've...

... actually needed them.

I have fibromyalgia, ulnar nerve pain, osteoarthritis, etc. For me and my daily pain, attacking it from multiple angles works the best. I see a psychiatrist who keeps my mood not a factor for my regular doc (Bipolar I, we don't make adjustments to my physical meds unless I'm euthymic, so Prozac is in the mix but controlled by the shrink). My GP prescribes celexicob, tizanidine, and Lyrica -- treating inflammation, muscle issues, and nerve pain. With those three and my mood under control, I have no need for anything narcotic, even as little mu-receptor agonism as Tramadol. When I change doctors, they see no regular narcotics and a pt trying to hit their issues with other modalities working together.

Then, should I come in with one bluish/purple cankle I can put weight on but obviously don't enjoy doing it...

Well, I'll say I've never been told to just take some extra Tylenol.

[smirkymonkey]

80. I am allergic to opiates (percocet, oxycontin, codeine, etc.) so when I broke my arm they

prescribed Tramadol for me (after a horrible reaction to opiates). It didn't cause the same allergic reactions, but it didn't help much and made me feel a little queasy. I found ice packs to be a much better pain reliever. I certainly didn't have any desire to take it recreationally.

[peekaloo]

16. showing my ignorance

but I thought the whole concept behind Tramadol was to steer away from opioids? A mimic of sorts. So by binding to these receptors they are in fact an opioid?

I took them briefly a few years ago and had the wildest dreams on the prescribed dosage so I cut back. They never really took away my pain just overrode it with euphoria.

[blue neen]

6. Tramadol is an addictive drug,

no matter how you classify it.

[Coventina]

17. Never been an issue for me: I've never needed an increase of dosage.

I've even stopped taking it from time to time with no issues.

[blueinredohio]

24. My doctor gave me a few for back pain didn't help one bit

[Johnny2X2X]

42. Anecdotal

Thanks for the anecdote, glad for you that you don't have problems with Tramadol. But Tramadol is in fact an opioid that is addictive and can cause some issues.

This is an epidemic and Tramadol is a part of that epidemic, I'm glad to see they are starting to control these drugs better.

[Laffy Kat]

51. I've taken it for years, too, and have never had to increase it.

I take less than the prescribed dose and it's still effective. It surprises me that it's considered addictive because I often forget to take it. I don't feel "high" when I take it, it just relieves the pain and stiffness of my diffuse OA. It also helps keep my IBS in check, probably because it's a mild sedative, although I also don't feel sedated.

[TheFrenchRazor]

72. word; i just roll my eyes when someone breathlessly informs us that X is "addictive." really? what e

exactly is their point? that a person should literally throw what remains of their life away, rather than be "addicted" to meds? if they would like to make that choice for themselves, let them, but they should really mind their own business when it comes to other people's lives and medical decisions.

[blue neen]

93. Many people are under the impression that Tramadol is a benign little pill

that won't harm you any way. Patients need to be made aware that this medication is physically addictive, in other words to stop taking it suddenly would cause the patient to have withdrawal symptoms.

That does not mean that there isn't a need for Tramadol and other pain medicines. There is, and the need is real. Citizens of this country who need pain medication on a regular basis are having to jump through hoops, and more, to get them.

I worked as a pharmacy tech and saw quite a number of people get accidentally hooked on Tramadol. They didn't need it anymore for pain, post-surgery, but were having a hard time stopping the medication. Patients just need to understand that taking Tramadol on a daily basis is not the same as taking Tylenol. If someone has been taking Tramadol for awhile and wants to stop, they should wean off of it.

That's all.

[Crunchy Frog]

96. Part of the reason for withdrawls is that it also acts as an SNRI.

I get horrible and prolonged withdrawls whenever I go off of an SSRI or SNRI. Doesn't mean I'm addicted, as a physical dependency is not the same thing as addiction.

The conflation of the two is a real difficulty in this discussion.

[Laffy Kat]

98. Yes, that's why HC providers have you titrate down when you go off SSRIs.

It's bad for your body to quit psycho-therapeutic agents cold turkey. You can actually have seizures. It would be the same with tramadol. I guess I take such a small dose, it doesn't bother me when I forget to take mine. I just start to feel stiff and sore from the OA. I've taken opiates for pain for a couple of weeks on occasion and was always happy when I could switch back to an OTC. Maybe that's just me.

[Crunchy Frog]

99. I always wean down extremely slowly, and still get very bad effects.

Plus, they really don't work for me anyway.

I've only ever been prescribed very short courses of opioids, and not very many times. I'm fine with that, unless it's an occasion when I really need them, and can't get them, i.e., kidney stone.

[Mariana]

85. The overwhelming majority of people

who are prescribed opioids, even long-term, use them properly and do not become addicted. Just like most people who drink alcohol don't become alcoholics.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

7. Opioids bind to opioid receptors, which is what Tramadol does. Why so mad?

[Coventina]

12. I'm sick of this hysteria over "opiods".

I've been taking Tramadol for YEARS for my arthritis.

Now all of a sudden I have to have random drug tests, like I'm some kind of junkie.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

21. Okay, so the drug tests are the issue, not the labeling.

Pretty sure your doc doesn't think you're a junkie. You're simply at higher risk than the general population for prescription drug OD or abuse, and some research indicates doctors make incorrect assumptions about who's at risk for abuse/misuse and who's not. Separating moral judgment from behavior will help you not take it personally when you're tested.

[Coventina]

22. No, the tests are government mandated. My doctor said she has to give them.

She said it was completely ridiculous.

[Anon-C]

38. What are you being tested for, opiods?

I knew this crisis would result in payments to drug testing labs.

[jmowreader]

46. Weed, mostly

It’s pretty stupid, but the DEA in its infinite wisdom has decided if you show positive for any illegal drug you can’t have any opioids.

[Anon-C]

47. If MMJ was legal where you are and it did not impact your employment would you use it?

[jmowreader]

66. Sure, if I needed pain meds, but that's not the issue

Sometimes I think, from reading DU's defense of cannabis, that it's a dessert topping and a floor wax. It's good, but not that good.

MMJ isn't going to completely replace opioids. For the people who NEED opioids to solve their pain problem because nothing else will do, and there are many, THC metabolites in their urine are a huge problem.

[RobinA]

48. Ya Know,

they need to start hiring some people with history in the drug culture for these jobs rather than people without a clue. The policy might make more sense.

[Recursion]

8. It's technically an opioid but it's one of the safer ones

It makes you sick faster than it gets you high, so it's not really abused much

[moriah]

10. Don't worry, the antidote to opiate poisoning is an "opioid" too.

I admit Tramadol might as well have been placebo when it was what I tapered to after starting off on percs after ankle ligament repair surgery (they had to drill a hole in my bone to anchor the ligament through, though fortunately no screws -- it's perfectly fine now, in fact hurts far less than it used to even when it wasn't officially sprained, particularly after hiking). But I was dealing with both high-intensity pain while the bone healed, and high-intensity pain relievers then.

It might do something for me now, and might have helped keep me from rebound opiate craving vs just going straight to Celebrex only (had been taking Celebrex before surgery), but I noticed no pain reduction with it.

[unblock]

14. for clarification, the "-oid" suffix means "like" or "resembling".

so "opioid" is entirely accurate for something that's synthetic but acts like an opiate.

an "opiate" comes from actual opium, so *that* term wouldn't apply to a synthetic.

but "opioid" is accurate for tramadol.

[Coventina]

15. Yes, it was explained to me upthread. My ignorance, now I know. n/t

[mr_lebowski]

34. Actually there's more to the chemical definition of 'opioid' ...

It's not just 'acts like an opiate'.

Chemically-speaking, tramadol is not an opioid. More like a pseudo-opioid.

Even though it 'acts like one' by binding to the body's opioid receptors.

There's actually very few actual 'synthetic' opioids, demerol and fentanyl are two examples. The vast majority are semi-synthetic and are in fact derived from products of the opium poppy, either morphine, codeine, or thebaine.

[unblock]

37. back to my original question, then: in what way is it not an opioid?

i'm sure there are more precise definitions, but everything i've found says it's an opioid.

and what's a "pseudo-opioid"?

[mr_lebowski]

39. I'm making up 'pseudo-opioid' but as I've said elsewhere, there's defined structures to an 'opioid'

molecule, and tramadol doesn't meet that definition, even though it 'works' in similar fashion to opioid drugs in the body.

'Opioid', chemically-speaking, doesn't just mean 'stimulates the bodies opioid receptors like an opiate would'.

Now, it's true 'everyone's calling it an opioid' NOW, but they're using the more 'clinical' definition that you refer to ... 'having effects like an opiate', but strictly chemically-speaking, it's not the right structure.

Even the true synthetics like demerol and fentanyl have a structure that's quite similar to a true opiate like morphine, but tramadol actually doesn't.

In fact when it was invented, it took a bit for scientists to figure out WHY it worked to block pain. It was actually unexpected that would work like an opiate due to it's different chemical structure.

[unblock]

45. thanks. can you point me to the chemical definition?

everything i google is way too heavy with the clinical definition.

interestingly, it suggested there that the modern usage is to lump even proper opiates in to the term "opioid", which is now a more general term covering both synthetics and natural drugs that ping the opioid receptors.

for what it's worth, i think a clinical definition suits this particular discussion better, but i'm nevertheless curious about the chemical definition now....

[HopeAgain]

18. I can't see why that labeling would be a bad thing.

If people have a history of addiction, they need to know that before they make the choice of taking it.

[moriah]

25. Theoretically, dude writing the script should have clarified that....

... but speaking from the experience of one apparently perceived as too "goody-goody" to be a diversion/addiction risk even as a college student, they don't always think before writing.

Glad I wasn't the type to underestimate the power of what they were giving me, and also glad that while T3s and Tramadol might as well be placebos now because of so much exposure to "the good stuff" after injuries, hydrocodone makes me itch and oxycodone makes me randomly puke w/o warning. Both are self-limiting in how long I'll put up with such inconveniences even when I'm hurting.

[HopeAgain]

28. I have found that to be highly theoretical

Many physicians prescribing pain meds haven't got a clue about addiction or addicting meds. I asked a physical and rehabilitation medicine doc to prescribe a non-narcotic after I hurt my neck in a car accident, and he came back with a prescription for hydrocodone (Roxy) 15 mg. I guess he thought it was okay because it wasn't the 30 mg. tablets

[moriah]

35. Either he's crazy or your neck musta been hella fubared, or both.

If he truly thought you needed a narcotic to get through PT, he should have at least offered a mixed agonist/antagonist or something less likely to set off old addictions, and explained why.

Or written Mobic or something like it, as you requested, and waited for you to come back for something stronger.

[redwitch]

20. Took it once. Made me very nauseous.

But it did kill the pain.

[Tipperary]

26. Opioid hysteria? People are dying from these drugs.

[Crunchy Frog]

50. People are dying from a lot of things.

A helluva lot more people are dying from alcohol, but no hysteria there.

[Act_of_Reparation]

55. Do doctors write scripts for Jack Daniels?

No? Well, okay then.

[Crunchy Frog]

59. No need to when anyone over 21 can walk into a liquor store

And buy as much as they want right off the shelf.

The majority of opioid deaths are not caused by people taking medication prescribed for them, but street heroin and illicit fentanyl analogs, or abuse of other people's prescriptions, usually combined with other substances.

These fatalities have been increasing dramatically, even while opioid prescribing has been declining since 2012.

So why no hysteria over all the deaths from both alcohol and tobacco? They don't even have a medical function.

[Act_of_Reparation]

62. Irrelevant.

This isn't about deaths. People die. There's no stopping it. If one thing doesn't get us, something else will.

It's about patient trust and medical ethics. If, as it is alleged, lax prescribing standards led to widespread unwitting opioid dependency in trusting patients, the government's reaction to which drove them towards illicit drugs, then that is a problem that needs correcting.

No one buys cigarettes or alcohol because they were given the impression by a medical authority that they are legitimate treatments for a medical problem.

[TheFrenchRazor]

71. your premise is wrong. newsflash: people have ALWAYS used, and sought to use mind/body altering

drugs, since the beginning of human consciousness. no one is being "lured" into using and abusing opiates; drug use has always gone through phases due to whatever is currently fashionable or available. as other posters have noted, what is killing people is not a couple tramadol a day; it is the illegal, mystery-meat drugs they get on the street. and 99% of those people with rather use legal, regulated drugs, but hysterics like you prevent them from doing this.

[Act_of_Reparation]

100. If you can't be bothered to follow a simple train of thought...

...then at least spare us your sanctimonious codswallop.

I'm not talking about illicit drugs or making suggestions as to how the government should deal with them. I'm talking about the marketing tactics of pharmaceutical companies and the prescribing practices of medical professionals, specifically the ethics of prescribing medications with high potential for addiction.

Now, I hate to interrupt your self-congratulatory display of righteous outrage, but seeing as 74% of current opioid abusers initially received their drugs from a clinician, and that many users of illicit opioids began using in response to decreased availability of prescription opioids, some discussion of how opioids are prescribed might be, I dunno, fucking merited.

[Tipperary]

57. You do not think that this addiction crisis needs attention?

[Crunchy Frog]

60. I don't like the way they're going about it

And I don't think the current approach is going to solve the problem, and I do think that it's already having unforeseen negative consequences, and the situation will continue to worsen.

Suicide rates for chronic pain patients are already increasing, and even some terminal cancer patients are suffering from severely undertreated pain.

I admit that I have my own biases on this issue, stemming from my own experience with untreated kidney stone pain.

[Ms. Toad]

92. Agreed.

And see my response below regarding my spouse's kidney stone pain.

That specific condition (very short term, easily identifiable, and often chronic) is a perfect example of the hysterical response.

It now costs us an ER copay (not to mention the inappropriate waste of ER resources) becasue that is the only way to obtain a narcotic prescription on a timely basis when the next kidney stone attack comes. That, or just live with the excruciating pain, since the urologist is now booked a month out because of all of the additional visits for patients who must see him in person to obtain pain relief (rather than having him call in enough pills to make it through the attack).

[TheFrenchRazor]

75. education, and legally available, regulated drugs. the PROHIBITION is killing people. nt

[Ms. Toad]

91. Yes. Opioid hysteria.

When the concern about abuse (1) requires people to live with pain (scientifically proven to impair healing), and (2) costs people who need narcotic pain relief time and money not for treatment- but to prevent abuse without any specific connection to the person bearing the costs - yes, it is hysteria.

My spouse regularly had kidney stones (about once every 6-12 months). In the past, she would calll the doctor and let him know that she needed pain relief to see if she could pass the stone. He would make an appointment with her for two weeks out, call a small prescription of tylenol with codeine in to the pharmacy, and with any luck) she would pass the stone and that would be the end of it.

Now, appointments are a month out because any prescription for an opiate or opioid requires an actual visit, so his office visit slots are taken by people who only need to see him for pain relief medication. So my spouse has the choice between (1) paying out of pocket for an ER visit, needed only because a prescription for pain meds cannot be called in (there is generally nothing the ER can actually do for the kidney stone - so not only is it costly to our family, it is a waste of resources) OR (2) living with excruciating pain until the stone passes.

Yes, people are dying from these drugs - but it is a hysterical response when the time and cost involved in controlling the addiction problem fall on people who are appropriately using narcotics to control pain - not the ones abusing the medications.

[Crunchy Frog]

97. I can't and won't ever again go to the ER for a kidney stone

Should I get another one. I literally got stuck in a cubicle and left screaming in pain for around 3 hours, with only someone stepping in once in awhile to tell me to STFU, or that my call bell was no longer being responded to, or just to smugly tell me that it would be a loooong time before I would get anything for the pain.

I only got any attention once I was able to get my mother in to advocate for me. At that point the stone shifted on its own, and my pain level went down dramatically, but they generously gave me 10 mg of hydrocodone, and sent me away with a prescription for high dose ibuprofen, which did nothing.

It took 8 weeks for the stone to pass, but it was two weeks before I could extract a tiny hydrocodone script from my regular doctor, but not before she threw a tantrum and accused me of being a drug seeker.

I now have access to actual opium, and will self treat if I get another stone, or any other really severe pain.

I pretty much learned from the experience that I can expect absolutely nothing from the local medical establishment and that if I ever want pain management, I'll have to take full personal responsibility for it, which I will not hesitate to do.

Sorry for the rant. I'm glad that at least your spouse is able to at least get actual pain management from the ER.

[Bradshaw3]

27. That stuff is awful

I took it for one day after being prescribed following a fall. Quit after that. Made me feel terrible and didn't do anything for the pain.

As for the supposed "hysteria" over opiods, perhaps the rapid increase in deaths (over 40,000 in 2016) due to them have something to do with the trend:
https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2018/p0329-drug-overdose-deaths.html

[Tipperary]

31. Yes indeed. Stuff made me sick as a dog. The op is perhaps not acquainted with the rise in deaths

due to these drugs.

[Crunchy Frog]

61. Funny how the deaths are increasing

Just as opioid prescribing is becoming much more restrictive.

A majority of those deaths are actually from street heroin and illicit fentanyl.

[TheFrenchRazor]

69. word. lot of people here are clueless, both about pain and pain meds. nt

[Crunchy Frog]

86. Many of them will end up learning the hard way.

My attitude might be very different if I hadn't gone through the experience of untreated kidney stone pain.

That sort of experience is getting more and more likely in the current climate.

[Bradshaw3]

94. Read the link. That's not what the CDC found

I'm not sure where you got that info but deaths didn't start going up as prescriptions were becoming harder to get. Deaths were increasing as opiod prescriptions were increasing in the late 1990s, and then went up as users turned to heroin and fentanyl because they were cheaper and then later, due tighter control on opiod prescriptions.

That report was from 2016 which shows what happened then, which is a long time after the opiod crisis became acute and deaths started rapidly rising. The report says that it was "likely" that fentanyl contributed to a rise in deaths but they didn't have numbers on them. There were more heroin deaths than opiod prescription deaths, but again, that was after many had become addicited to pain killers and then switched. There is no disputing, however, that the original crisis and the rising overdose death rate began with over prescription of pain killers in the late 1990s.

Here is another link on the beginnings of the crisis:
https://www.drugabuse.gov/drugs-abuse/opioids/opioid-overdose-crisis

[Lint Head]

30. It's not fair to people with crippling arthritis who need

prescription pain medicine. No accommodations are made for people who are suffering. Hysteria is the right word. Laws and regulations have been passed, at least in my state, to control the amount of opioids and how often opioids can be prescribed to a patient. It seems the real problem is with family members who sneak into the medicine cabinet and steal opioids.
I think prescription medicines should not be advertised to Consumers. All that does is cause a person to go to the doctor and ask for that particular medication. The doctor should decide what the patient needs. Not a pharmaceutical company. The advertising should be done directly to doctors. Every time I go to a doctor's appointment there's always a legal drug pusher walking in with their briefcase and bringing lunch or some gift for the staff. Taking up your time with the physician when that time should be spent with the patient who has a scheduled appointment.

[Butterflylady]

33. I take tramadol 3 xs a day.

It is a schedule 4 drug with herion as a schedule 1 drug. There are 5 levels, so tramadol is near the bottom. Actually, I believe ambien is a schedule 4 drug, so I wouldn't be too concerned.

[librechik]

40. Dear Sir Tramadol is my hero! I'm allergic to opioids in general.

Tramadol has seen me through the last year of surgeries etc. But not much of an opioid, fer sher.

[TheFrenchRazor]

74. yep; it can literally be the difference between having a life and not having a life. the busy-bodie

busy-bodies here couldn't care less though; they know what's best for you.

[montanacowboy]

43. My Dog takes it

without that and Rimadyl he would not be able to walk at all

[LiberalArkie]

44. They probably stuck the wrong sticker on it. Did you have to hand carry a prescription

to the pharmacist and see the doctor to get prescription?

[FloridaBlues]

52. Tramadol changed status drug several yrs ago

[lovemydogs]

53. My Tramadol Horror Story with Opioid hysteria

I had been taking Tramadol and Mirapex for 15 years for severe restless legs. I have an attack everyday for most of the day and all night. This combo helped my legs.

In Feb. I fell on ice and twisted my leg and it set off my leg where my usual dose did not calm my leg down. So I took a pill extra for about a week.

I ran out early, called my dr. to tell him what happened.

They refused to call in my refill early and also canceled my Tramadol. Like I was some sort of opioid addict. I even asked for a new med then. No call back.

I felt insulted. I never abused my meds and once, just once I had an emergency and suddenly I'm treated like some raging addict.

In the meantime I was up pacing all night long unable to even sit down as my leg went crazy,

I changed drs. but, it would take a couple weeks but, once I saw her she put me on another med and ended up after finding the right dose pairing it with the Mirapex.

All in all I did not sleep except for an hour or so in the early morning for a month and half. I was a walking wreck and being driven insane on top of it by my legs.

[Petosky Stone]

54. You gave them to your dog?

By the handful?

[moriah]

58. I was assuming sarcasm, but yes, doggy Tramadol exists.

For one, most humans don't give meds they'd be upset about not getting to their pets.

But if the vet only carried the dose for a small dog, like a 5 mg pill, a 50 lb dog might require 4 at once.

[dsc]

63. My much smaller dog took it when he got old and arthritic

I gave him either 2 or 3 pills a day (he was under 20 lbs).

[LanternWaste]

64. You read things literally?

All the time?

It's a trap... Sunday school taught me that.

[Kaleva]

65. My elderly dog had a script for Tramadol and it was stolen once.

[Nevernose]

67. Tramadol's only been Scheduled for a couple of years

You could buy it, legally, by mail in every state except Nevada and Arkansas (the two states I or my family live in).

It can’t get most people high. That’s the whole point of it: a synthetic opioid that is non addictive. It was something that veterinarians could keep around, or mail home, without much risk of overdose or addiction. It also doesn’t work for many people, but doctors can’t prescribe pain meds that actually work anymore because a few assholes in Florida were running pill mills and Florida’s governor (who owned pill mills) let those doctors and pharmacies do whatever the fuck they wanted.

They helped people nationwide get hooked, and when their supply began drying up, the cartels were ready to step in with cheap, high quality, made in North America heroin. Now the shit can’t be stomped out and people actually suffering in agony can’t get effective treatment because so many doctors are afraid to get in trouble or actually buy into the DEA’s bullshit fear-mongering.

[Aristus]

68. I'm sorry. I'm afraid you have been misinformed, and as a result, are misinforming others.

Tramadol is addictive, which is why so many organizational cautions are attached to the prescribing of it.

Like all opiate and opioid medications, addiction is one of the most deleterious side effects of Tramadol, coupled with tolerance (needing to take more and more of the same medication in order to obtain the same effect as before), and as a result, is indicated in almost every clinical scenario for short-term use only.

It's easy to dismiss doctors and other health care providers (I'm a Physician Assistant) as being "afraid to get in trouble", especially if your intent is to blame the providers for both the epidemic and the remedy. But unfortunately, 'getting in trouble' doesn't mean getting called on the carpet, getting a wrist-slap, or getting hit with a reprimand. Trouble, for licensed medical professionals, means losing one's license to practice medicine. If we don't have our licenses, nothing much else matters when it comes to ensuring that our patients receive proper, high-quality medical care.

And the outcry against irresponsible prescribing isn't 'bullshit fear-mongering'; it's an understandable response to the huge rash of deadly opioid overdoses going on in this country. Medical professionals and laymen are free to disagree on almost anything they want, but preventing unnecessary deaths ought to be a mutual goal.

[Aristus]

78. All right then.

I don't know how to counter such a powerful, rational, reasoned and measured argument.

[Kaleva]

89. As a former foster parent who has seen first hand the effects drug abuse has on innocent children

I have little compassion towards supposedly mature adults who only care about their own situation and don't seem to care, given that they never talk about anyone but themselves, about newborns and toddlers who have been either directly or indirectly devastated, some of them permanently, by the opioid epidemic.

[mshasta]

79. wow !!

all that and more out your long carrier of being just the freaking assistant.

, my in laws right out of surgery got denied a stupid tramadol just because someone in freaking florida abuse Oxycontin , her doctor tell her take ibuprofen will take care your agony...

[Aristus]

81. You seem to be misinformed as to the medical role of the Physician Assistant.

We're not 'just the assistant'. We're fully-trained and licensed medical providers with prescriptive authority. We are required to follow the same prescription guidelines as MD's and ARNP's.

[kcr]

90. That's true. I also bet most of them

are professionals that don't go around pretending they're doctors on the internet.

[Aristus]

95. I'm sorry you feel that way. I've never pretended to be a doctor.

Not on the internet, not in real life. And certainly not in clinic. I always introduce myself to new patients as a Physician Assistant. Sometimes, patients forget and call me 'doctor'. I correct them, and ask them to call me by name. I think if you review the posts I've made in this thread, you will see that at no time did I refer to myself as a doctor. I referred to myself as a Physician Assistant, a medical provider, and a licensed medical professional. I'm all three.

Perhaps you took exception to my offering medical information you thought reserved exclusively to doctors. However, the information I imparted is used by doctors, Physician Assistants, and Nurse Practitioners in the practice of clinical medicine every single day.

[Nevernose]

102. I just decried irresponsible prescribing

It’s lead to hundreds of thousands of deaths just in the last few years, and millions of lives ruined.

But what the DEA does? It’s bullshit fear mongering.

[Kaleva]

87. A drug addict stole my dog's tramadol.

After he got clean, he told me tramadol is a pretty weak drug but when one is desperate, it will do.

[ret5hd]

76. Here's your new theme song!!!

[Akacia]

82. I have been taking Tramadol

for about 3 years now. It has been very helpful for my arthritis pain. It worked better than oxy or hydrocodone. I do have to drug test at my Dr`s office if they request it and signed a pain contract saying I would take it as prescribed and not drink or take any other drugs not prescribed by my primary provider. It has made my life much better than it was without it. For people with chronic pain not allowing them relief is just so wrong.

[dewsgirl]

83. When did Tramadol become a opioid? I know for a fact it, hasn't always been.

Last edited Mon Aug 13, 2018, 08:34 PM - Edit history (1)

[ileus]

84. I had to switch docs because my pa stopped Rxing opioids of any type.

My wife has had to field a bunch of patient complaints over her. Most all her patients have been moved over to other providers...fuck this silly assed "war"