ONE MORE TIME TRAMADOL AND SSRI'S

[Cornburglar]

some BG info. I take effexor XR 150 mg every day. I think it's pretty good at controlling anxiety and it's helped some depressive symptoms without too many bad side effects. I also just got a RX for tramadol for pain. I knew that these aren't the best thing to mix but... cmon. I mix klonopins and alcohol and alcohol and opiates and yadda, yadda.

Took 2 50mg tramadol last night; foot was killing me. Took one this morning.

At band practice tonight. All was weird. I couldn't hear right (explain this) and I was paranoid as fuck. All of the sudden, an electric feeling went through my teeth, I got tunnel vision and broke out into a cold sweat. My blood pressure dropped and my heart rate raced (is this even possible) I didn't know which end was up so I put my bass down and crawled to the steps, then I went outside. I spent the next 2 hours completely disoriented, the guitar player had to drive me home. I did some looking on the net about specifically mixing these two meds and lo and behold:

MANAGEMENT:
In general, the use of tramadol in combination with serotonin reuptake inhibitors should be avoided if possible, or otherwise approached with caution if potential benefit is deemed to outweigh the risk. Close monitoring is recommended for signs and symptoms of excessive serotonergic activity such as CNS irritability, altered consciousness, confusion, delirium, hallucinations, myoclonus, ataxia, abdominal cramping, hyperpyrexia, shivering, pupillary dilation, diaphoresis, hypertension (http://www.drugs.com/xq/cfm/pageID_1150/int_1/list_1/values_drugid%3Dd03826%26drugid%3Dd03181%26/OpText_Effexor%20XR/dr_%2Ctramadol%2CEffexor%20XR/qx/index.htm#), and tachycardia."

This is just a word to the wise. I thought I was ok to mix these because my Dr. Knew I was on both meds and thought it would be ok. Nothing else had changed recently so I know it had to be the mix.

Do not mix these meds under any circumstance. It may be ok the first, second, tenth, 1000th time but that 1 time it might just fuck you up. I just got dizzy and whacked out. I got lucky. This seratonin OD can cause more severe problems so take it from me. DONT

[Zoop]

some BG info. I take effexor XR 150 mg every day. I think it's pretty good at controlling anxiety and it's helped some depressive symptoms without too many bad side effects. I also just got a RX for tramadol for pain. I knew that these aren't the best thing to mix but... cmon. I mix klonopins and alcohol and alcohol and opiates and yadda, yadda.

Took 2 50mg tramadol last night; foot was killing me. Took one this morning.

At band practice tonight. All was weird. I couldn't hear right (explain this) and I was paranoid as fuck. All of the sudden, an electric feeling went through my teeth, I got tunnel vision and broke out into a cold sweat. My blood pressure dropped and my heart rate raced (is this even possible) I didn't know which end was up so I put my bass down and crawled to the steps, then I went outside. I spent the next 2 hours completely disoriented, the guitar player had to drive me home. I did some looking on the net about specifically mixing these two meds and lo and behold:

MANAGEMENT:
In general, the use of tramadol in combination with serotonin reuptake inhibitors should be avoided if possible, or otherwise approached with caution if potential benefit is deemed to outweigh the risk. Close monitoring is recommended for signs and symptoms of excessive serotonergic activity such as CNS irritability, altered consciousness, confusion, delirium, hallucinations, myoclonus, ataxia, abdominal cramping, hyperpyrexia, shivering, pupillary dilation, diaphoresis, hypertension (http://www.drugs.com/xq/cfm/pageID_1150/int_1/list_1/values_drugid%3Dd03826%26drugid%3Dd03181%26/OpText_Effexor%20XR/dr_%2Ctramadol%2CEffexor%20XR/qx/index.htm#), and tachycardia."

This is just a word to the wise. I thought I was ok to mix these because my Dr. Knew I was on both meds and thought it would be ok. Nothing else had changed recently so I know it had to be the mix.

Do not mix these meds under any circumstance. It may be ok the first, second, tenth, 1000th time but that 1 time it might just fuck you up. I just got dizzy and whacked out. I got lucky. This seratonin OD can cause more severe problems so take it from me. DONT

I have addressed this topic more than a few times on this forum, too. Nobody seems to even act like they see it. So, I'll post reply to Corn's admonishment here. I have had gran mal seizures on like three occasions from mixing zoloft and ultram. I was taking ultram, with good effect, like 300mg a pop, every few hours, feeling good, amazed that the stuff is not a controlled substance. It is at least as strong as propoxyphen (darvon/darvocet) yet it's not a controlled substance, unlike propoxyphene, which is a C-IV ("schedule four") controlled substance, same as benzo's are and some other stuff, well, I was totally surprised when these seizure happened, and I didn't tell the hospital people what I had been taking (they wanted to know "what have you been taking," because it very unusual, almost unheard of, for a healthy young man to have a major seizure if he's got no history of seizure disorder, UNLESS it's from drugs). But I wouldn't tell, which ended up getting me put on seizure medicine and since the doctor and hospital informed the DMV of my seizures, I had to submit medical "Blackout Statements" every year for about 5 years to preserve my driving priveliges. If I had been honest about it, I prolly wouldn't have had to to the blackout statements. That whole fiasco just ended about six months ago. During that five years, I came clean about what had caused the seizures with my neurologist and told him I was a recovering drug addict and all (I am still "sort of" in recovery, but I use bupe now, and occasionally dip into some sleepin' pills and/or wellbutrin but other than that, nothin').

You'd think that after having a seizure from ultram that I'd stop taking it. No. I told myself that as long as I didn't take it with zoloft, then I'd be all right. I had a seizure from taking ultram all by itself, even after a couple weeks off the zoloft too, so you can have a seizure from that shit even by itself too. High dosages, like 200mg or over, continuously for a day or so usually is what precedes the seizures form ultram / tramadol.

In my opinion, tramadol IS NOT COOL.

[devilsdrug]

yeh corn even i new that and then of course hope ur ok

[ZodiacKiller]

Yep, happened to me, too. I am prescribed Tramadol for Carpal Tunnel pain and Welbutrin for depression and smoking cessation (which didn't work)--both prescribed by the same doctor at the same time..

Well, I exprienced much the same symptoms that you've described, Corn: the cold-sweats, heart racing, dysphoria...it really sucked. I basically discontinued both because I didn't know what was up. It all makes sense now. I haven't been back to the doc to tell her what's up (been sooo busy), but I won't take either med anymore--it freaked me out too much...

Never heard of it happening to anyone else 'till now, so damn...not sure what to tell my doc as she has no idea about my opiate iaddiction, either....


ZK

[jacky]

I used to get seizures from not having enough opiates in my system.

I have taken tramadol for months at a time, at around 300-500 milligrams a day, mixed with other substances, and never had a problem.

I used to get the stuff in pure powder form from JLF catalog, but the forced them to stop selling it...I have a prescription now for the stuff, but hardly ever use it....it is a backburner item for me.

given the complex action of tramadol it doesnt suprise me that it can have some negative side effects...I also wonder if tramadol is more deadly if overdosed than say a classic opiate like morphine?

[slugbone]

I used to get seizures from not having enough opiates in my system.

I have taken tramadol for months at a time, at around 300-500 milligrams a day, mixed with other substances, and never had a problem.

I used to get the stuff in pure powder form from JLF catalog, but the forced them to stop selling it...I have a prescription now for the stuff, but hardly ever use it....it is a backburner item for me.

given the complex action of tramadol it doesnt suprise me that it can have some negative side effects...I also wonder if tramadol is more deadly if overdosed than say a classic opiate like morphine?

hi jacky, i've been popping tramadol like tic tac's for about two years now. i've taken up to 400mg per day. mostly i stay around the 250 -300mg level anymore and mix and match with whatever else i got around, including

pods, tylenol pm, oxy, percocet, codiene (cough syrup and empacod) ambien, trazodone, blah blah...overall i am a big fan of it much easier to get for me and better for maintenance & some pain killing. i would say yes fore sure i could feel some irregular heartbeat and tingling in the hands and toes when i have over done it.

[handsome rob]

I was prescribed Tramadol for an ankle injury about 4 months ago. I had been on Lexapro for about two years at that point and heard about the SSRI/Tramadol interaction but didn't really take it too seriously until I tried it myself. After running low on cash and not being able to get oxy's one day I decided try the tramadol out. My first dose was 6 50mg pills(300mg) and everything was great. Got rid of the WD's and my energy level was way up. I was very excited when I found out the pontential for these things until about two weeks of using them.

While at work I had popped about 250mg throughout the morning and at around 1:00pm started feeling strange. I started getting wierd spells like I was going to faint with my head getting very flush and my vision fading out. They would only last for a few seconds but they were scarry as hell. I had to go outside and try to get some fresh air and calm down. It was almost two hours before I felt normal again, I'm pretty sure I was on the verge of having a seizure. I tried lowering my dose a few days later and it happened again, I just won't touch them now. It's too bad, they were great for withdrawals and did releive some of my pain.

[Cornburglar]

I have addressed this topic more than a few times on this forum, too. Nobody seems to even act like they see it. So, I'll post reply to Corn's admonishment here. I have had gran mal seizures on like three occasions from mixing zoloft and ultram. I was taking ultram, with good effect, like 300mg a pop, every few hours, feeling good, amazed that the stuff is not a controlled substance. It is at least as strong as propoxyphen (darvon/darvocet) yet it's not a controlled substance, unlike propoxyphene, which is a C-IV ("schedule four") controlled substance, same as benzo's are and some other stuff, well, I was totally surprised when these seizure happened, and I didn't tell the hospital people what I had been taking (they wanted to know "what have you been taking," because it very unusual, almost unheard of, for a healthy young man to have a major seizure if he's got no history of seizure disorder, UNLESS it's from drugs). But I wouldn't tell, which ended up getting me put on seizure medicine and since the doctor and hospital informed the DMV of my seizures, I had to submit medical "Blackout Statements" every year for about 5 years to preserve my driving priveliges. If I had been honest about it, I prolly wouldn't have had to to the blackout statements. That whole fiasco just ended about six months ago. During that five years, I came clean about what had caused the seizures with my neurologist and told him I was a recovering drug addict and all (I am still "sort of" in recovery, but I use bupe now, and occasionally dip into some sleepin' pills and/or wellbutrin but other than that, nothin').

You'd think that after having a seizure from ultram that I'd stop taking it. No. I told myself that as long as I didn't take it with zoloft, then I'd be all right. I had a seizure from taking ultram all by itself, even after a couple weeks off the zoloft too, so you can have a seizure from that shit even by itself too. High dosages, like 200mg or over, continuously for a day or so usually is what precedes the seizures form ultram / tramadol.

In my opinion, tramadol IS NOT COOL.

Zoop. The AGAIN in my post is directly related to your posts. Look at your paragraph right above. The one that says, "You'd think that after....." Well, you'd think that after reading Zoop's posts here that I would have enough sense not to do this mix. You'd really just think, wouldn't you. BUt no. I gotta go out and find out on my own; a trait that has always fucked me both personally and financially. I just gotta do it on my own. Nooooo, I can't learn from someone else. That's them. Not me....

Zoop. I'll make this post once a week if you will just to save someone from being a stubborn asshole who thinks just because it happens to somoeone else.....

thanks

CB

[Cornburglar]

hi jacky, i've been popping tramadol like tic tac's for about two years now. i've taken up to 400mg per day. mostly i stay around the 250 -300mg level anymore and mix and match with whatever else i got around, including

pods, tylenol pm, oxy, percocet, codiene (cough syrup and empacod) ambien, trazodone, blah blah...overall i am a big fan of it much easier to get for me and better for maintenance & some pain killing. i would say yes fore sure i could feel some irregular heartbeat and tingling in the hands and toes when i have over done it.

You are playing with a loaded gun. Stop now.

[Cornburglar]

yeh corn even i new that and then of course hope ur ok

I'm alrite mare.

Now I'm blushing. DD, you care. You really care.........:oLOL

[bodangly]

Zoop, also realize SSRIs are in your system for a while after you stop taking them, so this might explain while you still had a seizure. Of course tram can cause it all on its own, but it is far more likely if SSRIs are involved. Still, I'd expect to see this pulled off the market within 5 years, probably far less.

[Zoop]

Zoop, also realize SSRIs are in your system for a while after you stop taking them, so this might explain while you still had a seizure. Of course tram can cause it all on its own, but it is far more likely if SSRIs are involved. Still, I'd expect to see this pulled off the market within 5 years, probably far less.

I figured someone would say that. I think you're right. They probably should pull this shit.

[Cornburglar]

I was prescribed Tramadol for an ankle injury about 4 months ago. I had been on Lexapro for about two years at that point and heard about the SSRI/Tramadol interaction but didn't really take it too seriously until I tried it myself. After running low on cash and not being able to get oxy's one day I decided try the tramadol out. My first dose was 6 50mg pills(300mg) and everything was great. Got rid of the WD's and my energy level was way up. I was very excited when I found out the pontential for these things until about two weeks of using them.

While at work I had popped about 250mg throughout the morning and at around 1:00pm started feeling strange. I started getting wierd spells like I was going to faint with my head getting very flush and my vision fading out. They would only last for a few seconds but they were scarry as hell. I had to go outside and try to get some fresh air and calm down. It was almost two hours before I felt normal again, I'm pretty sure I was on the verge of having a seizure. I tried lowering my dose a few days later and it happened again, I just won't touch them now. It's too bad, they were great for withdrawals and did releive some of my pain.

That is exactly, exactly, what happened to me. I was thinking about it more today and the "electric," feeling in my mouth and remembered that seizure activity in the brain is electrical in nature. After rereading your post, I realize that I was likely either having a very small seizure or about to have one.

[devilsdrug]

sure i care corn it no fun arguin with someone whose mental capacity has been diminished if i remember right one guy said he didnt work for nine months after seizure

[handsome rob]

That is exactly, exactly, what happened to me. I was thinking about it more today and the "electric," feeling in my mouth and remembered that seizure activity in the brain is electrical in nature. After rereading your post, I realize that I was likely either having a very small seizure or about to have one.

It feels good to know that these symptoms I experienced were not me. Not that I would ever want anyone else to feel that way, it's simply and awful/wierd. I just know now that this feeling is not totally abnormal and tramadol is a very strange drug. I urge everyone to use caution with it. Cornburgler, I can say for certain that I will definitely stay clear of this stuff. By the way were you taking a SSRI at the time?
Be well and Opiated.
-HR

[ZodiacKiller]

^Cornburglar won't be back to answer your question, unfortunately. He seems to have left the site forever because his wife read all his posts, found out what he'd been up to and gave him the ultimatum of drugs or his family. He did what any normal person would do and chose his family...

But I, and quite a few of us here, thought he was a super cool guy and we're all a bit shaken up over it. I am bummed hardcore 'bout it myself...

ZK

[handsome rob]

Thanks for the news ZK. I really liked CB for the short time I've "known" him. Too bad about the wife but you've got to make choices sometimes and I would choose family as well.