Is Tramadol really an opioid?

[drfeelgood1]

I am going in for a Gynecomastia surgery pretty soon and the surgeon told me that they will script me for a few days worth of Tramadol.
Some say its an opioid and some not. So is this really technically an opioid with similar effects to Codeine?

 

[falsifiedhypothesi]

Tramadol is indeed an opioid, it's primary action is on opiate receptors and serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibition (SNRI). Tramadol, like codeine, is a weak opiate but when metabolized by the cyp2d6 enzyme it becomes O-desmethyltramadol. If I remember correctly O-DesMT is a great magnitude stronger than morphine, so just like codeine it is almost useless until metabolized into its major metabolite.

Some people are poor metabolizers of tramadol and codeine because of variations in the cyp2d6 enzyme and thus don't get very good pain killing effects from either of these drugs. So if you have tried codeine and didn't get very much effect from it you may be a poor cyp2d6 metabolizer and will probably need a different opiate to effectively treat your pain.

Personally I think tramadol is a great opioid, long half life and duration of effects so it lasts practically all day off one dose. Just be weary this drug makes you more susceptible to seizures especially at doses over 400mg.

 

[Johndoedoe.junk]

Personally I think tramadol is a great opioid, long half life and duration of effects so it lasts practically all day off one dose. Just be weary this drug makes you more susceptible to seizures especially at doses over 400mg.

While it pains me to say this (I'm usually vehemently anti-Tramadol) having observed my wife I have to agree with the above. She has the choice between Tramadol or Norco and she says the Tramadol lasts much longer and she typically only needs to dose once whereas the Norco lasts not as long and she needs to dose more than once to be out of pain.

Having said all that I personally don't like Tramadol reasons being it doesn't work for me (in fact has quite negative effects on me), the withdrawals are dangerous in the sense that seizures CAN occur, it seems to screw with people with psych issues after long term use (saw this with my wife), and lastly in my experience it's the go-to drug for a lot of docs in lieu of traditional pain meds, at least in the GP/PCP scene. These are just my personal grievances though, don't let it put you off taking it if it works for you.

I do have to say I find it kind of odd that they would give you something as weak as Tramadol post-op, I would think at least Norco would be warranted.

 

[drfeelgood1]

I think i will ask my dr to give me something else or i can stick with Advil or something. Tramadol has too many dangerous side effects. And as i heard gynecomastia pain after post surgery is relatively mild and tolerable. So in that case i can try the OTC stuff.