Just wondering if there’s anyone who accidentally (like me) found out Tramadol has helped somewhat with depression. (It didn’t help me that much though.)

I was prescribed Tramadol (Ultram) for pain. I stopped taking the two 50mg pills per day, then went through the typical withdrawals. After the withdrawals dropped off, I seemed even more depressed.

I started taking ½” pill (25mg) in the early morning. It takes about 2-hrs to kick in but gave me a real nice feeling of well-being. However, I had to go a full 24-hrs before another dose to keep the tolerance low, or this wouldn’t work.

I read where Tramadol was researched for use in depression combined with pain management. However, Psychiatrists don’t recommend its use for depression, even though studies show it could possibly help.

Wondering if anyone had the same experience, or something similar?

iwas on tramadol for pain i only took it when my pain got real bad. at that time i wasnt on depression meds and i was extremely depressed. i actually cant take it with my depression meds wich bums me out becuz i have alot of pain and it worked. i dont think it helped me with my depression

Back in 2003-2004 I tried Tramadol, under the name Tramal, 200mg of the slow release one. It worked OK for me.

Research has shown that Tramadol affects the (mu) receptor, working like an opiate, but it also blocks the re-uptake of serotonin and nor-adrenaline, making it works like an antidepressant, SNRI, like Venlafaxine ( Effexor) and Duloxetine ( Cymbalta). But the effect is too mild to get the antidepressant effect.

In 2005, numerous company started launching the generic brands of Tramadol. And when I tried the generic brands, I Got the sensation as if my soul is coming out of my body, and I feel very nauseated with headache, and my hearing is affected very much.

I just don't know why is this so.

Anyone experience this sensations with Tramadol?

i felt completely high on it and literally passed out after about 3 hours of running around like a freak ,, i didnt feel any pain though,,

Just curious, how much of it did you take at a time?

It definetly lifts your mood. It's practically just like codeine from my experience.

Did you notice the vivid dream while on tramadol?

50mg i couldnt function and the went to 35mg with 15 mg ibuprofen

Interesting that you asked. I did have vivid dreams sometimes, but primarily it was the Melatonin. The thing about Tramadol for me was how much it improved focus on boring mindless work, like data entry, or light software programming. You can literally sit in front of your laptop at a coffee shop for hours on end getting 2-3 times more work done.

FYI: Just an observation while on Tramadol for a short term injury. I didn’t take it for any other reason.

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FYI: Just an observation while on Tramadol for a short term injury. I didn’t take it for any other reason.
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I switched from oxycotin to tramadol, because I got addicted to them. I injured my back pretty good and my doctor got loose with his prescription pad. I had to get myself off them and tramadol worked very well. No withdrawals or anything and I was on oxycotin for 3 months.

I have all the Tramadol in the world and it does nothing for my mood, all it does it kill pain.

I took high doses of Ultram for pain associated with a pinched nerve in my neck. It did nothing for the pain and increased my depression. It also made me physically ill.
Sheepwoman

wow, that sucks

Generic do not work as well, I am living in Australia, and tried several generic brands of Tramadol.

Here is what i Got : After taking 100mg, while sitting in the library, I felt like I was floating in the air, the sensation is very frightening, I almost got severe panic attack, my hearing become so vivid and my heart was racing.

That was when i tried the generic brand.
***

The same thing when I tried some other generic of codeine, I felt that my soul is being lifted up to the air, schizophrenic kind of side effect.
anyone experience the same with generic brand?

There are also numerous warnings out there about taking Tramadol and SSRIs and other medicines that increase serotonin. Be careful and talk to your doc if you are taking an SSRI etc. Be careful

HD

yes! i was on tramadol for 3 months because of a foot injury. I was on bed rest so I couldn't really move around so I slep a lot. I would literally have to ask my parents and friends what happened yesterday because i couldn't tell the difference between reality and my dreams. It didn't help with my depression though.

I live in Canada and it is not widely prescribed here. However when I went to Panama on my honeymoon, I really hurt my back (now that realllly sucked) so saw the resort doctor. Gave me a script for tramadol, went into town gave the the Rx - they gave me the tramadol 100mg AND the script back!!! So they worked really well and went to other pharmacia's and they did the same. So I could get unlimited amounts there using on script or none at all!! Wierd!!! They took the pain away, and made me feel relaxed. Since I never really heard of them prior to this, I brought some over the border, thinking nothing of it...no prescription needed in Panama got home, days later looked up tramadol and the laws regarding bringing stuff into the country and it is ILLEGAL!! I had no idea!! By accident, i smuggled tramado over the border. If they searched my stuff.....I could have been in big trouble!!! Again, I did not know that it was illegal....didn't need a script so I thought it would be OK, like bringing in Advil or something like that. OOOOOooooopsssss. This was a few years ago. Yikes!!

Greetings all
Tramadol is contra-indicated for taking with SSRI's and probably SNRI's.
Taking both at the same time can cause seretonin syndrome

hope this helps
Geoff

It hasn't helped my depression really but I tried to withdraw from it this weekend and have never felt more depressed.

How does one get off this drug? I experienced night sweats, insomnia, no motivation and like I just couldn't control myself.

I was only prescribed tramadol for a pretty severe pain when I was discharged from hospital after morphine injections for a week or so. I had a 3 week course but had to ask for more since the pain was still pretty awful when just taking other painkillers. However now my pain is easing up, I thought I could just stop taking trams. Boy was I wrong. So I tried to wean myself off them. I got down to half a capsule by last Friday and decided to take none the next day. By Sunday I was AWFUL, with the symptoms described above. So yesterday I woke up and took one. I also took one tonight as well as I really need to get some sleep.

Any suggestions?

Be VERY VERY careful with Tramadol. I started using it for pain as it was easy to get without a prescription in Thailand. After a few weeks, I no longer needed to take it, BUT my body and mind was addicted to it. If I didn't take it, I would feel terrible. So, I continued taking it - with each week increasing amounts until I was popping 10 50mg pills per day. I started off with only 2 per day, but escalated to 10.

I've never been addicted to anything except Tramadol. Even though I've been off of it for well over a year now, I still miss the comfort and bliss is provided. Some people say it's an opium high. I have no idea as I've never tried opium. All I can say, tread lightly with Tramadol.

Coming off of it was terrible. Leg pains, muscle pain, headaches, aggression, dizziness, agitation, depression, and anger were all part of the mix for weeks.

This post has been edited by scooterboy: Nov 23 2009, 10:46 PM

How did you come off it though? Do you just have to go cold turkey or is there a substitute drug to eliminate the side effects?

I went cold turkey but if I can remember correctly I took the odd low dose of valium or clonazapam from time to time when the side effects were bad. I was careful not to get hooked on those too as they are also somewhat addicting. It took about three weeks to feel much better. But as I said before, even though it's been over a year since I took the last Tramadol, I still have times when I feel like popping a few BUT refrain from doing so as I know where that road goes. Never again with Tramadol.

The first few days are the toughest but after 3 weeks it's no problem.

Good luck....

Thank you.

I have cold like flu symptoms right now. I read somewhere that this could also be a side effect because my cold only kicked in this weekend. However I'm not entirely convinced but I think I may refrain from trying to come off them til this flu goes away because when I took a tramadol last night, my head and nose felt a lot better this morning. I just don't know if it's all relative though.