Feedback on Ultram Side Effects and Usage page 13
About Ultram
If you have used Ultram, please help others by adding your feedback. What would you tell your best friend about using this pain medication?
Subj: Warning:
Date: 8/4/2006
Cessation of this drug may lead to divorce. Irrational behavior includes excessive rudeness to your spouse due to lack of sleep, irritability, extreme flu-like aching. Take at grave risk to your marriage.
Sue
Subj: Ultram advice
Date: 8/14/2006
I have been taking Ultram for a couple months now. Last Saturday I didn’t take any Ultram b/c the pain was bearable. However the withdrawals were not. All I wanted to do was lie on the couch and sleep. However, I couldn’t get comfortable no matter what. My head was pounding and I was crying uncontrollably. I decided it was b/c I hadn’t taken any Ultram that day. So I took one and about a 1/2 hour later I felt great. It’s pretty scary actually. When I first started taking these I thought they were a miracle drug. I’ve learned now it’s not the case. I’m going to gradually decrease my dosage and then never take them again. My advice is to never start these.
Lisa
Subj: Ultram side effects
Date: 8/28/2006
I have been using Ultram daily for about a year for extreme nerve pain. Within the last 2 months, I find that it is giving me consistent stomach aches and diarrhea, and occasional vomiting, especially if I don’t have much in my stomach. What should I do?
Laura
AskDocWeb: You don’t have to put up with stomach aches, vomiting and diarrhea. You can talk with your doctor about changing the ultram to something else.
Subj: Ultram warning
Date: 8/29/2006
I am 62 years old and have been taking ultram for approx. 8 years, having been introduced to them by my wife. I was suffering from lower back pain for years and I found that ultram gave me some relief and helped me cope with the pain more easily. I also seem to have more energy and eagerness to do mental and physical activity. I take two .5mg tablets in the morning at breakfast and the same at about 1:00 PM. and do not have any notable side effects. However, my frequency of urination in the past 8 years has increased from 0 times per night to 3-4 times per night at present and I cannot drink tea, coffee or sodas after 2:00pm. Until now I really never tried to make this connection with ultram (my prostate is fine) until I started checking the web. I will soon find out if ultram is the culprit of the severe consequences (day & night)that I am going through every day. I intend to discontinue taking this drug completely over the next few weeks. As far as withdrawal, I have weaned myself off ultram many times (only to start again) but only by slowly reducing the dosage to .5mg per week. Otherwise don’t plan to sleep at night and have a straight jacket handy. However, my wife can stop cold turkey every time and she says her doctor says there is no such thing as withdrawal problems from ultram. My suggestion to anyone is to try another avenue to alleviate non-severe pain. Exercise, yoga, and/or therapy will help. I wish someone would have warned me 8 years ago! After all these years, I am afraid to even think of all the other problems that might arise due to my abuse of ultram.
H
Subj: Ultram and caffeine?
Date: 8/29/2006
I have taken it for over 10 years. It gives me great relief for arthritis, but I need three a day to function normal and when I don’t I am tired and fall asleep early. I do notice that caffeine has a big influence, making me feel stressed when I drink iced tea or diet colas. My MD says its not related but he only reads a PDR and doesn’t take them.
Ron
Subj: Still addicted to Ultram
Date: 9/10/2006
I posted on a previous page about becoming addicted again to Ultram, that was back in May of 06. Here it is September 06 and I’m still addicted! I went cold turkey for 36 hours and had the worse withdrawals I have ever experienced and I am a recovering addict of 5 years! All the symptoms described in earlier posts, I experienced. I don’t want to do this to my body and I don’t like seeing my child watch me being tormented. I was taking up to 8 50 mgs per day and I went back to taking 2 per day until the withdrawals get under control. Did I cut back too much or should I have went ahead tried to live through the withdrawals without ending up in the hospital. I have the support of an NA fellowship in my area and I get mixed feedback on the issue because no one can relate to what I’m going through with this particular drug.
Missy
AskDocWeb: If you talk with your doctor, he may be willing to give you a medication that will help with your withdrawal symptoms.
Subj: Terrible withdrawal symptoms from Ultram
Date: 9/13/2006
Taking ultram for endometriosis and IC. Some side effects, however not comparable to what I feel like without the ultram! Terrible withdrawal symptoms though when I stop. Any Advice?
Jill
AskDocWeb: Two things you might consider. You could talk to your doctor about alternatives to Ultram and two, you could find a pain management clinic and make an appointment.
Subj: Ultram withdrawal
Date: 9/25/2006
I started taking Ultram over 4 years ago. My doctor prescribed them for painful ovulation. I had a hysterectomy 2 years ago but found it excruciating to try and stop taking the Ultram. I would get depressed, weepy, flu-ish and would get a restless feeling in my legs and arms that would only be relieved by movement. Unfortunately this would all happen at night. 2 weeks ago I finally had enough. I started wiening myself off slowly. Yesterday was my first day taking nothing. I was fine all day but got no sleep at all last night. That restless feeling is horrible. Don’t take this drug. It is worse than any opiate out there.
Dharma
Subj: Ultram story
Date: 10/9/2006
I’m 27 and I’ve had servere interstitial cystitis for nine years. This has caused me constant pain everyday. For years no doctor would prescribe me anything for pain, then I found a doctor who prescribed Ultram. I was so relieved at first because the pain completely left me and I was able to run and do things I could not do in years. I thought I could finally have some peace from pain and begin my life again. I was wrong. As the first dosage no longer worked my doctor increased it. For 6 months I stayed on it having to take more and more to kill the pain.
Finally one day I said this isn’t working, I’ll just quit. Then the withdrawal from hell began. Now I have been tapering down for 3 months and still feel the relentless body aches, flu symptoms, depression, anxiety, chest pains and more. I can never sleep and am struggling to deal with the constant IC pain plus withdrawal.
I have lost all faith in doctors because I have been prescribed so many pills that seem to make me sicker and looked at like I’m crazy when I tell them how I feel. I know I’m not the only one so why do doctors lie to sell pills. I thought they were supposed to help people. My IC symptoms started after I had anxiety in high school and was prescribed lithium, haldol, depakote and more told they were only mild drugs to help me cope. I had reactions like breast lactation and nasal bleeding, vomiting, constipation for years and my doctor said it was all in my head that if I did not stay on the pills I would never be anxiety free. I was only 15, how was I supposed to know what to do, I trusted my doctor. No wonder my bladder is shot and I have not felt the same since. I guess I will just have to deal with once again being promised a pill would not harm me and realizing I was lied to. I hope no one else goes through all this. My love to all.
Maria
Subj: Free of pain
Date: 10/12/2006
Ultram has helped me become pain free, for the first time in years. I have had chronic arthritis pain for several years. For a long time – years – my doctor prescribed Celebrex. It helped some, not a lot. This was changed to Mobic, after Celebrex got a bad rep. This caused me elevated liver enzyme levels (scary). They prescribed hydrocodone, which effects I could not tolerate and which did not seem to address my pain. I asked if there were a non-narcotic pain reliever. The doctor prescribed Ultram (tramadol). I’ve been taking it for several months, one or two tablets in the morning when I get up. If I have very bad pain in the afternoon or evening, I take one or two more. Usually I do not need to take any more than the morning dose. I have not been pain free for so long, that this seems like a fantasy.
Lourene
Subj: Horrible side effects of Ultram
Date: 10/15/2006
I have severe fibromyalgia. I am more or less housebound. I have had this condition for about 25 years, four years ago I started taking ultram. This year in March I began taking some natural mineral drops – for anyone wanting to know the name – Google waiora and it will come up – you’ll have to work out what I am using, as they do have other products. Anyway I did see a noticeable improvement in my pain, I am also taking fulvic acid – so about May I was able to start cutting down on my pain meds. Well of course ultram is the med of choice for fibromyalgia, so I never thought of cutting it back, I cut back my Tylenol NO3, with codeine, and the 600mg strength Advil. I was now just taking one of each, and four 50mgs of ultram. However, I never connected up my feeling so rotten with the ultram, I have had horrific mood swings, itching, to the point where I have had to wear either long johns or cotton gloves to prevent me tearing the skin on my legs in my sleep. I have bitten through my bottom lip from clenching my teeth, I have had severe anxiety, and have felt like I have been drugged when I wake up in the morning.
Yesterday I called the pharmacy and asked was I not taking enough pain meds. The answer was, doctors now know that ultram can have horrible side effects, take more ibuprofen and Tylenol and get off the ultram. I researched it out on the Internet, and sure enough all my symptoms were connected with the ultram. I stopped taking the four 50mg, and just took one yesterday and one today, but did not increase my other meds – just kept them at what I had them. The anxiety and mood swings have already disappeared. I do not think I have an addictive personality, as I have stopped cold turkey on other things before and never had any problems.
My advice to anyone wanting to use this med, would be to only use it for bad flare-ups, and not on a regular basis, if you have an addictive personality (I feel that’s a bad choice there, maybe body is better) use it sparingly. I don’t say not to use it, but use it with caution. It can also cause seratonin overload if used with certain antidepressants and other reuptake meds – and that’s not a good thing.
Frannieannie
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