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  • BDD Moderators: Keif’ Richards | negrogesic

Tramadol, Opiate or SNRI?

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tommy34

Bluelighter
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Sep 13, 2010
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Hi, so I am a bit confused about this Tramadol stuff. Is it an opiate prescribed for pain relief or is it a SNRI prescribed for depression and depression related disorders? Or is it all of the above? The reason I'm asking is that I've suffered with depression and social anxiety for quiet a few years now. I've tried a limited number or opiates before but have enjoyed every time I've had them. I even found myself in a surprisingly good mood up to two days after the use of opiates. The good mood didn't feel drug related, it felt abnormally normal. So what is this drug and is it prescribed for depression?
 
Try the search function. OR-wikipedia it. This is a very basic question...or, series of.

I'd love to take the time to reply, but I feel it's in your best interest to try the aforementioned and get to know the site better.
 
^ True, but at the same time in BDD we encourage people to start their own threads so they can get personalised answers. Not especially needed in this case, but still..

It's both an opioid and an SNRI. It's not prescribed as an antidepressant as far as I know however, it's used as an analgesic, but it does have SNRI properties.

It's pretty common for depressed people to feel "normal" again when they take opioids - they remove the negative feelings pretty effectively. It can be a real relief, and I think this is why the feeling can linger even after the effects of the opioid have worn off.. Unfortunately, tolerance and dependence make them poor long term choices for antidepressants..
 
Indeed. It is both. It's a strange drug for sure. Some people experience more SNRI-like effects from it, whereas others experience more opioid-like effects from it.

The SNRI properties enhance the opioid action tramadol has, causing it to be a more effective pain medication. On the other side of the coin, when you WD from tramadol, its opioid and SNRI WD at the same time.
 
It's pretty common for depressed people to feel "normal" again when they take opioids - they remove the negative feelings pretty effectively. It can be a real relief, and I think this is why the feeling can linger even after the effects of the opioid have worn off.. Unfortunately, tolerance and dependence make them poor long term choices for antidepressants..
^indeed. opiates can give a very natural feeling high, which is part of what makes them so appealing IMO. but even though bluelighters often ask and talk about tramadol as a possible anti-depressant, i think that would a terrible idea. on top of dependence and tolerance mentioned by effie, i feel like everyday tramadol over an extended period of time would leave a person ragged.
 
It's weird to the way it shuts down GABA production severely at high doses, more so than even severely more potent opiods.
 
^indeed. opiates can give a very natural feeling high, which is part of what makes them so appealing IMO. but even though bluelighters often ask and talk about tramadol as a possible anti-depressant, i think that would a terrible idea. on top of dependence and tolerance mentioned by effie, i feel like everyday tramadol over an extended period of time would leave a person ragged.

I feel it would become very edgy. I can't begin to explain how raw it can make one feel. Like one big epilepsy aura or something...
 
It's weird to the way it shuts down GABA production severely at high doses, more so than even severely more potent opiods.

i've never heard of this, would you mind elaborating/enlightening me a bit more on the subject?

i've just recontinued my tramadol schedule along with oxycodone and neuroleptic (gabapentin) and benzo for pain control. apart from short stints of absinence, tramadol has been a staple in my pain management for going on 8 years. and yes, it's torture coming off it. my sleep schedule has now returned to normal after a month off it, not including the withdrawals.

btw i'm in talks with my doctor of discontinuing it and either upping my oxy dose (prefer not to) or using indocin suppositries.
 
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I know 2 people at work who have been on Tramadol for a sometime one that has a severe ongoing back problem and has been on and off the stuff for 3 years as the problems keeps re-occurring and he has to have another op.

He's offered me loads for nothing but having read up on the stuff and talked to him about the effects I've turned them down.....proabably the only free drugs I've ever done so. They do seem a fairly effective pain killer though but there seems dispute around whether they are more or less addictive than morphine
 
man I can answer a lot of your tramadol related questions.. I have been on the stuff for the last 2 years... only recently having switched out to kratom 2 months ago... let me tell you.. the withdrawal was/is unbearable.. now I've never withdrawn from heroin or the like but I have withdrawn from doing suboxone everyday for three months recreationally and while the sub withdrawal lasted a whole month.. I would rather do that again than withdraw from the tramadol.. it's is just so Brutal.. you literally feel like your body is shutting down
I too used it for it's Snri properties.. dude I looked at tramadol as basically an extremely light stimulant.. I would take it and clean the house take my daughter out to play and do everything I was suppose to do in life.. before I started taking tramadol all I did was Drink beer all day and smoke weed... a shell of a person.. with no motivation, no ambition. just a waste of space. and then I tried tramadol it was like something just switched in my head.. for the first time in my life I felt like I could focus on tasks and complete them and what's more.. I enjoyed doing so.. I became the opposite of the lazy bastard I had been all my life... I quit drinking, smoking weed and any and all other recreational drugs.. all I took was Tram..
It seemed like a miracle drug for me.. I was just amazed for the first time in my life I had a sense of accomplishment and actually gained confidence in myself being a respectable member of society and there was something there that I never really experinced much of before... I was happy..
Then I started needing to take more and more of the tramadol to get the same effect. when I got to the 400 mg a day max everyday I started to worry because I had thoroughly researched and knew about the extremely real and dangerous seizure risk..
But it didn't stop me.. I eventually ended up taking 20 tramadol pills a day everyday.. with no regard to whether I would have a seizure or not.. in fact for the last year I've been taking 20 a day constantly.. .I was lucky I Never had a seizure, black out, or any negative side effects from doing this..
Still it was extremely dumb to me.. you really never know with tramadol you could be fine on 20 a day for years then one day take 5 of the damn things and seize out..
anyways.. when I quit.. the withdrawal was excruciating.. so I ordered some kratom and have been taking that instead ever since..
Kratom has it's good points but it doesn't do the same thing for me tramadol does. I am contemplating ordering some more even now lol
 
i've never heard of this, would you mind elaborating/enlightening me a bit more on the subject?

i've just recontinued my tramadol schedule along with oxycodone and neuroleptic (gabapentin) and benzo for pain control. apart from short stints of absinence, tramadol has been a staple in my pain management for going on 8 years. and yes, it's torture coming off it. my sleep schedule has now returned to normal after a month off it, not including the withdrawals.

btw i'm in talks with my doctor of discontinuing it and either upping my oxy dose (prefer not to) or using indocin suppositries.

It antagonizes GABA-A. This is why it can cause an seizure. The higher you dose the higher the chance of you seizing. It is dangerous and unpredictable over 400 mg. UTSE for more details. There are threads everywhere.

All opiates in general Somewhat slow down GABA production. This is what creates that rush of dopamine. This is why opiates create some of there euphoria. The obvious would be the native opiate receptors they hit.
 
Interesting...is there a PubMed article for this? ;)

I always thought tramadol's lovely side effect of seizures at high doses was due to its SNRI + opiate activity. AFAIK, all opiates reduce the seizure threshold.
 
^Very nice.

Tramadol is quite the interesting drug, my experiences with it are all below 200-250mg, however. Not really a fan....I mean, it worked out as an opioid perfectly, but the fact that mixing it with other drugs is dangerous sort of turned me off.
 
^Very nice.

Tramadol is quite the interesting drug, my experiences with it are all below 200-250mg, however. Not really a fan....I mean, it worked out as an opioid perfectly, but the fact that mixing it with other drugs is dangerous sort of turned me off.

Same here. I only could have fun with recreational ant-convulsants. I was just to cautious.
 
Well, think we've got that answered now :)

We get a lot of threads on tramadol, so I'm going to close this now but feel free to pm me if you have any queries.

Closed.
 
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