I've been on Hydrocodone since July of my shoulder surgery. Good stuff, and I only took it as needed for my shoulder pain. I've been getting cort shots as well, but they are not helping. I still have shoulder pain. The doc switched my meds and now I'm on Tramadol/Ultram 50mg 3 times a day. The hydro's were pretty good, but these Tramadols put me in daze. I totally blanked out in some parts of the lecture today, and had to finish off the day by giving a vocabulary assignment. Does anyone have any experience w/Tramadol/Ultram 50mg. Is this stuff stronger than Hydrocodone, or is just my body reacting to a new pain killer?
I'd say it's probably just you getting used to it. I take hydrocodone for my arthritis pains so I can sleep at night. The first week I took them, I got knocked the f*ck out. But now, they don't make me drowsy whatsoever. Give them a week or so, let your tolerance build up, and then if you're still having problems functioning, call your doc. EDIT: On doing some research about this, I've read several bad reviews of this drug saying it's habit forming and OD'ing causes seizures and all sorts of other things.... So be careful with it.
mmmmm, hydrocodone. The main thing it did to me was made it really easy to go to sleep. I could drive around, teach, play music, whatever, but if I lay down and stopped for a minute - instant sleep. After a while you get used to it and don't feel it so much. Anyway, it was pleasant. I didn't take as many as I probably could have. That would have been interesting. Oh well, no more of that fun until/unless some other serious injury or illness pops up. Not about to become a pill addict. I stopped with a bunch left, too. Oh well. If I'm ever in an emergency.
I would STRONGLY recommend rehab with massage or other forms of bodywork. It will help alleviate the pain and rehab the shoulder. Check with your doctor first, but it is ultimately better than being relegated to drugs for the pain. meggo: Same goes for you. Arthritis is helped tremendously by really good massage therapy.
I was just going to start a thread on how to be sure if I have arthiritis or not. Ive been feeling pain in my knees and elbows like crazy the past 3 months. And sometimes pain flares up in my shins too. Hydrocodine is awesome, it did the trick for me when i fractured my ankle.
jeff, I was going to therapy with deep tissue massage, weights, and pool therapy for 2 months starting the day of the surgery. The pain is still there. I use a "Tens" unit to help, but it doens't help that much anymore. I'm doing home therapy now since the doc didn;t see any more improvement in the pain in my shoulder. I try going without the pain killers, but the pain radiates to my elbow and lower back. I think the doc screwed me up more than I was before. I'm also taking 800 mg of Ibuprofen for the inflammation. I don;t want to be on these pain killers, but I have no other option.
You probably don't have the resources there in southern Texas, but I could recommend some great people around Houston - particularly accupuncture, which would probably be ideal for what you have.
Damn this sucks. The actual collarbone is hurting. Maybe because he had to shave a cm off the end. I'm sure there are accupunture places down here, but I trust them less than I trust the doctors down here. As far as medical help, we're practically living in a third world country. Oh well. Time for my night dose.
I once took a whole bottle of Ibprofin in a couple days when I was a pledge and my back was acting up bad. (You definitely don't want to have to sit out for some stuff during pledgeship.) Then the next time I took one Aleive and it was like night and day. Stuff gets the job done.
Wow. I leave for school and finally come back and there's a bunch of things to reply to. 1. Alieve and Ibuprofen and all those other OTC pain killers don't help me for crap. Naproxen sodium (Alieve) actually sends me into these high strung, emotional fits where I start bawling for no damn reason. But after taking most anything you can imagine for my arthritis over the past 14 years, I have just a bit of a tolerance to such things. I find that if I have to take OTC's I have to take 2 or 3 times what the directions say. 2. I wish I could get massages. As it is, I don't have the financial means to do it on my own accord. When I go to my doc in 2 weeks, that'll definitely be something to discuss. Maybe there's something that can be worked out with someone. What's left of my muscles = crap. 3. Adeel - do you have the following symptoms? swelling, loss of motion, stiffness after periods of inactivity - like in the morning when you get up, or just getting up after sitting for a while. Also, your joints might be warmer than the rest of your extremities. If you put your hand on your leg 2-3 inches above your knee, and then put your hand on your knee, you might be able to feel a difference in temp. If this sounds familiar, get it checked out. Long term arthritis damage sucks ass. And the shin pains are probably from you walking funny due to the pain you're experiencing. I have shin splints in my right leg due to the messed up way I walk with my right hip.
Theres definately some stiffness in the joints, especially right after just laying down and watching like a movie or something. Never checked if my joints were warmer. It usually almost always flares up(the pain) when it gets colder, but it happens all the time. Thx for the info, im definately gunna get it checked, especially since many others in my family have arthiritis. I was wondering... IS it hereditary?
Colder weather makes it worse, and also, in some cases, like rheumatoid arthritis (the kind I have) humidity and rain make is hella worse. Cold and rainy days are my mortal enemy. Different types of arthritis are caused by different things. Some are just incidences of old age. Others are sports injury related. Mine has no apparent cause - or at least, they haven't figured out what causes it yet. I haven't heard about it being hereditary though.
thanks alot for your time and info. meggoleggo. I appreciate it. well I know that ever since i fractured my ankle, this pain seems so much more obvious in other parts of the body... dunno if its connection or not. oh btw what do you call an arthiritis doctor?
Rheumatologist. At least, that's what all of mine have been called. You don't have to go to a rheumatologist though. They probably won't even see you if you don't already have the diagnosis. Just go to a general MD. They can give you the diagnosis you'll need. IF you do indeed have arthritis, and it's necessary to see a rheumatologist, then you'll already have things in the workings, and the general MD can give you a listing of people to see. Besides, depending on your insurance, it's more expensive to see a specialist. And yes, sometimes with an injury, your body can become hypersensitive to other aches and pains your body would normally leave unnoticed. It's because your pain receptors are already firing through your body to get to your brain. It's not that much more trouble to fire a few more even when they haven't reached threshold.
Tramadol is not stronger than hydrocodone. It is usually prescribed for lingering pain, because it's not an opiate and doesn't have the potential for recreational use like vicodin. It has been known to cause seizures, so make sure you've researched the side effects thouroughly before taking too much of the stuff. Rxlist is a great resource to get more details: http://www.rxlist.com/cgi/generic/tramadol.htm
