Feedback on Ultram Side Effects and Usage page 4
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: Ultram and Kidney disease
Date: 8/9/2004
Hi, I recently took Ultram for severe leg pain in the area of my knee. My question is I have kidney failure going on, and am currently seeing a Kidney Spec. After taking them yesterday I could hardly urinate. Is there anything about Ultram and Kidney problems. Also I noticed this morning blood that dripped on my shorts during the night. Cannot find info on taking Ultram and Kidney disease. Thanks,
Keith
AskDocWeb: Others have reported pain in the kidney area as well as bladder problems. In people over 65, the kidneys sometimes have difficulty processing the Ultram.
Subj: Urgent request
Date: 8/20/2004
Life threatening urgent request: shingles medication acyclovir and medrol/methlprednisolone…
Debbie
AskDocWeb: This website does not give medical advice. We leave that to your local doctor or health care provider.
Subj: Ultram addiction?
Date: 8/26/2004
How do you know if you are addicted? I have been taking Ultram for about a year, starting a lower dose, now taking about 10-12 pills a day. I have Fibromyalgia, and this takes the edge off so I can sort of function. But I now wake up at night and have to go take some more. I have already felt the breathing difficulties, so I try to be really careful about waiting four hours till the next dose. Am I already an addict? I took this to avoid narcotics, and I am still in alot of pain daily. This really sucks!!
Cathy
Subj: DON’T TAKE IT!
Date: 9/16/2004
I started it 7 months ago, after quitting Hydrocodone. I only took it once a day, and just quit today. Even before I took the once a day dose, I felt like crap until I took it. Just like withdrawals. Then, all it did was give me energy. It actually worsened my headaches! Today is my first day off, and I feel terrible. Severely depressed, high fatigue, and very nervous. Sweating like crazy and the ac was all the way on 60. I think this drug is not so much addictive, to the fact that people take it so they won’t experience the withdrawals!! That’s what keeps people taking them. I’m not falling into that category. I’m going to weigh this out symptoms and all, because I wouldn’t wish the withdrawals on anyone. And you can simply avoid it, by not even starting on it. This medicine is the pits!
Linda
Subj: Ultram for fibromyalgia
Date: 9/21/2004
I’ve used Ultram daily for almost two years for fibromyalgia. Dose went from 150 mg to 200mg daily but most days I still only take 150. I am so grateful to have something that gives me relief. It also gives me a little more energy. I wonder though, if it’s OK to take long term.
Liz
Subj: Ultram is addictive
Date: 9/28/2004
I’ve taken Ultram for about 6yrs. It has been a lifesaver for me. I’ve had Interstitial Cystitis for 20 yrs. Before taking the Ultram I couldn’t eat alot of foods, (anything with milk, tomatoes, citric acid, chocolate) now I can enjoy most any food. I know it is addictive because I had to go off of it for a while. You cannot take it while you are pregnant. I had shakes, restlessness, anxiety, and depression when I went off it. But I don’t know what I would do if I didn’t take it. My life was awful before Ultram.
Tina
Subj: Nurse’s experience with Ultram
Date: 10/19/2004
Please Beware! I am a nurse who does lots n’ lots of research. If you are considering using Ultram- Don’t. Only if this is your last resort, and you are aware of the fact that this medication is grossly addictive. The scariest part is that your doctors hardly know anything about this drug, except for what their drug rep tells them.
From experience, I can tell you my story about the addictive properties of this medication. I have been on it for 4 years for multiple disc herniations. I had my third surgery and while waking from anesthesia, they gave me over 50 mg of morphine with a side of demerol and I had no response to these narcotics. I had cross-tolerance just from taking 3 ultrams a day. My MD told me I had enough morphine to kill a horse. Those were his exact words. It was the worst experience ever. I basically recovered from a major surgery on my own, without any pain relief. I strongly urge anyone who is starting or thinking about starting Ultram, NOT TO!
Every time I talk to my doc about it (primary care and neurosurgeon), they both say they don’t know much about it. Why are they prescribing it then??? Do your own research and be your own advocate. You cannot always assume your doctor knows everything about everything. I have quickly learned this being in the medical field and now from being a victim of this drug. I have awful withdrawal symptoms every time I do not take this drug. I have tried to wean and when I get down to 1 pill a day, the withdrawal symptoms after stooping are just as severe. I am still in the process of trying to kick these things. Good luck to all of you others, I feel for you. And heed my advice, to those who are just starting out!
Chris
Subj: Coming off Ultram Sucks
Date: 10/25/2004
I started taking ultram in early ’96 for menstrual cramps. Unfortunately for me, I have struggled with drug addiction for a long time, and when I started taking Ultram, I recognized the “high” it gave. It also suppresses your appetite, so I began abusing the pills. Coming off of the pills is like nothing I can describe. It ? sucks. You are SICK. Thank god I finally kicked the pills permanately, but after the first 6 weeks of being off of them I was thrown into the worst depression ever. Suicidal. What I recommend is NEVER, EVER abuse this drug, and keep in close contact with a Dr.
Teri
Subj: Maximum dosage
Date: 10/27/2004
I’ve been taking Tramadol for almost 18 months. It is the only thing that has given me releif to my constant lower back pain. My dose has been gradually increased. I am taking the maximum dosage of 8 pills a day. As long as I keep food in my stomach, I’v noticed no real unpleasent effects other than some periods where I might feel anxious. I was on narcotics several time, but they don’t give me the long term relief that ultram has.
William
Subj: Addicted to pain medication
Date: 10/29/2004
I have taken Ultram on and off for two years for various sports injuries such as shoulder pain. It does help with the pain, but, for me, it is addiction. I had a serious addiction to Vicodin before this due to a doctor giving it to me regularly for endometriosis for three years. I got off the Vicodin and within a year somehow ended up on Ultram. I am weaning myself off the Ultram which I have been on now straight for two months (six a day). I have one left. The past two weeks I have had severe bronchitis with no fever. I am having great difficulty breathing and they put me on an asthma inhaler. I have never had asthma in my life. Even with these breathing problems which are very scary, I was afraid to bring it to my doc’s attention, that it could be from the Ultram which they have been giving me. Now THAT is addiction. I am willing to walk around anxious all day, fearing that I will suffocate from not being able to breathe rather than have a doctor write on my chart “allergic to Ultram.” It reminds me of Vicodin even though it does not have the same mental effect. It takes those little aches and pains, head aches, etc. away. I have had a runny nose, coughing and flu-like symptoms all while I have been weaning myself off this drug. Be careful if you get addicted to pain medication.
Suzanne
Subj: Over two years on Ultram
Date: 10/29/2004
Ultram (or Tramadol), in my opinion, is always best taken as prescribed (or less) by a physician. I have been taking it for over two years now, and only take between 2 and 4 pills a day, usually just two now. This is the only way this med has worked for me properly. When, in the past, I had taken more, I had suffered the same side affects that many have written about here. When two or four can no longer relieve the pain one is suffering from, then I believe a doctor should be notified, and a stronger med prescribed. It is much easier to withdraw from this med when only a prescribed dose has been taken on a regular basis.
Brian
Subj: Ultram detox
Date: 11/19/2004
I took ultram for appx 3 years for back pain. However, I found myself taking it more for the energy that it gave me, then for the pain I was having. It got out of control. I was taking an average of 10 a day and sometimes up to 15. I would have to take a sleep agent every night because the Ultram kept me up. I ordered it over the internet and I just told my wife about it a month ago. I slowly got down to 2 a day and then just quit 3 days ago. Her and I are now cooped up in a hotel room so I can detox myself. It hasn’t been terrible but it sure feels like I have a bad flu. I will never take this ‘addicting’ stuff again. Be careful all and don’t stop all of the sudden. You have to wean yourself slowly.
John
Subj: Weaning off of Ultram
Date: 11/20/2004
I have been on Ultram since 1997. I have back problems. Every 6 months or so I quit taking them. To get off for a month or two I have discovered the following process that works for me every time. Taking 4 a day I take one every six hours. Then I go to every 7 hours. At eight hours, I start taking a half every 4 hours. Then I go to every five hours, then every six hours etc. When I get to eight, I find I can eliminate one of the halfs. Continuing to decrease them to 1 pill per day takes me about two and a half weeks. At that point I can usually quit. After stopping for three or four weeks, I start again because they work so well for my pain. The withdrawals go away pretty quickly. You will be amazed at how good you feel while off of the pills.
Don
Subj: 5 years of Ultram
Date: 11/26/2004
I have been taking 6 ultram 50mg pills a day for about 5 years now, it was still a fairly new medication when I went on it. I had an undiagnosed ruptured cervical disc that now is fused, but I have nerve damage and chronic pain. Ultram changed my life, I have a better quality of life then I ever thought possible. My doctor and I have worked together to make sure that I don’t exceed the dosage, and every few weeks I miss a dose on purpose and it works as well now as it did in the beginning for me. BUT I also understand exactly what people are talking about, I once accidentally forgot my ultram at home and went on a weeks vacation. I felt as if I were going to have a seizure, I had restless legs and was sweating and achy all over. I did have the lortab I take for breakthrough pain, But that did not help my extreme discomfort from being without my Ultram.
I wound up having my mom overnight express delivery it to me to stop the suffering. I can see where people would not want anything to do with the medication for this reason, But it has worked so well for me otherwise, and I am comfortable with the fact that I will be taking it for the rest of my life, So hopefully the withdrawal is something I will never have to experience again. Good luck to all of you here and thanks for sharing your experiences!
Elaine
Subj: Cutting down on Ultram
Date: 11/26/2004
I know for sure that cutting down is so important. I also think if you use like darvocet for a couple days will help you. I have done this my self. Darvocet is weaker than most other pain killers and this gives you time to get through the worst of the w/d but not long enough to get addicted to darvocet. The key is too not take a lot of darvocet maybe 2 the first day, then 1, then 1/2.
Ruthie
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