Ultram

I take tramadol [generic Ultram]. It has worked well though not as well as initially. I have built a tolerance to it.

I was on it for 6 years 8 50 mg a day after a while it did nothing and the dr wouldn't give me any thing else and our insurance changed and he said it wasn't no good and he couldn't help me any more i just felt he took advange of the good insurance but also i filled for ssd at the same time .So i seeing a new dr.Deb

Hi. I take ultracet, which is a combination of tramadol and acetaminaphen. My rheumy swears that ultracet, because of the acetaminaphen, works better for most patients than tramadol alone. It works for me, although like others, I have built a tolerance to it so it doesn't work as well as it used to. With my other meds, though (enbrel and mtx), it's fine. You might want to ask your rheumy about it.

Elcamino

I used ultram for awhile. Didn't help much. It might be ok for a short stint, but for long term chronic pain it doesn't work so hot.

 Hi Fluffy {love the name!} & welcome to Healing Well.  It's great to have you & I hope you find much support here.  It's a wonderful group of folks.

True, many of our conditions we have here are autoimmune arthritic problems & diseases but we do have our share of osteo arthritis and degenerative conditions.

Ultram is typically used for mild pain...so if you feel as though you are not as comfortable as you would like or if for instance your pain level is above an unacceotable level to you...a stronger pain med, perhaps a narcotic might be helpful.

I would also like to add that most rheumatologist have a specific realm of meds that they are allowed by law to prescribe, so it is rare that a rheummy prescribes opioids like Vicodin or morphine.  Some do, it varies state to state.

So a stronger pain med (a narcotic for example) plus an antiinflammatory adjunct is very successful for arthritis pain.  The most successful pain med combo would contain an NSAID plus a narcotic (like Darvocet +) Darvocet is a narcotic pain med plus it comes with aspirin in it or tylenol in it.  It's the antiinflammatory that will really help the pain, opioids really do nadda for swelling & throbbing pain.

I'm finding that steroids are like the ONLY thing that helps! ugh...I hate it, but...it works.

I migt have missed it in your post, but is your shoulder problems osteo arthritis related? Or do ou have RA or Psoriatic Arthritis?

I had great success with Darvocet-N 100 for about 4 years.  Then they didn't work anymore.  Many opioid meds come in combo with either aspirin or tylenol so it's a really good pain management plan.  LidoDerm patches work quite well...they are applied directly on the painful area.

Do you take prednisone at all?

Take good care & write back soon,

erin

We our really close i live in Huntington In. it's 30 miles west of Fort wayne.I was in Indy not to long a go got hurt at work and they sent me to Ortho Indy a workers comp. dr.He said nothing was wrong with me and i could go back to work i went to a dr on my own he sent me to 2 other drs. in his group and they all said i needed a knee replacement i was falling down and knee was bucking but i could go back to work i said the hell with it and after 28 years of that job i just quit.I was 48 at the time now iam 50 drs.want me to wait till iam older to get knees done.I get the injections done all the time for fm and arthtris.I went to rumy in May and he said i needed pain doctor to get the pain relief i needed so i went and now iam doing better so maybe Erin is right about what they can give or not give you .Glad to meet you DEB

Regarding NSAIDs...I can honestly say "never underestimate the power of the ADVIL!"  it's a great antiinflammatory.

Due to the Crohns, I can't take any NSAIDs because they cause too much bleeding for me; but I always used ADVIL to help the joint pain.

Now TYLENOL remember doesn't fall into the category of an NSAID, so it helps more with muscular/skeletal pain and not so much the very bad joint pain.  Tylenol may be better to help fibro.

Other meds that are NSAIDs are {and my experience before I developed GI issues}:

Celebrex...{good..but too much rectal bleeding}

Indocin (indomethacin) ....{worked okay, not for major pain}

keterolac....{didn't agree with me}

Mobic...{I thought this worked better than Celebrex}

Naproxen....{this one was good for joint pain}

nabumetone

ketoprofen

diclofenac

Sulindac...{worked for a while but again, not great for bad pain in the joints}

So the great thing is that there are SOOOO MANY options & if you don't like a certain one there are several others to choose from.  And a rheummy will be MORA THAN HAPPY to RX any NSAID or COX-2.

Ciao!   Erin

Iam on celbrex 2 200mg a day ,zanaflex for spams,percet,i just had 3 injections in my shoulder ,one in hip ,and one at the sl for pain down the leg .i feel good today hardly no pain.How did your injections go ? Deb