Feedback on Ultram Side Effects and Usage page 23
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: Addicted to Ultram
Date: 2/15/2008
I recently was rushed to the ER for collapsing at work. Initially, it was thought to have been a seizure, but after lots of testing, it was determined not to have been a seizure. I was too embarrassed to admit that I had been addicted to Ultram for several weeks, and I am sure this is the reason for my “seizure.” I was admitted to the hospital for several days, during which I went through the withdrawal symptoms. I am home now-it is 6 days since my last dose and I’m starting to feel better. Still have no motivation and trouble sleeping, but know this will eventually subside. Ultram is evil! I was amazed that it caused me to suffer a seizure! Thankfully, there is no permanent damage and I hope this has opened my eyes and I can remain strong.
Lily
Subj: This drug is horrible
Date: 2/20/2008
Thanks to all who have posted their stories… This drug is horrible, the false sense of security leads to addiction. Two days free now and praying my way thru the withdrawal symptoms but the sun shall rise again…but from now on it will be for real and not drug induced. I would rather feel real.
Mark
Subj: Any success stories with other pains meds?
Date: 2/22/2008
Hello. I noticed that there is a lot of info about ultram on this website and it all sounds pretty negative. Does anyone have any success stories with other pains meds like vicoden or fioricet? Thanks,
Lydia
Subj: Pain in finger joints
Date: 2/25/2008
I am having really bad pain in my finger joints and it keeps me up at night, I was wondering if Ultram ER could help.
Justyn, 18
AskDocWeb: That depends on what is causing the pain. Ideally you should have your doctor find the cause of the pain and then let your doctor decide what would work best.
Subj: SIDE EFFECTS OUTWEIGHT THE BENEFITS
Date: 3/9/2008
I am LUCKY that it only took me TWO WEEKS of taking Ultram 50 mg/2x a day to realize that I DO NOT LIKE THIS DRUG AND THAT THE SIDE EFFECTS OUTWEIGHT THE BENEFITS. I was taking it for Bursitis pain that radiated down to my knee and calf. 2400 mg a day of Motrin was not relieving the pain. I also have Fibromyalgia, which was a contributing factor to the severity of the pain. During my two weeks on Ultram, I had a CONSTANT runny nose, and had NO ENERGY. I felt more irritable and anxious than usual as well. The first night I did not take Ultram at bedtime, it took .10 mg of Xanax and an Advil PM for me to FINALLY calm the restless feeling coursing through my body. It may take me a couple more days of Xanax at bedtime, but I expect to be myself again very shortly. I’d rather deal with the pain other ways (ice, massage, back to the Motrin, etc.) than risk the side effects of Ultram. Good Luck!
Cheryl
Subj: No longer able to drive safely
Date: 3/11/2008
Ultram gave me the relief from debilitating pain that I could not get with other meds. However, I did find that I was no longer able to drive safely (I went through red lights without realizing it), and that the dosage that once worked, always needed to be increased. My memory was gone and I was unable to carry on any intelligent conversation after being on this for 4 months. It’s a choice everyone has to make I guess. In the beginning, I needed the relief from pain so badly that this was an incredible help. For me, the side effects caused debilitation in different ways than the pain. In the end, I chose to stop taking this medication and have been off it now for 4 months.
Susan
Subj: Ultram IS addictive!
Date: 3/18/2008
I can definitely, without a doubt, say that Ultram IS addictive!!! I have taken it for a few years now for back pain, and anytime I’ve ran out the withdrawals are horrible. My Dr swears it’s safer than narcotics. Yet when I don’t take the Ultram I ALWAYS get that crawly feeling, especially in my arms, I can’t sleep, I get headaches, and cold chills. It’s always the same symptoms.
Debra
Subj: Sexual side effects?
Date: 3/20/2008
Are there any sexual side effects with Ultram?
Kit
AskDocWeb: No, not if you are taking them as directed.
Subj: Quitting cold turkey
Date: 3/21/2008
This my second day after quitting cold turkey. I had been taking 100 to 200 mg a day for about 3 years. I realized I had to up the dosage every so often to “get through the day.” So I decided to stop. Tonight I have just begun to feel a little better after suffering through chills, insominia, anxiety, crying episodes and just feeling like I wanted to jump out of my skin. I am hoping tonight and tomorrow will be a little better also. I am sorry I ever started. I had lower back pain, then I just continued to take Ultram to “take the edge off.” As bad as I have felt for the past day and a half, I feel good that I have the made the move to stop.
HOPE
Subj: Thank you for sharing, you helped me
Date: 3/27/2008
I would just like to thank this site and those who shared their Ultram experiences. You helped me through a very tough time. I have taken Ultram for about a year, 200mg in an extended release form. I have chronic back issues, that have not been resolved by three operations. I did not particularly like taking this drug. If I was not careful to take it at approximately the same time every day, I would experience a depressed feeling. I could become tearful. This I mentioned to my Ortho MD. I was planning to make a change in this medication. Then I happened to have another surgery, unrelated to my back. I had one day surgery, and stopped the Ultram. I took percocet for the surgical pain. A week post-op I was taking only one percocet, twice a day. Then my problems began.
At first I could not sleep, I had the restless body thing. As the days progressed things became worse: a pervasive feeling of sadness, lack of appetite, anxiety, tearfulness. It felt like a full blown depression. At first I thought I was reacting to the percocet, and so I stopped it. Without the percocet falling asleep was impossible however. Unfortunately this all played itself out on Easter weekend. My surgeon and PCP were out of town, and the one thing I did not want was more drugs….I was lucky enough to find this site and it was then that I decided that I was withdrawing from the Ultram. I spent a total of a week going through Ultram hell….The Monday after Easter I saw my PCP’s partner and he confirmed my suspicions. It still was a few days until I felt myself. Without you all I would have wound up at the ER and probably given more drugs….. Thank you for sharing, you helped me. I hope this can help someone.
Lauren
Subj: Severe withdrawl symptoms
Date: 3/28/2008
I started ultram a year and a half ago for headaches and general weakness associated with uncontrolled Graves Disease. I take any where from1 to 4 a day depending on the need. I have tried to stop taking ultram 3 or 4 times and EVERY time I have severe withdrawl symptoms. I have dabbled in street drugs as a teen and I have never been through anything close to this. I am at war with this drug! I can’t stop taking it or I will not only go through withdrawal but I’ll feel like crap everyday. My husband said I was addicted to Ultram and I told him that I was but that I have a medical reason to take them too. He flushed all my meds down the toilet last night so I am already starting to feel sick. I know the only thing I can do is drink water and eat and try to rest but I feel like freaking out – like I’m jumping out of my skin. If I can offer any advice it would be to TAPER down your meds and gradually go off- DO NOT QUIT COLD TURKEY! It is a hell that can be avoided.
Erin
Subj: What I didn’t know
Date: 4/17/2008
PLEASE, PLEASE, if you need pain relief think VERY carefully before taking Ultram/Tramadol/Zydol and whatever other names it has. I was given it 3 years ago to stop back pain. I too THOUGHT it was the best thing since slice bread as it stopped the pain. What I didn’t know was that after taking it for 18months I would start getting horrible heat flushes (which caused a rash on my body), followed by incredible chills. I was taking 400mg daily initially and increased to 600mg very short term. (I felt I needed more to stop the pain, and that’s when the side-affects started). I then decided to cut the medication back. Slowly, from 600mg, to 400mg, to 200mg. It was at 200mg daily that the back pain started to worsen. I THOUGHT it was the initial pain but have since learned that back pain is actually a withdrawal symptom. I then decided to try and get off of it all together and look for something else to easy the initial pain. I cut back to 100mg, then 50 mg.
This is what happened. I had unbelievable pain right throughout my body. I couldn’t sleep at night. I developed what I suspect may be ‘restless legs’, I got terribly hot, then very very cold. My body felt like it was full of pins and needles. I had a migraine for days. It put me through absolute hell, and I almost went back on it but couldn’t bare the thought of living with the side effects for the rest of my life. YES, this stuff is great for pain … but please, please be careful of how much you take and for how long. As my doc said, the longer you take it and the higher the dose, the more difficult it is to get off of it. I have read an unbelievable amount of complaints about it on the Internet, many with the exact symptoms I am experiencing.
Julie
Subj: Thank you
Date: 5/13/2008
I just started taking ultram 2 days ago, and found this page very helpful thank you,
Michele
Subj: I felt like I was going crazy!
Date: 6/1/2008
Ah! I am switching insurance and I have a week or so lag before the other kicks in…I take Ultram ER 200mg for SI joint pain(arthritis)…After not taking it last night, I woke up this morning and realized that I felt like I was going crazy! I feel so anxious…it’s like butterflys in your stomach only the little critters are burrowing into your skin…like how you feel if you are being tickled too much, it goes from fun to unbearable! I have never experienced anything like this before…then I realized that it must be from the Ultram ER…I went scouring my medicine cabinet to find some (wow, I felt like some kind of junkie!) I did find some Percocet and took one which has taken the edge away.
I will ween myself off of this drug no matter what now…it helped with the pain for a while (my arthritis is called ankylosing spondylitus-very painful) but then I was almost to the point I was before I started to take it…so I decided to let the presciption run out —BAD IDEA! I don’t think you can slowly stop the ER (extended release) form of the drug…because you only take it once a day…I am so screwed!! I guess I will smoke alot of cigarettes, watch some movies and do whatever I can to occupy myself…It is hard to hold still…I feel so anxious like I am being held at gunpoint!! I do well under very stressful situations too…I have been a paramedic, worked in the ER, the OR…sales…lol. Any comments on how to help this pass would be greatly appreciated! I will definately talk to my pain management Doc about this incident! Anyone else have a history with the ER version? Thanks,
Michael
Subj: Withdrawal symptoms
Date: 6/3/2008
I have also been taking tramadol for now 2 years!! Help, my doctor has stop giving it to me and I have been left with finding it on the streets. It is living hell and the withdrawl symptoms are so great I cant stop. I don’t know what to do at this point. I am in living hell.
Jo
AskDocWeb: Tell your doctor that you need help with the withdrawal symptoms but be as specific as possible about what you are trying to cope with, night sweats, tremors or whatever. Read more feedback on Ultram. Ultram report – 20 – 21 – 22 – Page 23 – 24 – 25 – 26 – Last Page 45
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