When is a drug considered narcotic? Is it considered narcotic if it is habit forming with withdrawal symtoms?

Question

The drug in question is Tramadol; or Ultram.

Answer 1

In hospice, comfort for the patient is rated as one of the most important considerations. For this reason, narcotic medications are often ordered to control severe pain encountered in many terminal conditions. Narcotic medications when given to the hospice patient in appropriate dosages are not dangerous. The hospice nurse is responsible to teach the patient and family how the medication is to be given. This includes understanding the five "rights" of medication administration: who gets the medication, which medication, how much to give, how to give the medication, and when to give the medication.

A common initial side-effect of opioid narcotic medications is slowing of the breathing. When a physician first orders the narcotic medication, the hospice nurse must carefully watch to observe how the patient responds to the medication. Is the pain controlled? Are there any serious side-effects occurring? Is the patient's rate of breathing in a safe range? Breathing for an adult should normally be 12 to 20 per minute, but this can vary widely according to the patient's disease condition and age. A terminally ill patient may have very abnormal breathing rates even without any narcotic medication. The rate may be very fast or slow.

However, less than 8 breaths per minute can be dangerously slow. If the patient is already actively dying and near death, then slow breathing in some cases (but not all) is to be expected. If the patient is not at the point of death, abnormally slow breathing may not be expected and may be sign of an adverse effect from a narcotic medication. It depends on the patient's disease process.

Answer 2

Ultram or tramadol is a synthetic opiate, yes it is a narcotic, yes it can be habit forming.

Narcotics are classified primarily thru thier ingredients, all are potentially habit forming, all potentially have withdrawal side effects.
That being said. Using narcotics appropriately rarely leads to habituation. Stopping usage is not usually a problem unless the drug has been in use for more than a month.

Answer 3

A narcotic is a pain relieving drug that also sedates? to some degree. Tramadol has fewer of opioid side effects such as addiction potential. Speak to your pharmacist, they're very knowledgeable

Answer 4

A narcotic is any substance causing sleep, stupor, hallucinations and depresses the central cortex of the brain and is highly addictive and usually an opiate derivative. All other substances are classified as drugs.