Tramadol can make you sleepy, and this is one of its most common side effects, affecting 16% to 25% of patients in studies. Tramadol can also make you dizzy or lightheaded. Do not drive, operate heavy machinery, or participate in dangerous activities until you know how this drug affects you.
Make sure you rest, and drink plenty of fluids. It's best not to drink alcohol with tramadol as you're more likely to get side effects, like feeling sleepy. Ask your pharmacist to recommend a painkiller. Headaches should usually go away after the first week of taking tramadol.
Tramadol is a synthetic opioid that acts in the central nervous system (CNS) to relieve pain. Even when used as prescribed, tramadol can cause side effects, including disturbances in sleep patterns. Like other opioids, tramadol can make you tired, lightheaded, dizzy, and even sleepy.
Results: During drug-nights both doses of tramadol significantly increased the duration of stage 2 sleep, and significantly decreased the duration of slow-wave sleep (stage 4).
Tramadol may cause serious or life-threatening breathing problems, especially during the first 24 to 72 hours of your treatment and any time your dose is increased.
Do not take medicines called monoamine oxidase inhibitors or MAOIs (which are used to treat depression) with tramadol. The combination can cause significant side effects such as anxiety, confusion and hallucinations.
Long term utilization of tramadol is associated with various neurological disorders like seizures, serotonin syndrome, Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. Tramadol produces seizures through inhibition of nitric oxide, serotonin reuptake and inhibitory effects on GABA receptors.
Official answer. Both tramadol and codeine are prescription painkillers, and they seem to be equally effective in terms of pain relief. There is no evidence that tramadol is any stronger than codeine at relieving pain. Codeine is an opiate medicine and tramadol is a synthetic (man-made) opioid.
Tramadol works in a similar way to many antidepressant medications in that it increases the levels of serotonin and norepinephrine in your brain. This may lead to feelings of euphoria and well-being. For some individuals, these pleasant symptoms serve to reinforce a pattern of continued tramadol use.
You can take your tramadol at any time of day but try to take it at the same time every day, and space your doses evenly. For example, if you take tramadol twice a day and have your first dose at 8am, take your second dose at 8pm.
Tramadol side effects can include dizziness, nausea, sweating, and heartburn. Doctors only prescribe tramadol to people over 12 years old. Adolescents with certain risk factors should speak with their doctors about the risks of taking tramadol.
Tramadol is an opioid-like medication that has a similar structure and mechanism to morphine but is weaker than other opioid medications like oxycodone. While oxycodone is often regarded as the more potent drug, it also carries a higher risk of abuse and addiction due to its opioid properties.
Tramadol is considered an opioid narcotic drug in the same category as drugs like morphine, codeine, and hydrocodone. Opioid drugs act on opioid receptors in the brain, not only blocking pain, but also increasing pleasure and producing a mellow and euphoric “high” when abused.
When you take tramadol and it is absorbed into the bloodstream, you get a gradual onset of pain relief, that then reaches a peak, before the pain relieving effect tapers off. Fast-acting tramadol peaks in your system after 2 to 3 hours, and typically lasts around 6 hours.
Further, tramadol produces many of the more common opioid-like side effects including constipation (46%), sedation (25%), and pruritus (<11%) although probably less commonly than other opioids 17. In contrast, tramadol-induced nausea is actually more frequent (40%) than with other opioids.
Long-term use of tramadol can cause damage to the liver and kidneys. Tramadol can also cause serious and life-threatening breathing problems. Serotonin syndrome may also occur as a result of tramadol use. Serotonin syndrome involves mental status changes, neuromuscular hyperactivity, and autonomic hyperactivity.
Adverse Effects
The organs most commonly affected by tramadol are the central nervous system, neuromuscular, and gastrointestinal.
The potency of tramadol is reported to be 1/10 (one tenth) to 1/6 (one sixth) that of morphine.
Both tramadol and hydrocodone are opioids—strong pain-relieving drugs. These drugs change how the brain and nervous system respond to pain. They can also have “feel-good” effects due to releasing brain chemicals like dopamine and norepinephrine. These drugs are both controlled substances.
What is tramadol used for? Tramadol is used for the short-term relief of severe pain. It should only be used when other forms of non-opioid pain relief have not been successful in managing pain or are not tolerated. Tramadol is not usually recommended for the treatment of chronic (long-term) pain.
Tramadol is considered as either a weak opioid or a strong opioid, depending on the administered dose. 9 The term weak opioid should not encourage lack of caution in prescribing. The term “opioid” refers to all compounds that bind to opioid receptors.
There is some debate as to whether tramadol is harmful to the liver. Tramadol is generally safe to use, but in some cases — such as overdose or prolonged use — it may damage the liver. A 2015 study found that there was a risk of increased liver and kidney damage due to the long-term use of tramadol.
In general the lowest pain-relieving dose should be taken. You should usually swallow one or two capsules at a time.
Conclusions: Patients' reviews coupled with a survey of the biomedical literature indicate that at low therapeutic doses in the absence of interactions with other drugs, adult patients found tramadol to be a generally safe, effective, and fast-acting medication for relief from depression.