Tramadol and fibro pain

[Ian waxman]

@JamieMarc

I just wanted to thank you so much for this post. Because everything you said was spot on. I come from a family that has had addiction and I know what addiction looks like and is radically different than dependence. I don’t doubt at this moment in my life I am dependent upon tramadol. I typically can still feel the pain when I take it but like I said, it knocks it down. When I originally posted above in early May, I was doing better than now. At the end of May through now I’m anywhere between every six hours or every eight.

The first thing that happened was, I started physical therapy, thinking it would help, but it only triggered everything and made it so much worse, so I’m hoping that will die down soon. The other thing is we had to go on a trip from Atlanta to Memphis for a wedding and being in the car just really did me in.

I remember the very first time I ever went to a pain management doctor the kind that only do pain management not the kind you’ve mentioned before that have neurologist or rheumatologist or someone else on board. They treated me like I was a freaking drug addict. First time I’ve ever gone to a pain doctor in my life and they treated me like I was shaking them down. I literally burst into tears in the office because I did not understand why someone would treat me this way. I remembered looking at the doctor saying I just wanna feel well enough to walk my dog. I get it. These people say people all day or desperately trying to get “legally high” from them. But it would be darn nice for them to notice a suburban mom, who at the time couldn’t even fold a basket of laundry because of the pain, who, if they looked at my medical history, I had never had any problems with addiction or painkillers because I’ve never had to take them.

It was horrible. I felt psychologically assaulted in that office. It breaks my heart for everyone. Who’s like us that walks into a pain management facility and get treated like that.

Since Grok was released, I’ve had so many conversations with it about tramadol, different medications and fibromyalgia. It’s amazing what it knows it’s so helpful. It was really helpful when I was trying to figure out the tramadol situation because I’ve been so completely traumatized about becoming addicted but sometimes I’m scared to take it and then I end up in a ball of pain for the rest of the day and I decided I didn’t wanna live like that anymore. So, for the time being tramadol it is.
-Rachel

I was given tramadol in the beginning for my fybromyalgia pain.i have been to the doctors more times arguing the point that it’s the only drug that knocks the edge off the pain.they basically thought i was a opioid addict because I was taking 8 a day.they put me on reletrans patches,morpheine liquid,ibuprofen and then decided i was a addict and i needed to be weaned off the medicine that they prescribed not me!!they put me on the stuff because i was becoming tolerant to the meds.to be totally honest you can get very easily addicted to tramadol.i was on 75 mcg reletrans patch and taking morpheine liquid plus diazepam.i do honestly think some docs haven’t a clue about fybro they’ll just keep giving you the meds till its flagged.i became a addict and it was hell coming off them.i now take a 12 mcg fentanyl patch and they won’t up it.no other pain meds so basically i have to suffer because of the meds that they were happy to dish out!!apparently opioids are addictive.but if they had controlled it better then i may not have ended up in a opioid mess

 

[JamieMarc]

Addiction, dependence, tolerance. All different words with all different meanings with regard to opioids or other potentially addictive drugs.

I reiterate that one can become addicted to almost anything be it a drug, a behavior, a person, an activity etc. The defining characteristic of addiction is an unmanageable life as I explained earlier.

As with most in this forum, tramadol works very well for me, I am able to tolerate it much better than stronger opioids and it is still effective for me even after two and a half years. Some days I take 200 mg and others 250 mg. 400 mg is the maximum dosage recommended and that is usually, at least in the medical establishment, used for cancer patients. My own pain management doctor told me right off the bat that she never exceeds 300 mg per day. Although I could use the extra 50 mg, I have not asked for it and I have accepted that my current dosage will suffice.

She did suggest adding cannabis/medical marijuana along with my tramadol but I could not afford it at that time. Even now, it will be difficult to start because of The upfront costs, but I am going to speak to her next week and see if we can get the process started.

As a recovering alcoholic, I know all too well what addiction can do to one's life. I know the signs of addiction quite well. currently, I am not addicted to anything although I am dependent upon some things like medication, my nicotine vape and coffee. LOL. None of these things causes any unmanageability in my life. Not in the slightest. Although for my health, I do intend to be proactive and quit the nicotine vaping.

Hugs to everyone!

 

[sunkacola]

I agree with @JamieMarc . These days it seems that the terms dependence, addiction, and tolerance are badly misused by many people. Anyone, like Jamie, myself, and many of us on this forum, who has a serious chronic pain condition and has found enough relief from tramadol or any other medication to be able to have a life is "dependent" on that medication, and that is completely different from being addicted. Anyone who has ever been addicted to anything at all also knows that difference.

I started taking tramadol when I was first diagnosed, and the dosage was increased three times, although it never exceeded 150mg a day. Because of all the hype about opioid addiction, and because I was once, decades ago, addicted to something, I got concerned and went off the tramadol, which started me on a long exploration of other things that might help with managing the pain. I have written about this in the post that is pinned at the top of the forum. This was a very good thing that happened for me, because I discovered so many helpful things.

Unfortunately, several years later, and possibly due at least in part to my getting older, the pain level crept up again to the point that, despite my various management methods, it was unmanageable. It took a lot of effort over several months to get someone to prescribe tramadol for me again, but I stayed patient and persistent about it and am now regularly prescribed it again. It makes all the difference for me. I am not pain free by any means, but the tramadol keeps it at a level that I can pretty easily deal with, at least on most days.

The saddest thing is that the opioid addiction "epidemic" ...if you even accept that it was such a thing.....did not start with doctors prescribing such things as tramadol to patients who have chronic severe pain. And because of all of the hype and media about it, doctors became unwilling to prescribe it because they are afraid of it now, afraid that their patients will blame them for being "addicted". The result is that people who want opioids to get high still get them on the black market, and people like us who genuinely need them and have no interest in getting high are often unable to get the only medication that allows them to have any kind of life. We all know that if a person is suffering too much pain on a daily basis and is refused the medication that would help them, they can feel that life is not worth living. I honestly wonder how many people have died because they couldn't get what they needed, but of course no one has tracked those stats.

I think everyone on this forum, and no doubt most people who have fibromyalgia, are perfectly able to determine what works for them and decide for themselves how to manage their medication. I still have some hope that at some point this will be better understood, and I hope that in the meantime everyone is able somehow to get what they need to get through the day. Many things can help when you have fibromyalgia, but there's no harm or shame in having pain medication - including an opiate - in your toolbox.

 

[Sibergirl]

@JamieMarc and @sunkacola both your posts from earlier today, on this thread, are perfectly stated. Y’all are great people.

~Rachel

 

[JamieMarc]

@Sibergirl
Thank you! And likewise!
Hugs!

 

[Sibergirl]

@Sibergirl
I thought obligated to correct you on something.

Delta 8 and Delta 9 both contain THC, no matter what the form, and they can get you high. I know from personal experience. The secret is in the dosing.

@JamieMarc

Thank you for the lovely note but I wanted to let you know I am very well aware of Delta 8 annd Delta 9. I know that they can get you stoned. In fact, I take a Delta 8 THC tincture called Dr. Primo, which I highly recommend, at night to go to sleep.

It not only helps with my pain, but it does make me mildly stoned, but not in “smoking pot-high” kind of way, but more in a totally relaxed, calm, kind of way. Right after I went into menopause, I developed brutal insomnia. This was about 4 years before I developed fibro. I’ve tried sleep hygiene and all those different things and when I get in bed, it doesn’t matter. My brain just wakes right up . Dr. Primo prevents that from happening. I just can’t get anxious when I’m on it and I know that’s the THC. When it hits, I feel this absolute rush of complete calm come over me, which is probably really important because I have a very amped up nervous system. Dr. Primo is pretty strong so I get away with about 10 to 13 drops depending on the night. The serving size is 30 drops, my husband gave that to me once, accidentally. I got super stoned. Not gonna lie the beginning of it was fun and I was laughing hysterically at whatever we were watching, but coming down from it did not feel great so I’m very careful about how I dose myself, as you mentioned.

I also take a joint and muscle pain CBD oil that has no THC. It’s meant to help reduce inflammation and pain in the joints and muscles. I really don’t have pain in my joints, except for my sacrum, (tailbone) mostly everywhere else it’s muscles. I just started taking that and I can let you know how it goes, but it has not impaired me in anyway so when they said that it was free of THC, they weren’t kidding.

-Rachel

 

[Ian waxman]

Addiction, dependence, tolerance. All different words with all different meanings with regard to opioids or other potentially addictive drugs.

I reiterate that one can become addicted to almost anything be it a drug, a behavior, a person, an activity etc. The defining characteristic of addiction is an unmanageable life as I explained earlier.

As with most in this forum, tramadol works very well for me, I am able to tolerate it much better than stronger opioids and it is still effective for me even after two and a half years. Some days I take 200 mg and others 250 mg. 400 mg is the maximum dosage recommended and that is usually, at least in the medical establishment, used for cancer patients. My own pain management doctor told me right off the bat that she never exceeds 300 mg per day. Although I could use the extra 50 mg, I have not asked for it and I have accepted that my current dosage will suffice.

She did suggest adding cannabis/medical marijuana along with my tramadol but I could not afford it at that time. Even now, it will be difficult to start because of The upfront costs, but I am going to speak to her next week and see if we can get the process started.

As a recovering alcoholic, I know all too well what addiction can do to one's life. I know the signs of addiction quite well. currently, I am not addicted to anything although I am dependent upon some things like medication, my nicotine vape and coffee. LOL. None of these things causes any unmanageability in my life. Not in the slightest. Although for my health, I do intend to be proactive and quit the nicotine vaping.

Hugs to everyone!

Well done for quitting the alchohol.it nearly ended my marriage