Is the pain killer tramadol addicting
Answer: To correct a lot of misinformation which is common on this site.
First tramadol is legally a narcotic. In U.S. legal context, narcotic refers to opium, opium derivatives, and their semi-synthetic or fully synthetic substitutes. Tramadol is a centrally acting synthetic opioid analgesic.
Second tramadol has been found to be addicting physically and psychologically. Withdrawal symptoms may occur if tramadol is discontinued abruptly. These
symptoms may include: anxiety, sweating, insomnia, rigors, pain, nausea, tremors,diarrhea, upper respiratory symptoms, piloerection, and rarely hallucinations. Clinical
experience suggests that withdrawal symptoms may be reduced by tapering tramadol. Tramadol is an opioid agonist of the morphine-type. Such drugs are sought by drug abusers and people with addiction disorders and are subject to criminal diversion. Tramadol can be abused in a manner similar to other opioid agonists, legal or illicit. This
is considered by most health care providers when prescribing or dispensing tramadol in situations where
the physician or pharmacist is concerned about an increased risk of misuse, abuse, or diversion.
When this medication was first released and marketed, it was felt that due to the mechanism of action it would not have addiction, withdrawal or abuse issues, and was not placed on the controlled substances schedule by the DEA. It has since had additional information sent to all prescribers advising of the risks. Unfortunately, many nurses and others who have used this medication, and even many of the providers who do not commonly work with pain medications did not read or get this information.
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While tramadol (Ultram) is not a narcotic, it is an opioid. All opioids can have the possibility of becoming addictive. There is debate about tramadol's addiction potential but I believe it is there.
Opioid is the medical term for any medication that acts on the body in about the same way as morphine. While tramadol is not derived from opium it acts with a morphine-like action in the body. Tramadol attaches to the same receptors as other opioid medications. This is where the debate of it's addictiveness comes into play. I'm no doctor, but have researched pain medications in the past.
When pain medications are used to treat pain, there is only a very small chance that you'll become psychologically addicted. Just use the medication as directed.
You may become physically addicted and have to taper off the medicine, however.
The American Academy of Pain Management has a lot of information. Please see the links below.
Wiki has a large article, too. Here's their link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tramadol.
I was on tramadol 50mg for quite a while, and it is considered a non-narcotic, and so it shouldn't be addicting. I didn't feel any sort of addiction to it, some people say ANY medication can be addicting, but from personal experiance and other peoples experiances I would say no its not addicting. GL! :) Tramadol is a non-scheduled drug, but it is a synthetic opioid, and does carry a risk of dependency. However, the risk is low, particularly if using it as prescribed.