The proven painkiller for chronic pain: Tramadol

Chronic pain… Brings thoughts as to how one can deal with it, doesn’t it?

The person who is suffering from chronic pain is one who knows the graveness of his/her condition. Sleepless nights in pain, no comfort at the workplace; each day is a new challenge for the person.

One should be well aware of the ailment before gathering information about the medication. Hence let us have a brief look at the concept of chronic pain.

Chronic pain: 

Pain that persists or progresses over a long period of time. In contrast to acute pain that arises suddenly in response to a specific injury and is usually treatable, chronic pain persists over time and is often resistant to medical treatments.

Chronic pain may be related to a number of different medical conditions including Diabetes, Arthritis, Migraine, Fibromyalgia, Cancer, Shingles, Sciatica, and previous trauma or injury. Chronic pain may worsen in response to environmental and/or psychological factors. It is believed that pain affects men and women differently. This may be due to hormones or physiology.

Tramadol painkiller

Tramadol is the generic version of the well known painkiller, Ultram. Mostly known to be effective for chronic pain, this medication also helps in curing the inflammation in the pain inflicted area.

The most common destination in the brain for pain signals is the thalamus and from there to the cortex, the headquarters for complex thoughts. The thalamus also serves as the brain's storage area for images of the body and plays a key role in relaying messages between the brain and various parts of the body. By this concept we can see that when a person suffers from chronic pain, then the signals passes through the spine to the thalamus in the brain.

When one takes Tramadol, then the medication blocks the neural pathway of the chronic pain signal by attaching itself to the pain receptors in the brain. Since the pain signals cannot reach the brain, therefore the medication gives the impression that the medication has helped in reducing pain, while it is only blocking the pain sensations from reaching the brain.

What does Tramadol contain?

• The active substance is Tramadol Hydrochloride.
• The other ingredients are Pregelatinised Starch, Microcrystalline Cellulose (E460), and Magnesium Stearate.
• The capsule shell contains Gelatin, Iron Oxide (E172), Titanium Dioxide (E171), and Indigo Carmine (E132).

How powerful is Tramadol?

Tramadol vs. Codeine

Tramadol as a pain relief med is more potent than Codeine. Tramadol is shown to have less constipation, euphoric, respiratory depressant effects.

Codeine provides more effective pain improvement, and better tolerability compared to Tramadol. However as compared to Codeine, Tramadol has been known to have fewer side effects and most of them are short term side effects. Codeine is known to make a person drowsy soon after. Tramadol, though more potent than Codeine has far less serious side effects and the side effects wear off soon enough.

Tramadol vs. Morphine

Tramadol and Morphine are used in post-operative conditions. Tramadol however significantly shows lesser respiratory depression than Morphine. Also Tramadol does not induce Histamine release that can result in flushing, reddening or itching of the skin. At proper doses, Tramadol has no effect on heartbeat, left ventricular function. 

Is Tramadol a narcotic or opiate?

As most people know, true opiates such as morphine and hydrocodone are highly addictive drugs because they contain narcotic components. In comparison, Tramadol is a non-narcotic medication even though the effects it produces are similar to narcotics. This is the primary reason many people still question the classification for Tramadol as being a narcotic drug or not. 

 Even though Tramadol is not a narcotic, it can still be addictive although in a unique way to other drugs. Typically what happens is an individual's tolerance builds over time, which means to get the same degree of pain relief, a greater dose is required.

Although Tramadol is not a narcotic drug, if someone become dependent on the medication then the user can experience withdrawal symptoms. Some of the withdrawal symptoms are as follows;

• Aggressiveness
• Decreased appetite, diarrhea, and/or nausea
• Depression
• Excessive sweating, chills, and/or shivering
• Flu-like Symptoms
• Headaches
• Irritability, anxiety, and noted mood swings
• Nightmares and/or insomnia
• Tingling or shock-like sensations
• Tremors
• Unusual thoughts and/or hallucinations

Tramadol side effects

Tramadol being a powerful pain medication has its own set of side effects;

• Agitation,
• Nervousness,
• Anxiety,
• Seizures (convulsions),
• Skin rash,
• Dizziness,
• Hallucinations,
• Fever,
• Fast heart rate,
• Nausea,
• Vomiting,
• Upset stomach

Tramadol is indeed a painkiller to help us get pain relief quickly. But the probability of the medication becoming an addiction is high too. Therefore one should be careful while taking this pill after proper advice from the medical professional.

In this digital era, purchasing medications online is not at all a hassle. One can easily buy Tramadol online at various med stores that provide these medication with various other customer friendly benefits.