ultram to hydrocodone, good or bad ?

Question

I have been taking 90, 7.5mg hydrocondone for over a year now and my doctor refered me to a pain clinic. i had went for the first time today and i seen a NP who took me off the hydrocodone and gave me 50mg ultrams along with zanaflex (which make me sick even though i tried to tell her that). I ask if i would have any withdraws since i was suddenly stopping the hydrocodone and i was told that the ultram would take care of that. so after coming home i done some searching about ultram and about %70 of results talk about how ultram can be just as addictive even though it is non narcotic and for some people it can even make your withdraws worse.... i have also read that you should not suddenly stop taking hydrocodone and instead be tapperd off it. so my question is.. is it safe for a person who has been taking hyrocodone for as long as i have to be switched to ultram ?

Answer 1

Ultram can actually BRING ON withdrawal symptoms from narcotics. Your pain management doctor is either a quack or a redneck who believes anyone in pain management is a junkie looking for dope.........been there, done that. Find a NEW PM Doc who has compassion and credentials. Go online, talk to friends or relatives, try the Yellow Pages and/or go back to your Primary Doc to get a referral to proper Pain management. You won't die from withdrawal from that level of narcotics, but you may wish you had for a week or so. Good Pain Management Clinics are, unfortunately, few and far between. With the Federal Gov't's. 0 tolerance policies, they make it really hard for GOOD Doctors to treat chronic pain, and really EASY for quacks and sadists to set up clinics. If all else fails, try your local Emergency Room, and ask the Docs there for a referral. Good luck....it took me 3 months to find a half-assed PM Clinic, and I had to suffer with them for two years before I found a REAL, good Doctor to simply manage my legitimate, chronic pain from multiple broken bones, and considerable hardware to replace missing bone parts. The AMA Website can also be helpful if you live in a Metropolitan area where there are alot of choices available to you, and/or you want to file a complaint against a Doctor. The bottom line is, you don't have to suffer or be treated like a drug addict simply to exist.......keep trying the avenues listed above until you find a Doctor to help you.....the AMA actually IS on the side of patients in chronic pain, it's the Government that thinks we're all drug addicts! To just answer your question, though, it's not necessarily UNSAFE to be switched to Ultram, but it will be mighty UNCOMFORTABLE for a few days!!!!!

Answer 2

Ultram is synthetic opioid medication, so it would act on the same sensors that the Vicodin does. How many vicodins were you taking in a day (I'm assuming 90 in your first paragraph is incorrect)?

I personally was able to step down from 5-6 Percocet 10 mgs a day to 4 Ultram 50 mgs a day with no withdrawl. I had other side effects (like the mental addiction) but the physical side-effects were gone. Problem is - when you go to stop taking the Ultram, the withdrawl symptoms will just come back. The best thing to do is just to try and stop taking the Ultram and Vicodin all together (if you can manage) and try only taking Advil or Ibuprofen for the pain.

It is a very hard thing to stop taking pain meds - I had a cripling knee injury so for the longest time I was living off of pain meds, but that's no way to live your life. You will be MUCH better off without the Vicodin in the end - TRUST ME! Your liver and your head will thank you!

Answer 3

Dear Friend,
My boyfriend and a friend of his both took Hydrocodone as a painkiller for severe pain. The docs told them that they would be on it forever, and they had to go off of it because their livers began to fail. They were not drinkers or anything. They both went cold turkey off the stuff, and endured the short-term sweating and anxiety. I don't know about you, but I would discuss Ultram again with the doctor ... but however you do it, get off the hydrocone as soon as possible. You CAN survive cold turkey, you CAN survive by tapering off, and you CAN survive by using Ultram. I recommend just getting over it, because it is quick and detoxifying. There are then many alternatives to hydrocodone, and, dear girl, I wish you all the best.
~Misty in Elmira, NY

Answer 4

Ummm. What is that NP on? You should be tapered off. Go from 7.5mg to 5mg and then 2.5mg. Over a span of a couple of months. I've been through the same situation myself. It is safe to take Ultram though after your dosage regimen has been modified. Good luck. Definitely get a second opinion.

Answer 5

NO!!!!!!!!!!! First of all, i would go to a different pain clinic!!!!!!! You cannot just STOP taking hydrocodone, you are probably sick by now. The Ultram might help a little but not help the pain like the hydro did. GO TO ANOTHER CLINIC, those people do not know what they are doing!!!!!!!!!!!11

Answer 6

call the dr who referred you to the pain clinib and tell him that they switched you to a medication that you advised them you can taken before and got ill and ask him to refer you to a different pain clinic where they will listen to your concerns and discuss everything with you like the addictiveness before they perscribe it for you - sound like you ent to a BAD pain clinic

Answer 7

I RECOMMEND COMING OFF OF THE HYDROCODONE AND STAY ON THE ULTRAM AND HAVE YOUR DOCTOR PRESCRIBE CATAPRES FOR WITHDRAWLS

Answer 8

bad - kills liver