as some of you know I don't like taking meds but I am now to help with this heightened state of pain.
The doc gave me tramadol 50mg. . . . I like the way it made me feel with easing the pain but 50mgs does not do. Can I take 100mg? I am so afraid to go against what the bottle says so I take one but it doesn't do so great. Only been taking them for about 2 weeks. Or can I take on 50mg and an 800 mg of Ibuprofen?
Thanx?
Hi Mo,
Tramadol is a weak opioid. Like percocet or vicodin but not nearly as strong. It also has anti-depressant properties which help with the depression of chronic pain. The max dose is 400mg/day but it must be built up slowly because if not you might develop seizures. I would not play with the dose until u see the doc, but know that if it is working just a bit at 50mg, the dose can be increased a lot and you should expect even more pain relief. Good luck
Maria
Yep, they're sh!! I have them and they do nothing but make me feel nauseous, but everyones different and they might work better for you. You can take two, but you should really see the doctor because he will wonder why you're running out of pills so quickly. You can take ibuprofen with them too because they're from a different family, but again, I would see your doc first to make sure.
Mo, you've been given great advice here. And you can call the doc's office, don't need to wait until another appointment.
I hope that you get more relief when he ups the dose. Pain relief is so freaking difficult for all of us to find. And I know that your situation went from bad to worse. Do let him know, though, that you're not getting much from what you're taking. I had the same issue with my Lyrica and my GP refused to up the dose. When the pain mgmt doc finally upped it, it helped take more of the edge away. It's not great but it's helpful. It'll be nice if you can at least get to that point. And soon.
Hugs,
Petunia
Mo, In my opinion, best thing you can do is call the Dr office, get their permission, that way they will not feel that you are 'abusing them'. With this recent crack down on this type of med, best be safe than sorry, don't you think?
I take 1 50mg with an 800 mg ibuprofen and it works fabulous. My sister in law a nurse told me at the hospital the use that for drug addicts because it is so effective.. You'd be surprised.
Andy
I take one tramadol and it does nothing ,but if i take it with 2 Tylenol I feel a bit better. I have lortab, Percocet -and tramadol , I hate the side effects , bad headache and feel worse when it starts to wear off , so I find 2 Tylenol help without side effects, but I try and only take it when I have to do something like shop or clean. I would call dr. And say one does nothing , perhaps a pain specialist could help there not as freaked out about writing scrips.
Tramadol for me was a disaster. I was given the dose of 50 mg once or twice a day, i don’t remember. And i did take it with arthritic strength tylonal. The tramadol started to wear off, meaning my system was building up a tolerance. The worst was having to wean myself off the damn drug. Sure it was awesome for 2 weeks then i got nothing but the pain back. If u read about tramadol you will find that it states that SOME people will build up a tolerence. My 89 year old mom takes it every night to help her arthritis and she has been taking it for 2 years now.
I hope it will work for you!
Thanx guys. . . .I have been feeling WORSE. . .I do not know what is happening or why this flare up is so intense but by golly it hurts like hell!! I stopped with the pills as I don't like to be on them for too long but this flare up is not relenting so I may have to spend another week on them until it passes and it will pass. . .it better
Hi Mo....I am sorry for your pains and a bit concerned that you stopped your meds. This Fibro is a chronic condition and the longer you let a flair go on, the more irreversible damage can potentially occur in your muscles and brain. It really is not a healthy way to use medications. It would be like having heart palpitations and taking meds for a few weeks then just stopping. Your heart would go from a nice rate to a hight rate which might trigger a heart attack.
I know you hate meds, but i wonder if it is worth the potential damage to your system that happens when u use these meds only on occasion.
FYI: SOme diseases will produce worse and worse flairs if the time period between med use is more and more prolonged. It will be that much harder for the med to work as the number of flairs increase. That is the theory behind continuous treatment.
Hope u take no offense to my opinion.
Maria
Kit, and aries,
This makes perfect sense to me. I am to use morphine as a maintence drug. However, I do not feel that I can drive while taking it, nor do I feel that I can have my young grandsons while using it, in case I need to drive to get them meds or take them somewhere, I also feel I need to be totally alert. Therefore, I do not take them as directed, however, it is getting to the point that I have to take them more often than before.
Your thoughts on this, please?
My thoughts?
I'm thankful to Kit and aries for making you take this into consideration finally.
I know it's hard with the kids--but when you wait until you are in excruciating pain, the meds cannot work hard enough or fast enough to truly help as they are supposed to. The only way for them to work effectively, is for you to take them on schedule, as prescribed.
So there! My 2 cents!
Alright you girls,
Point taken, BUT, I don't want to get into another car accident, don't want to get pulled over and charged with driving under the influence of a narcotic! This is a very real fear!
So how do I drive, not that I drive that often, but how do you deal with that? The meds do not 'trash me', but there is a definate affect. If I have to become totally dependant on my husband it will be bad for me, and my Mom, as I have to drive her too, but not often. He is not a bad man, and he takes me when he has to, but he had to take his parents when they were alive, has to take his sister who had her neck fused years ago, who is losing control of her legs, is constantly at the VA hospital for himself, and he gets and takes the grandkids when they want to come 98% of the time. I don't want to be TOTALLY dependant on him or morphine!
Like now, he is gone for 3 weeks, I'm gonna have to drive in that time. No way around that, no matter how I feel!
I wonder how many people constantly drive while taking these meds? I've managed to stay out of trouble thus far, and surely don't want any trouble with the law at this point of my life!
SK, it totally sucks not to be able to drive. I don’t have it too bad as far as going places because I live in a small town and everything is close. But I hate, hate, hate having to ask for every little thing. And if I forget something at the store, I just do without instead of asking for another ride. My husband is not a bad man either but he tends to be totally self absorbed and is having his own problems with work stuff and is pretty miserable. There is no good answer. You definitely don’t want to go to jail for a DUI. This disease definitely has taught me patience and humility.
It was hard when I was still working, an hour commute each way. I would take one when I got to work, one at lunch time, and then the next one I didn't take until I got home (they were every 4 hours, so the pill I had to wait for ended up usually at 7 hours). On a schedule like that, you can plan ahead, but if you have to run out for something you didn't expect, or suddenly have the grandkids, it makes it difficult to know when it's safe to take them.
I know you've tried everything under the sun, but what about something a little weaker? Can you break these in half, and see how you feel then? **not to drive, just to see if you think you can handle the kids safely**.
I started with the 5-10mg, he moved me to 10-20mg. I am taking one as we speak, was in the car twice today and bending to pick green beans, did peppers and herbs last night, still have some to pick tomorrow, and groceries to go get, so when I get home from groceries, it will be pain pill time!
Mom and I actually went out to eat tonight, split a big salad and a panini. Was good to be out!
When I have the kids, I always worry that if they get hurt, I will have to take them to emergency, even if I call the ambulance, they will NOT let you go with them, so you have to drive in. If I know the husband will be here then I may take one at night, otherwise I won't take them when I have them.
I agree Renie...I had the same issue with TID dose of dilaudid. So i now take a vicodin in the afternoon instead of a dilaudid and the vicodin does not cause tiredness. Yes, if we are consistent in taking pain med then we have consistent blockage of the pain receptor and we do not have to worry that the next dose has to work overtime. But there is a chance that you are becoming tolerant to your current dose. When did the doc increase your dose? Can you take something in the afternoon that will not cause tiredness?
Maria
As I both understand and agree. I was taking an occasional percocet (325) and 800mg of ibuprofen. I am not on any stronger meds (was taking tramadol for hand, did nothing much and pills are gone) like Lyrica or Cymbalta or any fibro-geared med. I say that to say that having taken 800mg Ibuprofen for as many yrs as I am sure many of us have for every painful reason we could think of : ), I doubt (but of course I am no doctor ) that not taking them would cause any worse pain than I am in. I do believe if I were taking fibro-geared or stronger meds and stopping that I'd be experiencing what you are mentioning (as I have in the past) and that is the reason why I will only take very light or over the counter meds in little moderation.
I know my anti-medication style is not the best according to some but not being heavily sedated on meds helps me to better gage where my pain is coming from and I like that, knowing exactly what is hurting and where. I felt, back on meds, that I could not tell where the pain was coming from and I hated that feeling.
In any case, I will of course be careful
Thanx and I took no offense at all. . .I appreciate the open honesty.
As I don't drive I did have a very active (and still do) lifestyle and the strong meds the docs used to give me did not agree with the lifestyle I have to live in order to maintain care for my son and I so that is also a big reason why I won't take anything stronger than a percocet.
I cannot work on meds, study on meds, cook or clean the house and It's just me so choices had to be made. It's a price to pay but when I can't function and have no one at all to help. . .meds cannot be in my picture. I wish I could take some meds to ease the pain but been there, done that and didn't like it. I need to be aware. . .ugh fibro js gets in the way of everything.
Maria, I'm not sure who you're asking about the dosage increase? Maybe SK? If me, I don't take ANY pain meds anymore, other than Neurontin for neuropathy in my feet. No one will prescribe anything stronger than Vicodin anymore, they just refer to the pain clinic, which is a scary place where I live! Plus, I'm allergic (adverse) to, well...I guess I'll have to say opioids. Codeine, Morphine, Morphone, etc. The only thing I can tolerate is fully synthetic Demerol, that's what I WAS taking q4h, but that was a few years ago through a pain management doctor who left the area. I found out in the hospital that I can tolerate Dilaudid, but again, the county pain clinic, or drive 1.5 hours to the REAL doctors!
I live on Motrin, which helps enough, but: I have gastric stomas, and lately I have been having bad abdominal issues. I don't see a Gasto until next month---who knows what damage I've done!