Everything You Need to Know About Tramadol
Tramadol is an opioid pain medication. It is available in the market with the brand name Ultram among others. It is also available in combination with acetaminophen (paracetamol) or as longer-acting formulations. On a dosage-to-dosage basis, it has about one-tenth of the potency of morphine and is equally potent to pethidine and codeine.
Tramadol is useful in relieving moderate to moderately severe pain. It helps manage severe pain enough to require an opioid analgesic and for which alternative treatments are inadequate. It is also available in injection along with oral tablets/ capsules and liquid. There is moderate evidence of its use as a second-line treatment for fibromyalgia as a secondary painkiller.
Tramadol is a medicine that works in the brain to change how your body responds to pain and how your body feels. It starts its work of relieving the pain within an hour when you take the immediate-release formulation within an hour. Its pain killing effects last about 6 hours.
You should avoid using it if you are allergic to Tramadol or if you have:
- Bowel or stomach obstruction (including paralytic ileus);
- Asthma (severe) or breathing problems;
- Used MAO inhibitors (include linezolid, methylene, dicarboxamide, blue injection, phenelzine, reassailing, selegiline, and tranylcypromine); or
- Recently used sedatives, alcohol, narcotic medications, or tranquilizers
Do not give Tramadol to a child younger than 12 years old. In Ultram ER’s case, one should not give it to anyone younger than 18 years old. If someone younger than 18 years old and recently had surgery to remove tonsils or adenoids, then they must not take this medicine. Avoid giving Tramadol to children between 12-18 who have conditions that may cause breathing problems.
There are chances of seizures if you take this medicine without asking the doctor about your stroke risk, which may be higher if you ever had a head injury, epilepsy, or other seizure disorder.
