Ultram

[Radha]

have any of you heard of taking ultram as an anti depressant? i got it for pain, for it doesnt help the pain, but i do notice that i get a little burst of energy mentally a little boost, have any of you felt better emotionally when taking it? thanks for any input,

radha

[lmbutare]

I take it for pain but haven't really noticed any difference in mood from it. It helps keep my pain at a semi-manageable level so I like having it available. It definitely can be addictive, but I think it partially depends on you...I've had days where my pain wasn't as bad and went for 12 hours without taking it even though I usually take it 3-4 times a day and I didn't notice any problems. I think that you have to judge for yourself as to whether or not you feel you are becoming dependent on it...if so, you probably should stop taking it sooner rather than later and try something else. Hope this is useful. Good luck!

Lauren

[Darlene]

Mine doesn't work for pain, could it be because it's 50 mg?

[LynnMaryVL]

My prescription for Ultram is 50 mg up to 3x a day as needed for pain. It does not eliminate my pain but takes the ege off so my pain is tolerable. I have not heard of it being used to alter the mood or emotions - I sometimes feel tired after I take it.

[ajw4790]

Hi!

I am not very familiar with Ultram. So, why do ya'll take it? Neuropathic pain? So, for some of you it works and some no? Just curious!

If it is a pain killer, is it lightening your mood due to it taking away your pain and you are able to do more?

[Mrs. Burschman]

It seems like I recall reading once that Ultram is related to tricyclic antidepressants in some pharmaceutical fashion.

I know that sometimes drugs that aren't supposed to alter moods do. They've found that some of the newer anticonvulsants (such as Lyrica, Neurontin and Lamictal) improve depression in some people. In the same way, some people find beta blockers make them feel depressed. So I wouldn't be surprised if you noticed that effect.

Amy

[Sunfish]

while it's definitely true that meds can affect mood as a secondary effect/ action, when it comes to narcotics and related pain meds (ultram isn't a narcotic but has some similarities & can still be addictive) i doubt it would be an effect that any doc/ health care professional would support as the reason for taking them. while obviously someone can be in a better mood b/c of pain relief (i.e. someone in a lot of pain may not be very pleasant b/c of the pain) that doesn't seem to be what you're talking about as you've said that ultram doesn't help your pain. so while i don't doubt that the effect you're experiencing is very real it's probably not a good idea to take it for that reason.

i have tried ultram/ toradol (generic name) twice and it's done nothing for me in regard to pain (or anything else in that matter). at 50mg i couldn't even tell i'd taken anything. at 100mg i felt a bit odd...woozy perhaps & not anything pleasant, but not scary or horrible either. something i could certain tolerate if it helped with the pain but would have no desire to since it didn't touch the pain.

generally speaking ultram wouldn't be expected to help with neuropathic pain. b/c of the mechanism of nerve pain the more standard pain meds don't generally help much. when i have been on pretty high doses of morphine and/or dilaudid (probably considered in the realm of the strongest narcotics out there) for acute surgical or sepsis-related pain my neuropathic pain still wasn't really helped much. perhaps it was a bit less noticable but probably just b/c i was so drugged that most things were less noticable! i also had a lot going on at that time that made my neuropathic pain pretty much a non-issue, but nurses still always ask about it during assessments so it was brought to my awareness intermittently. but all in all still proof that narcotics aren't really much use for neuropathic pain.

melissa

[Radha]

thanks so much for all your replies, all your input is so helpful, thanks again

Radha

[Darlene]

ajw4055, i take ultram 50 mg with an ibuprofen 800 when i have a migraine, sometimes neither works

[LynnMaryVL]

I'm taking Ultram because I have a surgical procedure that I am putting off - I need something to take the edge off the pain until I decide to have the surgery. I have stronger pain medication I can take for really high pain level days. I take Topamax for my neuropathic pain. Having another surgery is not somethng someone with autonomic dysfunction look forward too.

[mkoven]

i am (of course!) allergic to ultram, but was initially given it after back surgery. it's supposed to be non-addictive, but I've heard of people going through nasty withdrawal when stopping.

Neuropathic pain and opiates...when I've had killer sciatica, esp. before back surgery, opiates took the edge off at high doses, but there are probably better options. I know they helped some, because when they would wear off, the pain was searing. being in a huge amount of uncontrolled pain isn't good for anyone's mood. but I never noticed that the drugs themselves improved my mood, except indirectly by reducing misery and allowing sleep.