Tramadol - hackneyed and new shocking facts about the famous synthetic med.

Human organism is a wondrous thing. After the long and complicated process of evolution our bodies are able of fighting back considerable difference of temperatures, heal dangerous wounds and knit broken bones. They are able of managing a number of infections, regenerating different injuries and restoring after harsh nervous stress and strain. If we fail to avoid health troubles pain is the first price you have to pay.

Every single burn, bruise and scratch in our life is entailed with pain. This awful throbbing sensation is the most hated feeling in the world, surprisingly we would not be able to survive without pain. Believe it or not but it is pain that makes us smart and more sensitive to the needs of our body. It is the best servant of our health that is always there for you - sleepless and alert. You will not be able to forget about your injury and hurt yourself even if you fall asleep. You will have no opportunity of ignoring your bad tooth until things turn radically wrong because pain won’t let you to! Living without physical pain would have made us too thoughtless to pay the slightest attention to our health and well-being. Do you still hate pain, the best and the most reliable friend of yours?

But sometimes pain becomes completely excruciating and individuals think it more desirable to pass away than to tolerate an awful torture like that. No wonder the mankind kept looking for drugs able of relieving pain. Today we have the power of chemistry and modern pharmacology in addition to natural ingredients to create safe and highly effective means of coping with pain.

Analgesic medications today are various and large in number. Some of them are extracts of natural ingredients, others are purely chemical compositions; there are also many mixtures of the two. Tramadol is one of them. It is a centrally-acting analgesic used in treating moderate to moderately severe pain. This medicines is relatively new - it was developed German pharmaceutical company Grünenthal GmbH in the end of the 1970s. It was a perfect synthetic analog of Codeine, the phenanthrene alkaloid and opioid. Just like Codeine, Tramadol turned out to be a full-fledged prodrug, too. Unlike Codeine, converted in our organisms to Morphine, Tramadol is turned into O-desmethyltramadol. Both substances act upon the human opiate receptors or μ1 and μ2 receptors. Tramadol is also good for releasing serotonin in human brain and inhibiting the action of norepinephrine.

Tramadol can provoke euphoria and respiratory depression, because it is a very addictive opioid having serotonergic and noradrenergic effects and working on the μ-opioid receptors only. This unique characteristic feature of Tramadol and its major metabolites makes this medication stand alone among other substances of the opioid drug class - even Morphine does not possess this extent of receptor subtype selectivity!

As we have told you before Tramadol, just like codeine and other opioids, are generally used to manage moderate to moderately severe painful states as well as the most types of neuralgia. When doctors first discovered Tramadol influence on the noradrenergic and serotonergic systems of patients they believed the med could be effective for coping with the symptoms of depression, anxiety and phobias. Nevertheless the addictiveness of Tramadol kept it from becoming a usual tranquilizer. Today Tramadol is sometimes used these purposes but only when other treatments failed. In this case rigid Tramadol dosage control and regular psychiatrist consultations are necessary!

Tramadol ways are not that easy. Being highly effective, the medication can produce side effects and from strong addiction, that is why there are always personalities who are ready to misuse. The German company Grünenthal GmbH has been repeatedly charged of producing Tramadol, which is very addictive and can have severe side effects, while the company is not informative enough and states that the medication showed little abuse liability in preliminary tests. Later in May 2009, the US FDA wrote a warning letter to the company of Johnson & Johnson, because they promoted Tramadol overstating the efficacy of the drug, and minimizing the possible serious risks. The 2010 Physicians Desk Reference issues different manufacturer warnings, which were not given before. They contained strict warnings about:

- the addictive potential of Tramadol,
- the possibility of difficulty breathing,
- a new extended list of side effects including more severe cases,
- a warning that Tramadol should not to be used instead of opiate medications for addicts,
- a warning that Tramadol should not to be applied to withdraw addict patients from opiate drugs,
- a notice that Tramadol should not to be used to manage long-term opiate addiction.

Tramadol is available as:

- solutions for both intravenous and intramuscular injections. The injection solutions are used in patient-controlled analgesia cases either as the sole agent or with another opioid agent such as Morphine;
- capsules which are believed to protect your stomach better;
- tablets (regular, extended release, chewable etc);
- suppositories for rectal administration;
- powders for compounding;
- liquids both with and without alcohol for oral and sub-lingual administration.

As a rule you can purchase discount Tramadol as the hydrochloride salt for oral administration.

The universal dosage of Tramadol is 50 mg generic tablets produced by several manufacturers. Effective pain-killing compounds with APAP such as Paracetamol and Acetaminophen are also commonly available as Ultracet drug. In this case the tablet contains smaller dose of Tramadol (37.5 mg) and larger dose of APAP (325 mg).

Tramadol is a medication with characteristic unpleasant taste which is mildly bitter. All the same, it is less bitter than other opioids such as Morphine and Codeine. The biggest safe dosage of Tramadol for oral administration is 400 mg a day and 600 mg of Tramadol for parenteral administration.

To be on the safe sade you should never reach the biggest dosage of Tramadol! So, Ultracet tablets with 37.5 mg of tramadol and 325 mg of APAP in it is capped at 8 tablets a day, that is 300 mg of Tramadol. Ultram ER tablets containing Tramadol are available in 100, 200, and 300 mg/day doses, too.

It is totally harmful to take Tramadol if:

- you are over 75 years old or under 18 years old;
- you have severely reduced renal (kidney) or hepatic (liver) functions;
- you take other opioids such as oxycodone, methadone, fentanyl, morphine.

Please, see your doctor before buying Tramadol without a prescription - he or she will tell you about the safest way of applying Tramadol or will explain you why you should not start this medicine at all.

It is wrong to say that MDs and investigators know everything about Tramadol. This unique medication is still being clinically tested. So, Tramadol proves to be effective and safe in resisting diabetic neuropathy, post-herpetic neuralgia, fibromyalgia, restless leg syndrome, Anti-Depressant withdrawal aid (especially for Venlafaxine or Effexor), migraine headache, obsessive-compulsive disorder and premature ejaculation.

You will be surprised to decipher that Tramadol is one of the most reliable and efficient pills available to veterinarians for treating animals in pain. So, Tramadol may be used to cure post-operative, injury-related, and chronic pain in dogs, cats and other mammals. It is less harmful than some non-steroidal anti-inflammatory substances that may be dangerous for animals. Tramadol dosage for animals for effective analgesia is 1-4 mg/kg. Overdosing can be lethal!

Pregnancy and breastfeeding Tramadol warning: please, note that Tramadol is extremely dangerous for the unborn baby! According to FDA classification it is a FDA pregnancy category C med that must not be taken by pregnant women unless the potential benefits of Tramadol outweigh the serious risks!

If the future mother takes the drug during pregnancy, Tramadol causes serious and even deadly side effects in newborn babies including neonatal withdrawal. Tramadol is known to pass into breast milk that is not you should not breastfeed your nursing baby if you follow the course of Tramadol therapy!

The common adverse reactions of Tramadol are:

- nausea and vomiting, constipation, diarrhea, indigestion;
- sweating;
- drowsiness (less than with natural opioids);
- dizziness, fatigue;
- headache;
- dry mouth;
- seizures (very seldom in less than 1% of patients).

Please, realize that almost 71% of all Tramadol patients experience some of the side effects listed above!

Tramadol withdrawal signs are also rather strong. They are usual for patients who followed the course of Tramadol therapy for a long time taking high doses of the medication. Persons who took Tramadol as general pain relief can experience uncontrollable nervous tremors and muscle contracture if they gave up the drug too abruptly. Anxiety and other similar sensations are also possible when you give up Tramadol. Some patients develop respiratory depression common for opioid withdrawal. Some MDs speak about negative effects of opioids on cognitive functioning and personality.

As you can see, Tramadol is a wonderful way out if you are in pain, but it can become ruinous if you take in too long and in large doses. If you keep asking yourself where can I get Tramadol, please, visit your MD to find out the safest way of taking and stopping Tramadol before swallowing the first tablet. Think twice! Maybe you can handle without any opioids at all?

Tags: , , , ,