Narcotic and non narcotic pain relievers

[ShaunMParticipant Posts: 5]

I have taken tramadol and vicodin for chronic neck pain and sciatica, and also oxycodone.. does anyone have experience with any of the muscle relaxants, i have heard they can help.

[AdministratorKeymaster Posts: 191]

Ultram, vicodin and oxycodone are narcotics. Muscle relaxants will only help if there is muscle spasm present; for nerve pain you’ll be looking towards either certain antidepressants and/or various anti-epileptic medications, usually taken at lower dosages.

[chrisyoungParticipant Posts: 1]

Google search shows a lot of conflicting info on the current status of ultram. However tramadol has in fact been classified as a narcotic (since july or august 2017 I beleive). As far as prescription products go I would say it’s up there with codeine and DHC ,at least in terms of pain-relieving properties.

[ravenousbirdParticipant Posts: 4]

In order to clear up any confusion on the subject – Tramadol is a moderately strong opioid drug so it’s without a doubt a narcotic in the medical sense. Nevertheless, tramadol have just recently been classified as a controlled substance which explains the conflicting information online.

[WripperParticipant Posts: 5]

In pharmacy class, just what were you all taught was the meaning of a “narcotic substance”? Tramadol can lessen pain, cause tolerance, dependence, discontinuance syndrome, overdose, excitement and all of the textbook definitions of addiction and substance abuse. Further, a contemporary meaning of “narcotic” is any habit-forming drug, synthetic or naturally occurring, that reduces pain, alters mood and behavior and may induce sleep or grogginess. I have never fully understood how anyone other than the companies that market ultram can claim that it is a non-narcotic. That’s just marketing bullshit and can easily mislead patients about what kind of medication they are taking. Should a pharmacist in today’s world really advise a customer that this is not a narcotic pain reliever?

[AdministratorKeymaster Posts: 191]

Tramadol is classified as an Opioid.
Opioid, because it has binding affinity to the involved receptors in the brain. Tramadol is a synthetic medicine that is an analogue of codeine which also has SSRI/SNRI effects aiding in it’s pain reducing capabilities.

[cherrybombParticipant Posts: 11]

Not sure if tramadol will work for me ( may give it a try) but I’ still believe oxycodone to be one of the best pain relievers available to me. Prescription wise I’ve used fentanyl, meperedine, oxycodone, dilaudid, DHC, Norco, Codeine.. All of them are good, but give me good ole’ percs and I’m completely pain free within 30 mins!

[snowyParticipant Posts: 18]

@wripper Whether a medication is a narcotic painkiller or not does not depend only on what country you happen to be in. If it activates opioid receptors, it’s a narcotic in medical terminology. Opioid agonists are always considered narcotics in legal terms.

[VikingbloodParticipant Posts: 7]

For those of you who like opiods, have you tried oxycodone or hydromorphone? Some people find oxy to be one of the most effective meds for pain. For inflammation, it might be something else -For example, tramadol and DHC often is pretty good for moderate pain, innflamation, arthritis etc.. however because dihydrocodeine springs from codeine it can also be used for severe pain.

[snowyParticipant Posts: 18]

That is true, then again since we have things like oxycodone and diamorphine, that are semi-synthetic, the medical world just uses the term ‘opioid’ for all of them, artificial, semi-synthetic or opium alkaloid. Diamorphine is really just morphine reacted with acetic anhydride, hence you can see the problem of where to place it if there was still an opioid/opiate distinction. Yet another potent opioid is derived from thebaine – oxymorphone. Fentanyl is a step higher and should be used only in patch form.

[WowCowParticipant Posts: 10]

I happen to find fentanyl less effective for my types of pain (shoulder pain, and pain related to Rheumatoid arthritis) than say oxycodone-in fact,its not clear to me what sort of pain fentanyl actually helps. I suspect that its popularity as a prescribed drug has more to do with the perception of its high potency/mg ratio ( for the most part it isn’t going to produce euphoria when taken as prescribed) than with its effectiveness as a painkiller. In addition, I think that fentanyl has plenty of disadvantages when compared with pain killers like percocet and vicodin- that it lowers the seizure threshold in many people, and also that it is very addictive.

[ladyghostParticipant Posts: 5]

Tramadol has been eliminiated at my local hospital’s A&E.many older people tend to have problems with it, as well as the interaction between it and SSRI drugs, which people may not mention when they are in A&E.Tramadol has been struck off the formulary at my local hospital’s A&E. Elderly people tend to have problems with it, as well as the interaction between it and SSRIs, which people may not mention when they are in A&E.

[akl63Participant Posts: 11]

I have heard of Soma causing fever as a side effect but never treating fever. Are you confusing tramadol with a Soma compound that contains aspirin? Not doubting you, just never had any bad intercations with tramadol vs other drugs.

[pigGrinderParticipant Posts: 13]

Soma is alright in some situations, however tramadol is classified as an opioid painkiller and even though the parent drug may have mild action at opioid receptors, one of the metabolites has a much stronger and long-lasting action. It also enhances noradrenaline and serotonin pathways in other ways.

[abovethelawParticipant Posts: 9]

Tramadol is most likely the most potent non-opioid pain medication there is right now. It works like mild opioid and antidepressant (inhibits the re uptake of norepinephrine and serotonin). Among NSAIDs, diclofenac are the most powerful analgesic. Soma is also helpful for many types of pain but not easy to find anymore. It produces muscle relaxin and analgesic effects.

[arganrecordsParticipant Posts: 11]

For me Oxycodone is one of the more effectine opioid medication and Tramadol is the most potent non-opioid. when it comes to codeine based drugs, dihydrocodeine is the most powerful I’ve tried.

[biksParticipant Posts: 7]

Sorry to bump in here, just wanting to know if anyone else here tends to take there pain meds with a cup of tea or coffee? Each and every morning I get up up and drink my coffee right after taking my meds, and around dinner time the same thing. It just seems that they mix well together

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