Dangers Of Taking Tramadol Regularly

[Dizmo]

Hey. I've got a medical question which I'd rather not discuss with my doctor as I'm sick to death of having blood tests. You may not see the connection between me having a conversation with my GP and the requirement to have bloods taken but there is one.

I've been taking 8 (sometimes 10-12 (yeah I know, technically that's exceeding the maximum dose)) 50mg Tramadol Hydrochloride tablets a day and need to know how this could be affected my body, specifically my kidneys, liver and pancreas. On the 27th of December I was diagnosed with having gastritis and was sent home from hospital the same day. Unfortunately they misdiagnosed me - I actually had pancreatitis.

Anybody have ideas if the tramadol is going to affect me to a point I end up having to spend another month in hospital fighting for my life or is it one of those questions that can't really be answered without checking things such as liver function etc?

Thanks in advance.

[Dizmo]

Also, can someone tell me what the liver test show up? I know there are 2 certain levels that are detected I just can't remember what they are. If I remember correctly one has a range of 30 - 60 and the other 20 - 100 roughly. If not I'll ring my doctors surgery and see if they can access my blood tests so I can write the 'names' down.

[ummmm]

Hiya. Still feeling crap then?

How many tablets are you suppose to be taking?

[237SJ]

There`s a bit about the effects on the liver here
http://livertox.nlm.nih.gov/Tramadol.htm
and it can cause slow/arrested breathing as well as leading to dependency.

[Dizmo]

Hey Ummmm, sorry I've not been in contact for god knows how long. I've not checked any of my emails for months :/

I'm up and down like normal. I'm fed up of being on benefits but at the moment I'm still not physically fit enough to work. Don't get me wrong if there was an office job going I'd make the effort but I'm a person who works with his hands. I'm looking at doing some volunteering for a company called Safe@Last; they help children who have run away from home and need support. I don't know too much about the company but they do have some office based administration jobs that will get me back into the flow of working again.

I should be only taking around 4 a day if needed but lately my back as started playing up again. I've god this worrying feeling though that they are doing a lot of damage and I don't think that I'll be walking out of hospital again if I'm admitted. I hate hospitals but I owe my life to the staff who run the DDC Unit (* * critical unit, I can never remember the first 2 words of that abbreviation; Intensive Care basically) at Doncaster Royal Infirmary. I got lucky, so much so not even the professionals expected me to come out in anything other than a body bag.

I might just go to my GP and voice my worries. He/She will probably just stop the repeat prescriptions :/

[Dizmo]

237SJ: Cheers, I'll take a look at that link. I'm already dependant on them but for someone who at one time drank up to 1.5litres of vodka a day and now sober (80 days sobriety, not like I'm counting or anything lol) I'm sure I can stop taking them. The pain is there and if I can get the 'ball rolling' regarding seeing a chiropractor I can happily stop. They do get rid of the pain and I've built up enough resistance for them not to impede on my judgement. I used to take solpadol (codeine phosphate & paracetamol) for about 6 years and it got to a point where they no longer had any effect other than destroying my liver.

[ummmm]

Having a quick glance at 237's link I think you'd be strongly advised to cut right back. Hard I know when you're in pain.

Was the pancreatitis put down to alcohol? How is your alcohol intake nowadays.

Email whenever you feel like it. I've more or less managed to weed out the spam so not missing messages anymore x

[ummmm]

Well done with the drinking xx

[Dizmo]

They can't be 100% sure it was down to alcohol but I firmly believe it was. I mean that amount of alcohol was overkill. My wife might of walked out and screwed up my life but I'm still here. For the rest of my life I'll always be an alcoholic even if I don't drink anymore - I can live with that title. I know why people drink but we all know it doesn't solve anything.

[anneasquith]

well done re the alcohol, you now have an addiction to tramadol,is your gp prescribing enough tablets to support you 10/12 tablets per day ?

[Dizmo]

No he/she isn't as I'd be especially concerned if they were. My use of the word dependent is a little harsh as I don't feel like someone addicted - I know it sounds very contradictory. It's more of a need because of the pain. I didn't used to be alcohol dependent either, just a binge drinker. I find it hard to explain the relationship I have with NSAIDS just like it wasn't easy to explain how my relationship with alcohol was. I've not taken any tramadol for 3 days and I'm in pain. My concern is that if I start taking stupid amounts again how might this affect me? Obviously it isn't going to do me any good but I could do with more specifics. It looks like I'm going to have to resort to going back to my GP and let them know what I'm taking and if they have any alternatives that aren't going to send me 6 feet under.