Tramadol Dosing Guide - Input Requested

[LowCard]

I know Tramadol is loved and hated... for me it's just OK. I've been taking Tramadol (would highly prefer Roxi, but I got what I got) for almost 2 months for severe pelvic floor disorder. I'd like to be taking 400mg a day (I take Klonopin and am not concerned with seizures... though new users should note the seizure threshold). In order not to cut myself short towards the end of my refill I usually take 300mg. I would like some folks to review my experience and comment:

Most days I begin with 100mg followed by 200mg an hour later. Seems to work, but I can't tell if 3 doses of 100mg spaced an hour apart would be better. Or maybe 6 doses 50mg an hour apart? Does anyone know what dosage schedule will maximize the effectiveness of the drug?

Also I usually wait until the Tram is fading before taking the Klonopin, but every once in a while I'll take them together. They are working separately and together.

Your experience and thoughts are appreciated.
Gratefully,
LowCard

 

[Keif' Richards]

Hey LowCard, I hope all is well for ya. Tramadol is not really a drug that needs to be staggered to maximize effectiveness like say, Gabapentin (Neurontin) does. A dose is a dose essentially. What this means is that it's really a matter of personal preference. Nobody can tell you what will be most effective for you, they can only truly say what is effective for them, which has little bearing on your situation.

As you mentioned, 300mg Tramadol per day is the generally accepted dosing limit. It's known to induce seizures when taken in higher than recommended dosages. As far as what's best for you, it's going to be preference.

So, unfortunately, I'm going to close this, as it's totally on you to decide what makes you feel best. Really, asking other people for advice is counterproductive and potentially dangerous. That's why we don't allow this sort of speculatory threads.

 

[Slow_Mobius]

Keif is definitely right. You're just going to have to figure it out for yourself.

Personally, I found tramadol to be most effective in lower doses spaced 30-60 minutes apart.

 

[Treefa]

Yeah it's highly individualized. Almost like working out a budget....bills & pills. Ones hard to get rid of, the other's just hard to get!

Depends when you need the pain relief, how much, and for how long.
If you also take into consideration you're bio-individuality, that will hepp(not correcting because this is how old people in the south say "help"...love it) to give you an idea of how much you need & when.

Example; I'm up to 1/2 a gram of it today. Upon waking, I had 4.5 to get the ball rolling....drank some coke and waited about 20 minutes to take the next dose(I only do this because of the potential for severe nausea that 8 times/10 ends in vomiting...esp. if I don't burp....that's just me though), of 4 more pills, and within 1.5-2 hours I can feel them fighting my pain some.

That lasted me about 7 hours, after which point I took 2 more to revive the analgesia.

Now when I was younger & not tolerant, 6-8 pills would work literally 12-14 hours..nowadays, through tolerance to both Tramadol and Opiate analgesics, induration is a serious problem, as well as the dosing tolerance in general.

So it's completely patient specific, but with tramadol, my personal rule of thumb(due to it's decent half-life) is to take my largest dose earlier in the day, and redoes PRN to ease recurrence in pain.

Good luck, and remember, like cooking, you can always add, but you can't take away!

P.s. the seizure risk is probably overstated in the general population, but definitely know your limits, and be vigilant.

 

[Slow_Mobius]

P.s. the seizure risk is probably overstated in the general population, but definitely know your limits, and be vigilant.

I know your saying it's only probably overstated, but I think this advice can be a little dangerous. It's incredibly individual, and taking something else that may seem benign (tobacco for example) could elicit a seizure at even lower doses than what your taking. There are so many variables that come into play here that even less than the recommended daily maximum can cause seizures in certain individuals.

If anything, I would warn people to exercise extra caution with their tramadol doses. It can have potentially life threatening interactions with some drugs that would otherwise seem completely safe to the layman.

Under most circumstances it's a safe drug to take, but one mix up in which someone takes too much or mixes it with the wrong substance could have serious consequences.

 

[Riggyspanish]

Hello! Well I used to mess around with Tramadol back when I had a moderately low tolerance to opioids and when nothing was around. But I can't tell if your doing this for recreation or to help with pain or simply the two combined. But I will just give info from my personal experiences with Tramadol.

When I first started takimg them I would take the full dose at once. I would take 12-15 50mgs (obviously 600-750mgs is NOT RECOMMENDED) I personally never experienced seizures when using that much however that is me everyone is different as you know. But when I took them all at once it would get me in the right place.

But quite a few had told me and read a few places online that I should stagger the doses instead and not take it all at once for best efficiency. So I would pop 5 first if I had 15 of them and wait till I felt it coming on which was about over an half an hour and Then pop another 5. I would dose my last 5 about an hour and a half to two hours after the 10.

It def helped. Wouldn't say it was a palcebo, It had me nodding hard doing it that way where as before I couldn't catch a nod. It lasted longer that way as well. I would dose around 8pm and still be nice and high come 10am the next day. I think doing it that way is a lot more efficient.

Of course my dose was stupidly high and way overboard and was just getting high with it where as your problem seems to be trying to get the best lasting efficiency out of it to manage your pain and maybe feel good in the process. But I would say the 100mg an hour for the 3 hours. BUT if 50mgs alone really helps your pain then I'd go with 50mgs every hour for the 6 hours that way it gives you more time for the relief. If you do the 50mg option You may find that you don't even have to fully dose those last few hours and can have extra left over just incase. I understand either way u do it its the same dose but sometimes when you start low and space it youll find that you may not even need to waste the rest of the dose later. This is assuming the 50mgs alone helps.

I would just kind of play with it till you find what way dosing works best for you as long as you aren't overdosing thats ok to do. You clearly know the seizure threshold so thats not a problem. I can't say which way will work best because only you can find that out and find what you like. Like I said as long as you aren't going over your regular dose to mess with it you will be fine to dose how you please.
God I hope I helped somewhat lol and answered your question correctly!