Can someone explain Tapentadol to me please?

[ElBarone]

As in the title, I’ve recently got my hands on some of these but i am a bit confused as to what they are exactly.

I am very nervous about SSRI (personal reasons), hence have always avoided Tramadol, but it’s unclear to me to whether Tapentadol has this element? If it is minimal then I’m not too bothered.

Also how strong are they? I have a very high tolerance to Dihydrocodeine, i take around 900mg a day to function, would that tolerance cross over to Tapentadol, how many would i have to take to experience the high. My thinking is to take one or two on top of my usual DHC dose (which doesn’t get me high)

Any pointers at all on this drug would be gratefully received

 

[Twisted_Chemist]

Just some basic harm reduction, please do not mix drugs...let alone ones you have no idea about. Do not mix drugs of the same class, unless you have experience with both drugs, even then still a really bad idea due to the synergistic effects of taking them both.

50mg Tapentadol = 10mgs of oral Oxy according to the cDcs opioid conversation calculator for analgesic effect.

And iirc correctly though, it really doesn't have a great high. It is 18 times less potent than morphine in terms of binding to human μ-opioid receptors, probably why.

 

[mygreenbic]

As in the title, I’ve recently got my hands on some of these but i am a bit confused as to what they are exactly.

I am very nervous about SSRI (personal reasons), hence have always avoided Tramadol, but it’s unclear to me to whether Tapentadol has this element? If it is minimal then I’m not too bothered.

Also how strong are they? I have a very high tolerance to Dihydrocodeine, i take around 900mg a day to function, would that tolerance cross over to Tapentadol, how many would i have to take to experience the high. My thinking is to take one or two on top of my usual DHC dose (which doesn’t get me high)

Any pointers at all on this drug would be gratefully received

just a couple things. i have a bunch of tapentadol that i take, and it only takes about 100-200mg and you can't tell it from other opioids. i think Everytime i take it i get Seratonin syndrome, however because i take methadone as well

 

[Curt Mandible]

Hey ElBarone, Tapentadol is an opioid medication that's similar to Tramadol, but without the SSRI properties, so you might not need to worry about that. It's said to be around 1/5 to 1/10 the strength of oxycodone, so it's not as potent as some other opioids. However, it's still important to be cautious and not mix it with other drugs, especially if you're not familiar with them. Start with a low dose and see how your body reacts. And remember, opioids can be dangerous if not used properly. Good luck, and let us know if you have any more questions!

 

[Keif' Richards]

Tapentadol (Nucynta) is in very simple terms, a more potent version of the Opioid Tramadol. Tramadol is both an Opioid agonist and a Serotoning-Norepinephrine Reputake Inhibitor. Tramadol is relatively famous in our Harm Reduction community for its propensity to cause seizures. The risk for seizures increases considerably as the dosage of Tramadol is raised above 300mg per dose. This causes a two-fold problem for addicts, as the desire to increase dosage is unavoidable, while these SNRI effects are unwanted and lead to the seizures.

Tapentadol is similar to Tramadol, though it produces SNRI effects that are not nearly as significant as Tramadol's, meaning there is a wider therapeutic index. Tapentadol however does act as a Norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor, those these qualities seem to enhance the drug's painkilling effects. Tapentadol doesn't seem to carry the same risk for seizure as its "parent" drug, Tapentadol.

Basically, Tapentadol is an Opioid of relatively high potency, between that of Tramadol and Morphine. You can expect it to have a different feel than a drug like Morphine due to its NRI effects, though most report it to feel just like any other Opioid. Its effects are also often compared to that of Tramadol and you can understand why.

 

[ElBarone]

Tapentadol (Nucynta) is in very simple terms, a more potent version of the Opioid Tramadol. Tramadol is both an Opioid agonist and a Serotoning-Norepinephrine Reputake Inhibitor. Tramadol is relatively famous in our Harm Reduction community for its propensity to cause seizures. The risk for seizures increases considerably as the dosage of Tramadol is raised above 300mg per dose. This causes a two-fold problem for addicts, as the desire to increase dosage is unavoidable, while these SNRI effects are unwanted and lead to the seizures.

Tapentadol is similar to Tramadol, though it produces SNRI effects that are not nearly as significant as Tramadol's, meaning there is a wider therapeutic index. Tapentadol however does act as a Norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor, those these qualities seem to enhance the drug's painkilling effects. Tapentadol doesn't seem to carry the same risk for seizure as its "parent" drug, Tapentadol.

Basically, Tapentadol is an Opioid of relatively high potency, between that of Tramadol and Morphine. You can expect it to have a different feel than a drug like Morphine due to its NRI effects, though most report it to feel just like any other Opioid. Its effects are also often compared to that of Tramadol and you can understand why.

Thats super helpful thanks, so do you think
my tolerance to DHC would ‘cross over’
to tapentadol? i.e if i did a small dose i wouldn’t feel it, in fact the
DHC withdrawals would be far more overwhelming?

 

[ĐmantuNJofra]

i tried it nothing special there, but I only took tramadol, oxycodone once maybe twice, buprenorphine and morphine in hospital

So yeah it is like tramadol on steroids just go low 25-50max at first time and maybe without mixing with other CNS depresants

Feeling was like mixing venlafaxine with buprenorphine, but it is stronger than tramadol but also felt speedy at 50mg doses with 50mg on top like 6hr later as after that speedy affect came nod, but I was wrong that just gave me a stronger nod.

start low see how you feel

 

[Keif' Richards]

Thats super helpful thanks, so do you think
my tolerance to DHC would ‘cross over’
to tapentadol? i.e if i did a small dose i wouldn’t feel it, in fact the
DHC withdrawals would be far more overwhelming?

I'm glad it helped. These things can be confusing, no doubt about that.

To answer your question, yes, there will be cross-tolerance between Tapentadol and your Dihydrocodiene (DHC for short). The same would apply to any other Opioid agonist out there. Tapentadol has some neat, unique qualities that differentiate it from more straightforward subjects like Codeine or Morphine, but still, you could say 95% of Tapentadol's practical effects are due to Opioid agonism. It seems that its peripheral effects are a kind of "bonus" that may or may not help with conditions like neuropathy.

I hate further muddying the waters, but we never know for sure the veracity of a pharmaceutical company's claims. It could and in fact would more likely be another attempt at patenting a highly addictive drug that they can then unleash upon the populace as a new and improved version of the older Opioids. At the end of the day, there are few Opioids that have been able to match Morphine toe to toe in efficacy. There are medications that maybe "tie" with it, but there isn't anything we've ever made that someone could claim is actually "better" than Morphine.

For you, yes Tapentadol will be cross-tolerant to DHC. Tapentadol is likely, sigfnificantly more potent than DHC. Tramadol is of similar potency to DHC and Tapentadol is said to be between Tramadol and Morphine. Using it, even for short periods will likely give youi a deeper dependence to Opioids that can make things difficult for you later on, as DHC won't do the trick anymore with this higher tolerance.,

It's okay to use it as a stop-gap, but daily use, as we all know, will likely lead to dependence and a desire for stronger Opioids.