This has been a hard two weeks and/or year and a half for me, but thank god I found this out finally.
I have been to the doctor, actually several doctors over this past year and a half. I have had extreme muscle swelling all over my entire body to where i could barely walk and was stuck in bed for quite a while at one point.
My RA was the worst they had seen since my swelling was over the entire body and extremely high in pain.
I have been testing for anything you can imagine from muscle diseases to inflammation disorders as well as odd diseases just to see if anything might be causing how extreme my pain was.
They found nothing but RA.
Now here is my story on how "ultram" aka tramadol caused 90% of my pain and inflammation.
Ultram has a "rare" side effect, they call it rare (so the doctor said) because there has never been proper testing for this result.
What can happen is that it "can" cause inflammation, it "can" cause muscle swelling aches and horrible pain and it "can" cause addiction in some.
Well.... it got me.
I started on this drug about 3 months before diagnosed with RA. I had a pinched nerve in my back and was given this along with muscle relaxers and i got worse. I also had uterus problems so things were crazy in my body.
I got more pain, it spread to wrists, fingers, elbows etc. etc. etc. By the time 6 months was past i was stuck in bed.
I finally got my RA doc appt and was put on anti inflam drugs which counter acted some of what ultram was doing to me but we didn't know at the time that ultram was doing anything, they thought it was all RA and nothing else.
Well... to make a long story still long rofl....
I stopped my ultram 2 days ago and am already starting to feel "wonderful". I am going through horrible withdrawls, but the swelling is going down EVERYWHERE.
I still have RA, but it isn't even close to being what they thought. So after a month or so, they want to see just how everything is.
Now, unfortunately... I have damage in a finger and in my knees due to the last year and a half. But, who knows what would have happened otherwise.
Needless to say, I have not felt this great since over a year and a half and i have only been off the drug for almost 2 days total now.
Important... if you do get off this drug and have used it for over a few months, go down slow. The withdrawls will cause horrible pain if you go cold turkey and you will have flu symptoms.
One hint that it is causing you problems, see how you feel a while after "not" taking one set of ultram. Do you find you feel sick, shaking and have more pain? That is an addiction, so go down slowly off the pill.
You can find more on ultram addiction, withdrawals etc. by searching for those words on the internet.
I just thought i would let you know because this is a breakthrough for me and my doctor and he is praying that it might be the main reason so i might be able to get off prednisone and possibly the arava.
We will see, good luck.
PS: forgot to say, ultram will make you hurt more when your body wants more like a regular addiction but it isn't that you crave it, it is that your body wants a pill so it makes your actually hurt more, so you find you are popping more pills etc.
bubbagump, that is amazing...I have never heard about this and I am so glad that you found out and are starting to feel better. What made you decide to stop the Ultram in the first place? Did your dr suggest it?
I'm wondering because I've been on Ultracet/Ultram since July, and that is about when my symptoms changed/increased from just FM to more RA...my hands and joints started with swelling, hurting, stiffness, and numbness.
However, I've been off of it plenty of times, and now I more often take Vicodin ES than Ultracet/Ultram. I haven't noticed any improvement. How long did it take for you to see a change?
How much; and how often were you taking it?
I take Tramadol on a as needed basis. I've never taken it around the clock (K~Scratch that; I did when I was first prescribed it after throwing my back out!).
I've been taking it about two years I guess; but really haven't felt dependant on it at all. Some days I don't take it at all. Lots of days.
OH~Thrilled to hear oyu are getting to the root of your problems. Glad to hear you're doing better.Wow that is pretty scary situation. I just started Ultram and I felt terrible on it. I only took a few pills and believe me it did nothing but make me achy all over badly, especially my legs. I am so happy you found what was causing you more pain ...more pain over a pill and they are suppose to help with the pain. Well take care and thank god you have alittle less pain!
Lisa
OMG, thanks for the warning ShanThank you. I take tramadol also.
But like Watchingwolf I would like to know the source of info for the rare side effect of increased inflamation.
Always with drugs it is a double edged sword - If it is strong enough to help you it is also strong enough to hurt you. My favorite old rhuemy doc told me that 25 years ago. I always keep it in mind. Tramadol made my body race so I never took it again. Interesting info.Wow that's amazing. Yeah, where did you hear that? I take it on an as-need basis too, and so far haven't had any problems. I'm glad you figured out what was hurting you though! :)
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/uspdi/202789.htm l
Is one great resource for the side effects.
I also like to search the internet for other forums etc. that contain the information from people who have used any drugs I am looking for.
The site above calls it swelling and joint swelling, i can't find the one i saw a few days ago about the inflammation. It was a long medical page from a testing medical company, but i can't find it right now.
But the site above has a HUGE list of things that go wrong.
I took mine for over a year and a half, at times i was taking 10 pills a day, at other times just two.
I am having bad withdrawals right now so can't stay long.
My scrip says not to exceed 4 in a day. Rarely do I take that much. I think 10 in a day is too much and could likely be the root of your problem.
I haven't taken that much in about 5 months. I have been on 2 a day since then. My Arava started working, so i came down on the ultram.
I was told to take 2 every 4-6 hours and i did, including the middle of the night. Sometimes i took ten.
I have been in a forum for people addicted to ultram and some of them were amazing as they said they took up to 60 in a day. I can't believe anyone could take that much, but with the pill causing you more and more pain, you end up taking that much.
60 pills a day! For crying out loud!! I'd have to think that's a problem.
Hell; I think 10 is too much.
60~That's just plain crazy. If this person doesn't realize this is a problem surely their doctor is smokin crack!
i was taking ultram and then i stopped. my dr put me on it during the day and vicodin at night. well i when i took the ultram i got so sick, dizzy nauseated and weak, shortness of breath so i stopped. i thought it was just me. thank for putting out the messageI use 1-2 ultrams a day. They do seem to wind me up too much so I break them in half and they seem to work better. I am not able to take them at night because they keep me awake, so I will take vicodin in the evening. To help keep the vicodin usage down as much as possible, I sometimes take the ultram with a half vicodin - this added pain relief works well if I'm really hurting in the morning or early afternoon.Read this
http://www.addict-help.com/ultram-addiction.htm
I know that doctors only prescribe a select amount because it is basicly against the law for them to give more. Mine used to say 2 pills twice a day. I have had a total of 3 doctors try to give me this drug but already had one supplying it. They said that there was a number on the bottle to take but i could take more.
Anyone who takes more than the subscribed is not at fault. If you read the link to the site for drug addiction with ultram you will notice that ultram will basicly stop working so the person needs to take more.
When you have an amount of pain so that you can't walk without a walker or get around without a wheel chair, pain killers are important so you can move on your own. When the pills stop working and your body builds up against it, you then take more to help get rid of the pain.
Drug addiction doesn't only mean narcotics. It's when the brain or body ends up relying on the product.
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/medmaster/a69501 1.html
Okay I googled tramadol and this was one of the first things that popped up. If you look at side effects you will find muscle weakness, and if you go down to the next list of more serious side effects....swelling is there. This makes me want to go back and re-read the side effects warnings on all of the meds I am taking.
Oh wait..that is the same link isnt it? But I found that right away...so this isnt some hidden information..just something that seems to get overlooked..by everyone..WOW...Wow
I have been taking Tramodol for 2 years. I take 2 in the morning at 2 at bedtime and if I need it, occasionally take 2 at about 4 pm. for me it works great. My scrip is for 2 every 6 hours.
I don't feel anything, just notice that I'm not hurting.. there's no "high" no fast pulse, nothing. Other pain meds make me feel high or sleepy.
Personally I would take it if prescribed, but be aware of possible issues.
it works pretty well for me too. It use to make me sleepy; but I don't think it does anymore. I do always take it when I'm at home though. I don't like taking any prescription pain meds when I'm working or driving.
I've never had to be prescribed anything stronger for pain other them muscle relaxers....and do you consider that pain meds? I'm not sure; but I do take them for pain.
WatchingWolf- I would highly recommend a muscle relaxer if you can get one. I think that in the effort to protect and baby our joints we put strain on our muscles, plus sometimes just every day tasks for us are like a workout at the gym for others. My theighs especially and shoulders get really sore by the end of the day and a muscle relaxer at bedtime really helps me to rest better. I have tried Soma which is very strong in the sense that it has that drugging dopey effect, and yet not a very long lasting effect. So I switched years ago to Skelaxin which was new at the time and it works well. One of the nice things is that for most people you can still function on it..it doesnt dope you up. I am also able to take Norflex and Flexeril with out the drowsiness, although I know some people do get sleepy from those. Out of the 4 I would rate Flexeril as my favorite because it works so well, with Skelaxin in a close second place. Norflex is okay, and I would rate Soma as my least favorite..and besides that, many docs are leary about giving the somas. I hope this gives you some ideas about the different muscle relaxers out right now..Oh yeah..the Skelaxin doesnt come in a generic yet..so that is the other nice thing about Flexeril..you can get the generic and save a few bucks.
Watchingwolf~my doctor orignially called me in a script for a muscle relaxer when I threw my back out two years ago. Although this has been a regular occurance for years I'd never been given these before. That and Tramadol worked really good for me during this time and considering my back problems are aggrevated greatly by RA my doctor suggested I use the muscle relaxers as needed. AND I DO!! Definately ask your doctors opinion on them. I like them.
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