Life in a pill : (

[Sp04]

Lately i have been doing a lot better in my life working a full time job as a chef running and managing my own kitchen. This is a far cry from how i was behaving 4 months ago drinking everyday having no dream or ambition my place was an alcoholic dungeon i lay wasted drinking my guilt away . Till the day i started taking Tramadol 4 a day at first i really did not get any affect perhaps a mild mood lift nothing great but not all that bad i first started noticing sighs of change in me when i cleaned my apartment from head to toe and soon after instead of feeling anything at all from the Tramadol i just felt motivated. I changed many things about my behavior i was discussed on how i was living it was as if looking at a whole other person i have just about changed every aspect of myself EG~ working as a chef i can saftly say i have failed in the past because of short term memory now i seem to be able to focus very well 30% better than normal able to take like 10 orders at once and complete them with not forgetting one thing and i am a one man show!!

Could it be that my brain is lacking something in the SSRI department that somehow Tramadol fixes i mean i really do not feel a thing from it i just feel motivated and focused, look at myself totally differently. This brings me to the Point of my post Unfortunately Tramadol Works with the U Opioid receptor so yea i am F**ing addicted and it totally sucks cause i am doing so well and i know i have to quite and will but i wonder how effective i will be with out the SSRI activity that Tramadol has.... Sucks having your life encapsulated in a pill !!!

 

[chompy]

it could be the mild SNRI effects that tramadol has. Tramadol never did much for pain but gave me energy.

 

[theseeker]

From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venlafaxine

The chemical structure of venlafaxine is designated (R/S)-1-[2-(dimethylamino)-1-(4 methoxyphenyl)ethyl] cyclohexanol hydrochloride or (±)-1-[a [a- (dimethylamino)methyl] p-methoxybenzyl] cyclohexanol hydrochloride, and it has the empirical formula of C17H27NO2. It is a white to off-white crystalline solid. Venlafaxine is structurally and pharmacologically related to the atypical opioid analgesic tramadol, and more distantly the newly-released opioid tapentadol, but not to any of the conventional antidepressant drugs, including tricyclic antidepressants, SSRIs, MAOIs, or RIMAs.[48]

 

[muvolution]

you could try Wellbutrin or one of the many other SNRI's out there wich last longer but doesn't have opioid like side effects. Personally these and other SSRI's/ SNRI's are not effective for my depression and sometimes lack of motivation - I have been diagnosed with depression and general anxiety disorder, and these things don't usually work for me, well Tramadol consistently makes me feel better and much less depressed, could be the quicker onset and shorter half-life compared to other SNRI's, or its partial mu opioid action, but I agree that it does indeed work as a mood lifter. If it works, it works, just go with it....

 

[versd]

go see a doctor and if you are dealing with someone who knows what you're doing and believes the reasons why you were self medication (i.e. not chasing a high, but trying to feel normal), then they can help you find an antidepressant which can come close to reproducing the SNRI effects of the tramadol without the other effects.

i found wellbutrin to have some similar feelings as tramadol - if i had to explain it, it felt like 8 hours after you'd taken the tramadol, sort of coming down but feeling that weird stimulated feeling but not very strong.

 

[unsettled]

I know the feeling you describe, at one point I went from using alot of drugs to just using minimal amounts of suboxone along with Tramadol. I had very similar results to what you described, others noticed too, I was very productive and almost all areas of my life improved.

People who knew me well were suspicious of me since I told them I wasn't taking any meds. I didn't admit to the tramadol or subs because the people wouldn't have known what they were, they had always known me to abuse alcohol and pills though.

I went ahead and tried Effexor and Hated it, it didn't work at all like the Tramadol, I stayed on the subs and they continue to help. There is something about Tramadol that is unique, I definitely had a anti depressant effect from it and it helped me for a while but I didn't want to keep using it so I quit it while I could.

Anyway, maybe it's the opioid/snri combo and not just the snri or opiate that's working for you. If it is just the snri that's helping so much you could try Effexor or an SSRI if that doesn't work. I'd never recommend an opiate addiction for depression. Find a doctor that will work with you if you haven't already so you can continue this momentum. I know how much it sucks to be stuck in that alcoholic fog for months at a time.

Good Luck!

 

[theseeker]

In my experience, you have to view drug intervention alone for depression as a temporary fix. I believe the ultram is helping- as it has definitely helped me- but you might just be covering up some issues you might have. Also, as someone pointed out above, opiate use to treat depression is never a good idea. Maybe you could keep using the ultram for awhile but combine it with some therapy? This approach of drugs plus therapy has been clinically proven the best way to fight depression.