i've been wondering about this for a while now. one of my doctors i've seen many years ago told sent me to pain management because he said tramadol isn't a safe, or safest, opioid to be on for longterm purposes as he was the prescribing doctor. back then tramadol wasn't scheduled yet.. the days were they were just handing them out like candy 400mg/day, no questions asked ever. that sounded better to me than 4 5mg vicodins/day which for me. i had/have pain and it does the job to curb it. i use them for pain, i established that, but also definitely abuse them in a way by taking more, to make me feel a little more comfortable during my day and reduces opiate cravings from years of abuse prior.. but i will get into that shortly.... the tramadols are basically my maintenance med like bupe would be for some addicts @ about 750mg/day. I've gone down to as low as 500mg/day for times. now i'm completely okay with taking tramadol and i don't need a stronger opioid prescribed... matter of fact stronger opioids always end up making me binge out, unable to concentrate on my work because of the classic addiction highs and lows that come with abusing these type of substances and if i have them prescribed on a regular basis it could interfere with my life which i wouldn't necessarily want to happen. i do take some stronger pain killers here and there when i run into them but i don't actively look for them, like ever, when i'm on tramadol.
i'm in pain management, and have been for years, and i chose to stick with tramadol. the doctors are happy i'm not asking for more, i can tell that much.... they would be open to, and even suggested, treating me with morphine, methadone or something similar... not quite sure why those 2 were mentioned ?
anyway, that brings me to my point.... am i hurting myself more than anything by taking tramadol at a high dose longterm as opposed to something like morphine? since it's an ssri? is it harder on organs and on your body physically?
i've asked doctors this too, not the my first doctor that even gave me the idea, i was still young then, but more recent doctors i've seen... but let's face it, they really don't know about this kinda stuff and i was unable to get an answer out of them regarding this issue.
i'm guessing bupe would work just fine for my pain and opiate maintenance as well, would that be a better choice? like i've mentioned, this is mostly about physical side effects the drug might have.
i know that traditional opiates are really not that hard on your body at all, but i'm not sure about tramadol..... so i'm asking people out here that might have an idea about this.
btw, i have no plans on getting off of opioids at all if you're going to suggest that to me you might as well save it, and that's just me being honest. i've been on em for over 12 years, with one 1.5 year break in between there. basically a 7 year oxyocodone binge, the later 2 years of that period being on subutex part time. then the last couple years on tramadol with the occasional oxycodone, codeine, or morphine dose.
in case anybody is wondering too, my doses are not very high in regards to traditional opiates, even during my 7 year oxycodone stint i was taking 20 - 25mg servings of oxycodone max.... 4 - 5 times a day. sometimes as low as 15mg per serving. i hate getting nauseous on opiates so i don't let it happen. i enjoy them for the boost and increased mood to get done what i need to as opposed to a heavy nod that will put me out of it and not be able to get anything done. my night time dosage might be combined with some benadryl or promethazine to give me a little of that nod and put me to sleep but nothing major... i never increased dosages and i was always able to keep that in check without no problems, even during heavier using phases i noticed that my tolerance just doesn't build for some odd reason. and i'm not a tiny guy. i used to weigh 185 lbs.
bottom line is, i need to know how safe the tramadol is in comparison to oxy or morphine or a more traditional opiate. because if it really is sort of unsafe i may actually consider switching to bupe, preferably not though because over time it makes me depressed over longer periods of time for some reason and i can't really use occasionally, or oxycodone even. i do realize that the highs and lows a traditional opiate could also be worse for me in regards to my mental health so this would possibly be a double edged sword!
any input or advice for me in this situation would be very appreciated! it was very hard for me to express all of this but i hope i managed to get my point across
i'm in pain management, and have been for years, and i chose to stick with tramadol. the doctors are happy i'm not asking for more, i can tell that much.... they would be open to, and even suggested, treating me with morphine, methadone or something similar... not quite sure why those 2 were mentioned ?
anyway, that brings me to my point.... am i hurting myself more than anything by taking tramadol at a high dose longterm as opposed to something like morphine? since it's an ssri? is it harder on organs and on your body physically?
i've asked doctors this too, not the my first doctor that even gave me the idea, i was still young then, but more recent doctors i've seen... but let's face it, they really don't know about this kinda stuff and i was unable to get an answer out of them regarding this issue.
i'm guessing bupe would work just fine for my pain and opiate maintenance as well, would that be a better choice? like i've mentioned, this is mostly about physical side effects the drug might have.
i know that traditional opiates are really not that hard on your body at all, but i'm not sure about tramadol..... so i'm asking people out here that might have an idea about this.
btw, i have no plans on getting off of opioids at all if you're going to suggest that to me you might as well save it, and that's just me being honest. i've been on em for over 12 years, with one 1.5 year break in between there. basically a 7 year oxyocodone binge, the later 2 years of that period being on subutex part time. then the last couple years on tramadol with the occasional oxycodone, codeine, or morphine dose.
in case anybody is wondering too, my doses are not very high in regards to traditional opiates, even during my 7 year oxycodone stint i was taking 20 - 25mg servings of oxycodone max.... 4 - 5 times a day. sometimes as low as 15mg per serving. i hate getting nauseous on opiates so i don't let it happen. i enjoy them for the boost and increased mood to get done what i need to as opposed to a heavy nod that will put me out of it and not be able to get anything done. my night time dosage might be combined with some benadryl or promethazine to give me a little of that nod and put me to sleep but nothing major... i never increased dosages and i was always able to keep that in check without no problems, even during heavier using phases i noticed that my tolerance just doesn't build for some odd reason. and i'm not a tiny guy. i used to weigh 185 lbs.
bottom line is, i need to know how safe the tramadol is in comparison to oxy or morphine or a more traditional opiate. because if it really is sort of unsafe i may actually consider switching to bupe, preferably not though because over time it makes me depressed over longer periods of time for some reason and i can't really use occasionally, or oxycodone even. i do realize that the highs and lows a traditional opiate could also be worse for me in regards to my mental health so this would possibly be a double edged sword!
any input or advice for me in this situation would be very appreciated! it was very hard for me to express all of this but i hope i managed to get my point across
