Does anyone take Ultram (Tramadol HCL) 50 mg for pain?

[tawnya]

I was prescribed this as a PRN for migraine pain. I've never taken it, and wondered if anyone had anything to say about it.

Thanks for any input.

[susiestar]

I have taken it. It sure didn't do anything for migraines for me. It is commonly used for arthritis, fibromyalgia, etc... type pain. I don't think my docs would even think of rxing it for migraines, esp as meds like imitrex are so effective. Do those not work for you or have too many side effects? If they don't work on their own you can add aleve (naproxen sodium) to them. Treximet, one of the newer triptan meds is just imitrex and aleve (500 mg aleve, so take 2 OTC tablets - 220 mg per tab).

It is good for mild to moderate pain, but not so effective for severe pain. It is often sold as ultracet, which just means it has tylenol added to it (most meds with "-cet" indicate that tylenol is added to the med).

I had no side effects from it, it just didn't work as well as I needed it to and after a while it wasn't effective at all. but I was taking it every day for arthritis.

I was never woozy, sleepy or anything from it but it is still a good idea to not drive or do anything dangerous until you know how you will react to it. Are you on anything to prevent your migraines? Often that is the most effective way to handle them.

[HaoZi]

I've had it for migraines. Trying to recall if that was the one that worked or if it was Zomig or something else that worked better. I know it wasn't Imitrex. Ketoprofen worked best for me.

[Hope]

My daughter took it at times for her constant migraine. I think it did better than the other meds she has tried, but it was no miracle. It might have taken the edge off. We stopped going to that doctor, so she doesn't have it anymore.

[barneysmom]

Hi Tawnya, I had never heard of Tramadol given for migraines, but I looked it up real quick, and it is mentioned for migraines.

My DH had some Tramadol left over from something or other, and I borrowed some when I had severe back pain for couple of days. Worked great. It's an opioid, so it did produce a delicious little feeling of well-being, so I had to watch it.

Good luck with your migraine, hope relief is speedy and lasting.

Jo

[Hound dog]

It tends to work better for some people and not at all for others. I think this is one that it really depends on the individual.

Dh takes it with great success. I take it and might as well have eaten an m&m for all the good it does me. I feel nothing, nada, no effect whatsoever. I also noticed no side effects at all. Like I said, was like taking an m&m. lol

[Dammit Janet]

Tramadol is not an opioid. It is a synthetic opioid type medication that supposedly works on the same part of the brain to reduce pain. Supposedly it was invented to avert pain medication dependency. That didnt work because for those that tramadol works for, they do become habituated to tramadol.

For me, tramadol, or Ultram which was the name brand which was only available when I was prescribed it, was a nightmare. It caused immediate projectile vomiting the moment it hit my stomach. No matter the dose, it came back up. Even if I took phenergan half an hour before hand, it still came back up immediately. I never did get to see if the stuff would do any good. I tried it again later when it came out in generic form and was able to get one pill down but was so nauseated that it was simply not worth it. It certainly didnt do a thing for my pain that could ever be worth that amount of nausea.

For me, it gets 5 thumbs down.

As far as migraines go, there are so many other more effective medications out there without using this.

[flutterby]

It caused me to feel very stoned - and not in a good way - and did nothing, nada, for my pain. However, a friend with lupus takes it and it makes her sleepy, but works well for her.

[Star*]

Hi T -

Add me into the group that was not helped by Tramadol. It made me nauseated. I have had migraines for years. Did the whole gamut of 'what could it be from' - from elimination diaries in food, soaps, perfumes, to weather - daily for three months. Loads of fun. Then went in for that hot-dog in a tube test - where they don't tell you about the loud bang, bang, bang sound with the dye injection (MRI?), and then EEG? (the other one where you feel like you're in a 1/2 open dryer.

I have trialed so many because of crippling migraines - and the cost of going to the ER once a month to get the famous cocktail of morphine/delaudid and phenegrin was getting to be more than my insurance wanted to spend. I'm betting they had a talk with the neurologist /migraine doctor -

Finally they put me on a super high dose of Topamax - (I didn't start off that way, but worked my way up to quite a hot dose), and Relpax. Between the Topamax and Relpax? I've been able to stay away from the ER for nearly a year now. Well that and I lost my job - AND I pack my head in ice if I even get the little snow aura. Plus - I know now that 2 things will bring on my headaches that I can't do anything about and I never know when it's going to happen - 1.) Either hormones from before, during or after that time of the month - 2.) Sunshiney days all in a row without any rain. I live for overcast, rainey days. I'm moving North ASAP. Haven't been able to pinpoint a food trigger yet other than McDonalds hamburgers.

Hope this med helps you though.

[HaoZi]

Relpax! Thank you! That's the other thing I took that worked if I caught it early enough most of the time.