Experience with Tramadol?

[old dude]

My ortho doc prescribed this for extreme neck pain yesterday, calling it a "muscle relaxer" as opposed to the near-opioid painkiller that online research says that it is. So I took one 50 mg tablet around midnight, and was surprised this morning to see that my machine had maxed out several times at 20 cmH2O. I've never come close to that before, maybe 16 or so once in a while.

I'm wondering if anyone may have experienced this before, or maybe does any strong painkiller have a similar effect?

[LSAT]

It's more than a muscle relaxer...it's very close to Oxycontin for pain. Check all the possible side effects..especially for older adults

[Pugsy]

I have been on tramadol for years. It's not a typical muscle relaxer....it's a pain medication. You already found that out.
Sometimes pain meds can cause the airway tissues to relax more though and require a little more pressure.
Or maybe you were on your back more which might cause more pressure needs.

I can't take it at night or the evening close to bedtime. It causes major insomnia issues for me so I take an opiate type of pain med at bedtime when needed.

So yes...really any type of pain medication has the potential to affect the airway tissues...how much will depend on the individual.
I have never really noted any real change in anything when I take a pain medication so for me no real change.
No more centrals than usual so it doesn't suppress my respiration and pressure needs seem to be the same as when I don't take pain meds.

Tramadol is in the same category as opiates. Wasn't always the case when I first started taking it...just a regular RX.
Now it is regulated like the opiates because it pretty much acts like an opiate.

[jnk...]

If patients are taking an opioid that has a short half-life, such as immediate-release oxycodone, they should not take it within 5 hours of sleep. Longer-lasting preparations need a longer interval, and some, such as extended-release tramadol, may need to be taken only on awakening.--Aaron S. Geller, MD; Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA -- Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine. 2017 February; 84(2):91, 94 -- https://www.mdedge.com/ccjm/article/129 ... leep-apnea

[Pugsy]

FWIW.....I did have a discussion about opiate pain meds and real muscle relaxers with my sleep doctor and their effects on the OSA and airway.
She told me that between the 2 that muscle relaxers like Flexeril...much, much "worse" with how it impacts the OSA side of things and given a choice between the 2 types for pain management she would much rather see me take the opiate.
Works better for me anyway as my pain isn't really relieved by muscle relaxers because it's deep in joints and bone anyway.

[old dude]

I just don't know about this Tramadol. But I'm thinking after 24 hours I may be done with it. I awakened once last night for a nature break, and as strange as it sounds I swear I felt like I was paralyzed. And I took another this morning that seemed to all but put me into a brain fog coma. I seem to manage Hydrocodone-APAP much better.

Problem is, this is likely a long term problem and around here the very mention of pain meds seems to throw doctors into a tizzy. I personally hate taking them and only do so when the pain is so bad I'd otherwise consider walking in front of a truck, but the docs don't seem to care. I have a few saved up over the years prescribed for other things that didn't get used, but when those run out I'm not sure what I'll do.

[Pugsy]

You can try cutting the tramadol in half ....lessens the side effects.
Side effects will decrease as your body gets used to it. When I first started taking it I would have vertigo so bad from half a pill that I just had to lay down.
Now I rarely get the vertigo any more.

Now I don't think the extended release can be cut in half but if someone is wanting less side effects with less dosage then they probably wouldn't want extended release anyway.

Besides...extended release is REALLY, REALLY a lot more expensive than the plain tramadol. So much more my insurance won't even pay for it at all.

[greatunclebill]

Tramadol is not a muscle relaxer. Animals get treated with alot of human medications. Tramadol is one of them. My 40 pound rat terrier/beagle dog gets tramadol 50 twice a day for hip dysplasia. She has taken it for several years. for all the trouble people have getting tramadol for themselves thru a doctor, we have no problem at the vet. we get 100 at a time, just call it in and it's ready at the counter when we go in, no questions asked. the vet only sees the dog once a year for shots or if there is a problem..

[bonjour]

I use Tramadol when I need to, and most of the time I'll force through the pain (8/10) and not take it.
When I do take it the pain lessens, it acts a bit like a sleeping agent, and my AHI climbs from a typical .5 to about 1.5.

As stated above different people different results.

[Dan_McD]

Funny how this stuff works differently on different people. I can hardly walk in the morning with bad knees, back and hips. I take 2 50 Tramadol and 2 500 Tylenol and I am fairly productive through about 2 to 3 in the afternoon. I can not take it after 6PM at night or I will wake up 2 or 3 times a night. A friend of mine uses Trazodone as a sleep aid. I tried it and woke up at 3AM with hallucinations. Different strokes for different folks, eh? I sometimes use Tylenol for pain at night and a xanax as a sleep aid, but that's about it. None of it seems to change my apnea though.

[nanwilson]

I am on Toradol (for pain) and cyclobenzaprine (muscle relaxer) for the same ailment as you...… Only difference is that I have spinal stenosis which usually crops up in my back and legs, this time its neck pain via a pinched nerve. . Last night I finally slept HALF decent as opposed to CRAPPY for the past week. I would suggest you just put up with the CRAPPY sleep for a wee bit until the meds kick in and you are free of pain, and can sleep better.

Good luck

Nan

[Q_TeaPie]

Here is my experience with tramadol; A gp I was under the care of 18 years ago, put me on Tramadol (it was fairly new back then) for pain, while I was on the waiting list for surgery. The gp specifically told me, that the medication was much safer then a regular opioid, and that there was no potential for addiction- call me gullible, but I believed him. I couldn't understand why I kept feeling like I was dying, everytime a script ran out- and then I'd start a new script and felt normal once again. Eventually, I put 2 and 2 together, and realized I was experiencing opioid withdrawal! I was horrified, that I was in that position, as I had never abused the medication, I always took it as prescribed. I had so much trouble withdrawing from the medication (I had such severe opioid withdrawals, both physically & mentally). 18 years later, I am still on an opiod replacement treatment program, as the physical symptoms & crushing depression that happened to me each time I desperately attempted to push through opiod withdrawals, was more than I could bare. Other's may experience zero problems on Tramadol, so I am not bagging out on the medication, I am just saying that it isn't a good medication to take long term (I would've steered clear of the medication had I known that it was just as addictive & as potent as non synthetic opiods). I've never been a drug user (illegal or legal) and I have never abused any medications (prescription or over the counter)- & yet, I have had to be on an opiod replacement treatment program for almost half of my life; as I trusted what the GP said about the medication. I'm not surprised that your cpap machine had to deliver a higher than usual pressure the night you took the tramadol, as it is a central nervous deppressant- {even though tramadol is a synthetic (man made) opiod, it still has all of the same effects {positive and negative} than non synthetic opiods. PS: I don't want to scare you, I'm just wanted to let you know that, tramadol is more than a near opiod.