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Posted 2/4/2009 7:50 PM (GMT 0)
Are there any other ultram users here for their FM pain relief? If there are, could you please tell me your experience about it? Have you experience any side effect? Thanks for your help.
Posted 2/5/2009 12:17 AM (GMT 0)

Hi, Seasons and welcome to the family. I wasn't given Ultram for FMS, I was rx it for my first and second bout w/ Shingles. The first time I had Shingles I was given several meds, including Ultram, to help w/ the pain. No problem. The second time I got hit w/ Shingles (about 3 months after first bout) I was given the same meds. The only one that caused me a prob was Ultram. I was sick as a dog, dizzy, unable to stand or move till about 6-7 hrs after med was taken. I have been told by several drs. that I should take it for the pain of FMS and OA, but I just can't. I have had some meds that cause a prob first time I use them, some, the second time I have been given them. I have a lot meds I can't take, and only a few I can take. I hope it can help you. Good luck.

God bless.  Alice.

Posted 2/5/2009 2:41 AM (GMT 0)
Im currently taking ultram and it works alright for me. Some days i feel like i need something stronger though. Its not as strong as a narcotic as things like percocet or vicodin so its better for you to take on a long term basis. For that reason, im trying my hardest to not go to stronger narcotics and trying to get by on ultram.
Posted 2/5/2009 5:01 AM (GMT 0)
I have been taking ultram, off and on since my Dx in April 08, but constantly since this flare that started in October. I am up to 250 mg a day, and I still have pain. I am also titrating up on Gabapentin and my rheumy hopes that it will control more of the pain so I can back off on the ultram (300 mg a day is the most you can take).

For side effects, it makes me drowsy to the point of sleepy, and I have some nausea as well.
Posted 2/5/2009 5:45 AM (GMT 0)
Hey Seasons, and welcome to a wonderful forum. You will be glad that you joined us, please never hesitate to reach out to anyone here. about your question, I am happy to talk with you about ultram. I have been taking it for 4 years, with great success. I currently take 200mg /day, 100mg day and 100mg nite. It is not a pain killer as such for me, but it does work on joints, connective tissue, etc, to avoid pain I would have if not for ultram. I have no side effects with it, it doesn't make me drowsy or cotton mouth or anything. I can tell a huge and immediate difference when I don't take it, all I have to do is go 24 hours without it and I can feel the difference in joint pain. It works for me. Good luck!
Posted 2/5/2009 1:33 PM (GMT 0)
I took Ultram, (Tramadol), for about eight months in 2004. I found from the get go, it helped. Then as time went on, I needed more, and more. Then it did nothing at all. Do not quit it cold turkey. I did and suffered terribly. I got horrific restless leg syndrome, for days. Couldn't get any rest at all. Then I went to doc and got Lortab, loe dose. That worked for years. Then when I moved bcak to Canada, they don't have Tramadol. I take Tylenol 3.

Posted 2/5/2009 4:35 PM (GMT 0)
Greetings... :-)

I took Ultram for a couple years but recently changed to Ultracet. I find ultracet (combinatioon of ultram and acetaminaphen) work better for me to take away the sure achiness that can get to out of control for me. When I was on ultram I did get cotton mouth and it did hype me up some, which I didn't mind to much since I work full time. But as the months went by I noticed that it wasn't giving me the relief I really wanted.

Lori
Posted 2/6/2009 1:45 AM (GMT 0)
I have been taking ultram for about 6 years now, in generic form. I am prescribed to take up to 300mg a day. I don't always take it anymore, sometimes I will just take 100mg a day, but when things are bad, I don't hesitate to take all 300mg in a day. I have been in a bad flare for the last month, so I am taking it round the clock right now. I don't have any problems with sleepiness from it, nor any other side effect. when I first started taking it, I didn't really think it was helping, I think because I had an expectation from taking other pain meds, that I would feel sleepy and stoned. so I stopped taking it after awhile, and right away I could tell that it really had been helping me, so I started back up.

it doesn't rid me of pain. it just cuts the pain. I can function, I can drive, I can work, and don't feel foggy from it, so for ME it is a good choice until they come up with something better for us.

good luck!

kellie
Posted 2/6/2009 3:39 AM (GMT 0)
I've been taking the generic version, Tramadol, for a few years now. I have 50mg tablets that I can take up to 6 times a day. I find
when combined with tylenol it works well for everyday aches and pains. However, when flaring it doesn't touch the pain. Like for the last 3 days
I've been having a terrible flare up and nothing is touching the pain. I did stop taking my pain meds when my stomach started bothering me, so maybe
I just need to wait for it to really get in my system again.

Good Luck!
Posted 2/6/2009 3:50 AM (GMT 0)
I took this for a short time. At first it was GREAT - no side effects, no problems, just relief from the unending pain. But within 3 weeks it stopped working. Totally stopped. Increasing the dosage helped for a couple of weeks, but then it stopped again.

Every few years I take it for a short time. And it works for a little while and then stops.

I STRONGLY recommend getting the generic form (tramadol) and taking it with a tylenol. This is what Ultracet is, and it is much less expensive than the Ultracet.

Watch your liver if you regularly take any med with tylenol. The doc had to take me off of various versions of narcotics with tylenol b/c too many liver problems run in my family. Go online and look up the max amount of tylenol you can take daily - then be sure that when you take your meds (whether ultracet or tylenol 3 or lortab or whatever) the amt of tylenol does not exceed that amount. Death by tylenol overdose is slow and very painful.

I hope this continues to work for you. It IS a fairly mild pain reliever as compared to some of the narcotics.
Posted 2/6/2009 5:00 AM (GMT 0)
I've been taking tramadol since 8/08. Has been working well for me. I didn't realize how well because I still have pain with it. But managable pain. I recently was without it for 2 wks due to financial problems pain was so bad I couldn't think, sleep with 200mg of trazadone, and have any strenght. Have been back on it for 2 days and feeling so much better.

I never had any side affect at all with it
Angell
Posted 2/7/2009 3:46 PM (GMT 0)
I'm actually allergic to it. It's in my file as an allergy. My reaction: very dizzy (the room was spinning like I had spent the night doing shots of the hard stuff) and I felt a sense of dread/panic. Of course, most pain meds can cause anxiety/fear. I do take Vicodin and notice that it makes me panic sometimes.

I guess what it comes down to is trial and error. We are all different and respond to meds in our unique way. Good luck to you and well wishes!
Posted 2/8/2009 8:02 PM (GMT 0)
I take ultram. It makes me sleepy, but it really helps with the pain.
Posted 2/8/2009 8:03 PM (GMT 0)
I was told 400 mg. daily is the maximum dosage.
Posted 2/9/2009 8:30 PM (GMT 0)
I started Tramadol (ultram) just the weekend. I wasn't getting any relief from skelaxin so I requested Tramadol after reading about it on this forum. I have a prescription for 50 mg./3 times a day. The Pharamacist explained this drug to me and this is what he said:

- It is NOT a time-released drug. (as I've read on this forum)
- It can last 8 hours. (your dose will be 3 times a day/every 8 hours)
- It is a pain killer that can work like a narcotic pain killer and it is not a muscle relaxer. So, it depends on where your pain is coming from - muscle or nerve.

My co-pay for Tramadol was $15 for 90 50 mg. tabs. The cheapest co-pay I've ever had. Hard to believe, but Skelaxin is the highest co-pay-$50. Lyrica is $50 as well.

For me, I need it mostly for my chronic neck pain that I have 24/7. After about an hour of taking this med Friday night, I started feeling a little dopey, eyes felt heavy, heart racing some, and had some tingling in my hands (good tingling). After a few hours it worked really well for my neck pain. I still had the pain, but it was more manageable which was a first in a couple years. It messed with my anxiety some (felt energetic) but not like what percocet does to me. Percocet made me sweat and very anxious and did nothing for pain. At around 6 hours after taking Tramadol, it winds me down to a relaxed state. I did have a little trouble sleeping in the sense that it was still messing with some anxiety. Saturday I took one 8hrs. after the first one and a few hours into it I was feeling a little more dizzy and eyes were kinda "fluttering" as I worked on my laptop. I don't plan on taking Tramadol during work hours. Skelaxin I've already tested at work and I'm okay with.

I have also been taking Lyrica for about a month now and have just started noticing that it is helping with my tingling/crawling/aching wrists, hands, fingers, legs, and ankles. I have to take my whole 150 mg. at once at night though because I can't stand the daytime fogginess/dizziness at work. It does nothing for the neck pain though. But I don't expect it to because my pain in the neck seems to be caused from muscle/tendon and not nerve so much.

I would suggest you go over it with your doctor to see where your pain is coming more from - nerve or muscle. I have read a lot of post on here and lot of people are using and have good results with Tramadol, which is why I chose to research it myselft and try it out. Also you need to consider that everyone on this forum is different. We all vary by weight, pain, tolerance, and injuries. I'm amazed at how many different meds and the amount of each does people are taking every day. But, they are different than me.
Posted 2/10/2009 5:08 AM (GMT 0)
Regular generic Ultram is called tramadol. Tramadol with tylenol is called Ultracet, I don't think there is a generic. There is a time-release version of tramadol, but it's not generic. It's called Ultram ER.

My prescription says I can take regular tramadol (50mg) every 4 to 6 hours as needed. Be careful with any OTC supplements such as St. John's wort or 5-HTP and remind your doctor and pharmacist of any antidepressants you may be taking.

As with any meds, some people love it, some hate it. Some people have awful side effects, some don't notice a thing.
Posted 2/10/2009 11:14 AM (GMT 0)
Hi all! Other than the pain, ultram helps with getting the energy I need. The others are right when they said that it takes the edge off the pain. I take up to a max of 2 pills a day. I used to be on Vicodin and sure, vicodin works better but what I like about ultram is it has the benefit of being non-narcotic. Highly recommended in treating FM.

Post Edited By Moderator (Sherrine) : 2/10/2009 4:57:29 AM (GMT-7)

Posted 2/10/2009 12:00 PM (GMT 0)
Hi, Tuckedaway, and welcome!  I'm glad you have had success with Ultram.  I've tried it and it knocked me out for several hours and when I woke up again I was still in as much pain.  I spoke with my doctor about it and he said it works welll in about 1/3 of his patients.  Obviously I wasn't one of them.  But we do have members that do have success with the medication.

 

Sherrine

Posted 2/10/2009 3:58 PM (GMT 0)
I would like to welcome Tuckedaway, Mermaid4shore, Angell and Seasonschangeuknow to our family.

 

I was using Tramadol as my back up when tylenol wasn't enough and I found it didn't do much for severe pain but one day I took 50 mg five hours apart and my heart started racing and my breathing got weird so I haven't taken any since. I told my doc about it and he gave me rx for vicodin but I haven't taken any. But then I have a med phobia and would just as soon not be on anything.

 

luv and hugs Marlee

Posted 2/10/2009 4:07 PM (GMT 0)
I took Ultram for a few months. It worked at first, but then stopped working. It made me nauseas at first, but I got used to it. And it really did help the pain for the time I took it. The side effects I had after I got over the nausea were very minimal. It got rid of the pain, and I didn't feel druged at all!
Posted 2/10/2009 5:57 PM (GMT 0)
Golly!  I didn't even notice the newbies on this thread!  I'm so sorry!  Welcome to Mermaid4shore, Angell, and Seasonschangeuknow!  I'm so glad all of you joined us too!  I was just reading posts and not paying attentions to names.  Thanks to eagle-eye Marlee, I saw my mistake. 

 

You have come to a good place and we have great members with good ideas on how to live a full and enjoyable life with fibro.  Be sure to check out the Fibro 101 thread...the second thread on the forum.  There are links to a lot of good information about fibromyalgia. 

 

Again, welcome, and I hope to hear more from you soon!

 

Sherrine

Posted 2/10/2009 6:18 PM (GMT 0)
I take 300 mg of Ultram once a day but needed more after awhile. I also take darvocet 100/650 2 3times a day

Posted 2/10/2009 6:53 PM (GMT 0)
Hi, Carney, and welcome!  I'm glad I checked this thread again!  LOL  Didn't want to make the same mistake twice.

 

I'm so glad you and all the other newbies have found us and joined in!  I think you will like it here because we have some wonderful members on this forum...always ready to give a helping hand.  So, I'm glad you are here and I hope to hear more from you soon.

 

Sherrine

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