question about Tramadol

Hi Ann, I'm a nurse, I checked drug interactions with lexapro and tramadol and you do have to be a bit careful taking them together especially if you take high doses of the tramadol.....I was on pristiq and I had to stop taking tramadol as it sometimes can cause seretonin syndrome, but remember that this syndrome is very rare so try not to be too scared ok.....it might be worthwhile having a chat to your dr and see what he thinks about it...
Hope it works out ok....remember dont panic it's very rare and I'm sure there's lots of people out there taking the same combination of drugs as you who are just fine.....best wishes to you

Ann, You may want to check the FDA web site on side effects. They are real scary, including
cancer, nervous system damage and a host of others. Never again will I take anything
like this. The side effects are getting worse and worse.

Tramadol can be very addictive and people can become physically dependent causing terrible withdrawal symptoms when they stop the med. I know some people don't have a problem stopping but I had an awful time with withdrawal symptoms even though I followed my doc's directions and tapered off. I was only on 150 mg (3 pills)/day but it took almost a month to taper off. The first few days were miserable and it took weeks to start to feel normal again.

Our local fibro specialist has been warning his patients about serotonin syndrome for a while. He says he is seeing a lot more of it in the last few years due to so many meds effecting serotonin levels.

Gheesh - I don't know how to get through each day! I was able to make it through yesterday and most of today, but I just gave in. How in the world do people do this and continue to work?
Thanks for all of your support. I know that I am blabbering right now, as I feel that I have succombed to this medication. The darn pain just became unbearable.
Thanks for listening.

Hi, Ann, and welcome! I'm so glad you joined our family.  As you can see, our members love to help one another and, as a bonus, we really do care about each other, too.  I think you will like it here.

 

I'm one who doesn't take prescription medication for fibro.  I did try Tramadol but it knocked me out.  I like to be in total control of myself.  I use ibuprofen with food, extra strength Tylenol, malic acid/magnesium supplements and vitamin D3 to help with pain and fatigue.  These might be something to ask  your doctor about. I also do gentle stretching exercises, gentle daily exercises (I walk and swim), and gentle massages.  All this combined helps me be in control of the pain.  I pace myself, too.  Everything gets done but in a different time frame.  You do have to keep moving with fibro.  If you don't, you'll be stiff as a board.

 

Be sure to check out Fibro 101...the second thread on the forum.  There is good information about fibro and you will learn a lot there.  Good starting places would be the links Symptoms, What Else Could It Be, and A Thorough Explanation of Fibromyalgia.  There are also links about the vitamins and supplements I mentioned and how they work in your body.  These have help quite a few members, myself included.  Many are deficient in these and that can cause more pain and fatigue.  There also is a link about Serotonin Syndrome in Fibro 101 if you are interested.  AND, the gentle stretching exercises are there and they are done sitting down.  If you have a desk job, you could do these and people wouldn't realize it.  These were designed for long flights to prevent deep vein thrombosis but they work just great for fibro, too.

 

Did your doctor know you were on Lexapro when they prescribed the Tramadol?  I'm surprised your pharmacist didn't say anything either.  Yes, Serotonin Syndrome can happen but it is rare.  Nevertheless, they should tell patients and let them decide what is best for them.  My doctor has suggested plenty of meds and I turn them down.  I don't expect to be pain-free and I'm able to keep the pain under control so I can function, actually, quite well unless I'm in a flare.  We all don't have the same pain but I'm used to it now.  It's just become a part of my life and I'm thankful I don't have anything worse!

 

I'm looking forward to getting to know you better.  Don't hesitate to ask questions because we are here to help you.  I hope to hear more from you soon.

 

Sherrine

Here's a great message for all fibro people. I went to the drs today and she asked
what kind of pain I was in. I told her about a "2" as it was the beginning of the day and
haven't really done anything. She refused to give me hydrocordone which I use as a "just
in case" med. I haven't had a refill in 6 months which shows you how much I baby a prescription.
Sometimes I can't kick the pain even with my herbals and break down and use one. Most of the
time I can control most of it with what I take and don't need them. Since I've been on Beta-Alanine
by NOW herbals I haven't used many..so what does she say? I can give you Lyrica. Are you NUTS?
Sure I just want internal damage or cancer, sign me up!! Needless to say I refused. What is with
the drs nowadays, they just try to give you anything to shut you up without addressing the issues.
It's been 3 months since I've went to the drs and only went because I had pinkeye.

Believe it or not I have sciatica, scoliosis, arthritis, fibro, heart issues, every female surgery
known to man, knee surgeries (arthoscope of both), lipoma, hearing loss (due to arthritis in
ears), fatigue, cluster headaches, and on and on. I'm down to using hydrocordone when all
else fails and atarax for the itching of the dermatitis on my feet. I work in around 100+ degrees
and they sweat a lot. I'm off the heart meds, anti-inflammatories, muscle relaxers, and the
mydrid of other stuff they had me on over the years. For me herbal was the solution as I react
to most synthetic drugs. I really hope this gives someone else the courage to ditch the drugs and
try alternatives. It might work. Here's to believing.

50 mg tramadol once a day isn't much. I find it only works for about 4 hours for me. It will interact with other drugs for at least 12 hours though, especially with Flexeril - serotonin syndrome - turned me beet red. I was able to reverse it with 2 mg diazepam with my PCP's OK. (I had read up on it extensively.) I take 50 mg tramadol 3 x day.

I have taken just about everything else for fibro with no positive results or nasty side effects - muscle relaxants, Lyrica, Cymbalta, Lexapro, Neurontin .... Currently I am adding Topamax, built up to 1/4 of a 50 mg pill, but experiencing hot flushes with no sweating, and maybe headaches, although I've had sinus surgery recently. It works very well on pain, but I'm going to talk to my pain doc about maybe experimenting with a trial of going off it, after I've recovered from the surgery more. Topamax is in the same category as some of the other anti-convulsives we try for fibro.

The thing about fibro is that we each react differently to the meds. One med does NOT work for all, nor does one dose. Most of us don't get anything out of NSAIDS (which are bad for the heart anyway), although Tyenol at high doses may help. Vicodin is great for post-surgical and joint pain, but not much for fibro muscle pain. It can take years of trials to find your own combination.

Tramadol is really the only painkiller that works for me. Vicodin (opiate class in general) doesn't do anything but make me feel sick to my stomach. I only take tramadol when I really need it, and a 50mg / 30 pills will last me for a few months. The only issue I have with tramadol is if I take more than two in a day, I tend to get really itchy.

If I need to lower my pain, I start off with moving around / walking, stretching, then some Tylenol (I'm allergic to ibuprofen), then a warm shower . . . if it is still not bearable, then I take a tramadol. Over the past few years I've learned that moving around helps more than I realize, and doing all the steps before taking a pain killer also helps me to not build up a tolerance or depend on them.

AnnT:

You're welcome! I like to look at it as not advice, but sharing what we use/do to manage. My concerns in my own treatment are more based on building a tolerance, as I seem to do pretty easily. Sometimes just having something available to take (such as tramadol) is reassuring and gives me more strength to try the other things first, instead of going straight to the pill.