• Select Your Topic Then Scroll Down
    Alcohol Bupe Benzos
    Cocaine Heroin Opioids
    RCs Stimulants Misc
    Harm Reduction All Topics Gabapentinoids
    Tired of your habit? Struggling to cope?
    Want to regain control or get sober?
    Visit our Recovery Support Forums

Opioids Does anyone know how Tramadol ER works?

ColoradoBoy90

Bluelighter
Joined
Aug 12, 2015
Messages
219
Does anyone know how Tramadol ER works? I can't find this anywhere on the internet....

So let's say you take 100mg of Tramadol ER. It's suppose to last 24 HOURS! So..... How does release mechanism work? Does it release, say, 25mg every 4-6 hours? Does it perhaps release a few MG constantly throughout the day, more like a constant slow sustained release?

OR does it release 50mg instantly, then 12 hours later release the other 50mg?? This is very common for many ER pills, though most last only 12 hours. Does ANYONE know? Someone once said "Tramadol ER is the best, as the whole taking Tramadol while it's already in your system works great for the ER. You don't have to re-dose to increase BA, the ER does it for you" -- but that claim would only be true of Tramadol ER released at least 1/3rd of 1/2 of dose instantly, then rest slowly to "add to it".
 
Just call your pharmacist or a rep from the company that makes the drug. They'll tell you.

Haha, I second that notion. Today I sinned a bit (co-use), just sitting here and going trough a couple of the more amusing threads. Thanks for the laugh =D
 
I tried every pharmacist, pharmacists honestly don't know crap lol. 3 out of 4 don't even know how Tramadol works or know it's an SNRI... All they know is how to repeat what the doctor writes down, and tell you "take 2 tablets twice daily" which the bottle already says, lol. That's the extend of most pharmacists knowledge level, IMO.
Most have zero clue even about the basic things -- like how codiene is a pro-drug.... Not one pharmacist ever has ever been able to explain how Oxy is released, but it's 1/3rd instantly, then rest slowly throughout day. Sometimes we know more about certain meds than pharmacists do.
Or the one Pharmacist I saw giving the person in front of me a very very dangerous mix of medications, impossible to miss (unless you don't know about how certain meds can heavily interact with others, and of course the pharmacist did not) and they have never been correct on anything I have asked that is "slightly complicated", and slightly complicated could a simply question too like "what's stronger, 7.5mg of Vicodin or a 4mg tablet of Hydromorphone..... as I believe my doctor messed up my dose" -- Pharmacist couldn't answer had to look it up. Even then I got two different answers from two different pharmacists, one saying 20mg Hydromorphone = 180mg Vicodin, another said 20mg Hydromorphone equaled 75mg Vicodin. Like really, that's over 100mg difference there. I never trust pharmacists


I once saw someone at the pharmacy getting tagment and a Codiene prescription together and the pharmacist didn't even mention the reaction!! Tagment would pretty much render codeine useless as it won't turn into Morphine.. clueless pharmacists all around. Sometimes the Techs know more. I really question the schooling a pharmacist goes through as I have had dozens of pharmacist not know anything about.... anything. Besides repeating what WebMD says about the med.

But perhaps a drug rep should know the answer, never thought of that. Pharmacists are the last people to ask, in my opinion. Good idea
 
Most extended release formulations work via controlled diffusion. A typical ER med design will have an outer layer that provides an initial, instant-release dose of the med. The inner layer will typically have some sort of polymer matrix that slowly releases the drug via diffusion through pores in the polymer.

I looked up tramadol ER, and it doesn't appear to have an IR portion, but that may depend on the specific company you're getting it from. It works by allowing the drug to passively diffuse through the polymer. Plasma concentrations should slowly rise over the course of 8-12 hours, and then they'll slowly decrease as the drug is metabolized. Basically, the drug is slowly released in your GI tract over the course of several hours, and then your body metabolizes it until it's out of your system ~24 hours later.
 
^Thanks for that info. I kinda had a feeling they didn't have any "IR" action at the start, as I never feel them kicking in.

I'm still going to try and call a drug rep and ask, but they'll probably only know how the brand name works. Would still be interested to know. If the brand releases partial instantly, then it's worth the extra cost, IMO. Also Tramadol I hear is one of the "worst" when it comes to generics. Everywhere I read people swear UltraTram is superior to generics and not even comparable, which is true for some meds. Maybe brand would be better anyways, always been the case for me.

That's why some like Medicare/Medicaid will ONLY cover brand name for meds such as blood pressure meds, or anything needed that is "life or death" type of medication. In fact, a while back I overheard one lady who was taking something for her heart, I believe, and had either Medicare/Medicaid. Brand only costed her like $5, but she asked for generic to save a few bucks. The pharmacy actually refused, saying they can't fill generics for these meds, due to safety issues. As the brand name is 100% active ingredients + fillers. Generics are generally 90% to 98% of active the active ingredient according to studies, and allowed 20% extra fillers compared to brand, which the FDA says is so small difference that it's still bio-equivalent, aka "the same thing" even though it's a simple fact that a 10mg brand name Vicodin is NOT = to 9.3mg of generic hydrocodone, even if the FDA thinks it makes no difference, it does.

But for people who take medication for life or death, even being 1mg or 2 off could be the difference between life or death, so they only allow Brand name....
That itself fully disapproves the whole "generics are the exact same, 100% the same" as studies and the FDA just require them to be Bio-equivalent, which means up to 10% maxium less active ingredient, and up to 20% additional fillers.
 
Technically, it really is not the pharmacists concern whether the prescribing doctor wrote a bad combo or not that is on them and these pharmacist are not going to act like Superman calling every doctor's office up trying to correct them they are playing their position and they know what they are doing .of course if it was a super harmful reaction I'm sure they would be obligated to say something but as for minor stuff they just let it slide it's not their concern the only concern they got is filling the bottles and passing them out
 
^ Not true. In the USA It's the pharmacist legal obligation to inform you if a dangerous combo is provided, and I have been DENIED prescriptions due to "safety issues" multiple times from different pharmacist. It doesn't matter one single bit what the doctor wrote, the pharmacists have final say on whether to fill it, or not to fill it.

I was even refused to get a Soma and Clonzepam prescription together before, they said in the pharmacist opinion it could lead to fatal CNS depression. Doctor couldn't do anything about it. I eventually found another pharmacist who was willing to fill it.
 
^ Not true. In the USA It's the pharmacist legal obligation to inform you if a dangerous combo is provided, and I have been DENIED prescriptions due to "safety issues" multiple times from different pharmacist. It doesn't matter one single bit what the doctor wrote, the pharmacists have final say on whether to fill it, or not to fill it.

I was even refused to get a Soma and Clonzepam prescription together before, they said in the pharmacist opinion it could lead to fatal CNS depression. Doctor couldn't do anything about it. I eventually found another pharmacist who was willing to fill it.

This is pretty accurate. I'm not specifically sure what their legal obligations are, but they're supposed to have good understanding of the drugs they dispense, and they're supposed to counsel patients on what they're being prescribed. They do have some legal authority to withhold certain prescriptions if they think it's dangerous or suspect drug abuse.

That said, I think there's also some truth to what opiatekrzy said. Many pharmacists seem to just dispense pills without much thought to what they're giving people
 
Top