Hydrocodone And Tramadol Questions

My husband has a dislocated hip waiting to get in to the Ortho Dr. His primary Dr. Prescribed tramadol 50 mg 1 to 2 every 6 to. 8 hrs. & hydrocodone 10/325 1 at 4 times a day. I made him a schedule of: 2 tramadol every 6 hrs. 1 hydro every 3 hrs and every hour & 1/2 1/2 a hydro. Most the time he goes to bed by 9 to 9:30. On average he's taking 4 to 5 hydro per day and 6 tramadol per day. I also set my clock for 2 am to give him 2 tramadol so that when he gets up at 5:30 he's not in a excruciating pain. Then he takes a hydro & starts his schedule. Is this too much? We've never taken anything but an anti inflammatory.

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@SB,

According to umm.edu, there are drug interactions between Tramadol and Hydrocodone. However this may not be a concern depending on how often both medications are being used together and at what dosage. These are factors that only your husband and his doctor can decide based on his feedback. My opinion if everything has been going fine would just be to bring this interaction to his doctor's attention in order to better determine whether any changes are necessary or not.

Some side effects associated with the combined use of these two drugs may be slurred speech, confusion, slow/shallow breathing, dizziness, and cognitive impairment. So if you notice any of these symptoms that would probably be a good indicator that something about his regimen should be changed, of course after informing his doctor first.

Hope this helps!

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Thank you for your reply!

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I suffer from pinched sciatic nerves and have tried all the snake oil meds that big pharma tries to sell us on. NuCynta nearly killed me. The combo that has worked best is hydrocodone and tramadol. I do not get any side effects from the 2 but now the Feds say I have to pick one only. Is there ONE medicine that will provide the same pain relief as my very reliable combination? The tramadol worked well for muscle and nerve pain. The Lortab relieved my spinal pain. What about Talwin? Are there others? I know everyone says opiates are addictive but anything that works will be. If crabgrass relieved pain, the Feds would ban it, start a war on it, control it and make a fortune on it. So being able to earn 70k a year is much better than being disabled in pain. The old meds have less side effects and are effective. What would be a good old school med that would cover nerve, muscle, and chronic pain in one pill?

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I've had 5 neck and back surgeries since 1999 for ruptured discs and to remove bone that was composing nerves. My last surgery was a fusion/fixation at L4-L5 in 2009 at age 42. I now have permanent nerve damage in my L5-S1 nerve (the source of which has not be found). My symptoms are very similar to sciatica so I know very well the kind of pain you're experiencing… and anyone who has nerve pain knows the hell we go through on a daily basis! My pain was so bad at times I would jus lay in bed with tears rolling down my cheeks. My kids would try to help cuz they said I had on my "pain face". I got very little relief from high doses of most narcotic pain meds, tramadol was no more effective than Tylenol and Nucynta was totally worthless along with Lyrica, neurontin, Cymbalta and countless more.

Then I began seeing a KNOWLEDGABLE pain management specialist who wasn't afraid of controversy, legislation or the DEA and put me methadone, with hydrocodone for breakthrough pain. I was resistant as first because of the connotation. Methadone has the stigma of being used to treat opiate addicts but it was originally developed to treat pain (the dose for pain is a lot lower than used to treat opiate withdrawal). After it took full effect (3 days), I couldn't believe how much pain I had actually been in and for so long… over 6 yrs of near constant, frequently unbearable pain! This was the first time in year I could describe my pain as acceptable, as if any level of pain is considered "acceptable". I've been on the same dose for 5 yrs and it's still just as effective. Methadone is also much easier on the kidneys and liver than other narcotics with less side effects such as drowsiness, confusion, memory loss. And way cheaper!!!

I was so miserable, I used to "joke" that my pain could not possibly be any worse if I took a shotgun and blew my leg off at the hip. I can honestly say that if it weren't for the methadone, I don't know where I'd be right now.

NO ONE should have to suffer in pain when options are available, no matter how unpopular - marijuana included!! Am I pain free? No. I still have good days and bad days but the good outnumber the bad and I have a favorable quality of life which is more than I could say before.

Word of Caution: If you choose this route, make sure your dr is experienced with this drug. What make this such a good pain med (and a dangerous one) is its long half life so get informed, educated and them talk to your dr. Don't rely on your dr to recommend methadone because some won't unless you ask and demand relief… take control of your pain! I hope this helps (sorry is so long, but I firmly believe in this medicine).

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I agree same meds and it took the methadone to fix the pain.

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Re: SB (# 2)

No, it’s not too much if he is breathing ok and it’s helping his pain. The CDC guidelines of 90mg of morphine equivalent is ok for opiate neive people (but they may soon need more). The pain will dictate what you need. I’ve been on Avenza (Morphine ER) 90mg Plus three 7.5 Vicoprofen pee day. I’ve been on Fentanyl patches at 5ug per hour plus three Vicoprofen a day. I had to change the “three day patch” every 48 hours because by day three it was ineffective. I still had some pain on both. Too much constipation on the morphine after three years too much sleeping on the patch. I’m now on 10/325 Norco (hydrocodone) at 4.5 a day. I take them during the day but pain gets me up early in the morning. I use the IR pills so that on a “good day” I can take less and have more on a “bad day”. It takes 7 for me to feel like a normal person, like I used to but I can rarely, like twice a year.. do that.

So NO, it’s not too much if he needs it. You can tell and your pain level will let you know. I also get 60 Tramadol a month @ 50 mg each but I don’t take them every day, I save them to use on bad days. ALSO.. consider, my wife had rotator cuff surgery. She was given 10/325 Percocet and 2mg Dilaudid to take one or the other every two hours. It didn’t hurt her but was in no way enough for the first week of pain. So.. use common sense and use what you need, stop when you no longer need it. Doctors are scared and the government doesn’t have a clue. If you work up to what works slowly you’ll be ok. It’s the abusers who are dying, not the patients but we’re all being lumped together. It is shameful.

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Re: OhioPain (# 4)

Hi, I'm glad you found relief. But where on God's green earth in Ohio did you find a really good pain doctor? Desperate in Ohio.

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Since I posted my Tramadol use has gone up. I didn’t think it was doing much but the pain is waking me up at night. When it does I take 3 ibuprofen and a Tramadol or 2 APAP and a Tramadol (if I’ve taken more APAP during the day I go with the Tramadol otherwise I use APAP). I’m not sure how well anything is working anymore. Maybe 1-1/2 years ago I went from 120 10/325 Norco a month to 135. Things were beginning to go downhill. Last spring I was mowing the lawn (three years ago walking, last two riding) by the end of this season I was having to hire someone, last spring I was also doing all grocery shopping, cooked something most days, cleaned the kitchen, did most of the laundry. Now if I take a walk not only does my back hurt but ankles too. I don’t get to the store every week and rarely cook. Put two boxes in the attic and was in terrible pain for two days, one was too heavy. I also just have no desire to do anything because I hurt all the time. Thankfully my doctor sometimes sees me a day or two early and my pharmacy fills without making me wait so.. in the summer if I have normal days or better days I can keep some back every month for the Winter. Last winter I needed extra Jan-Mar, this year it’s started in November. I’m going a day early this time but still taking two out of my “backup”. I don’t know what to do. I’m not sure Norco plus Tramadol is better than just Norco after about 10 days use. I don’t know what to do. I’ll be ok for a while. About 3 years ago a relative stole 37 of my pills at Christmas... I had to cut back but it still took all my reserve. Thankfully two months later (when hydrocodone was still scheduled III) the pharmacy “accidentally” I think filled my prescription twice. The pharmacist had told me I’d be best to not mention the theft to my doctor because they are touchy about that. So I took his advice and didn’t mention it to him. They also had an employee at that time who was skimming off the prescriptions and I had helped them. So, I’ve rotated stock for three years and have a whole extra prescription I have not gotten into and I don’t want to, I’m afraid it will be a slippery slope... but I’ll be ok for a while if things go from bad to worse.

I’m going to have to get a change or go on my own. If doctors can’t or won’t help me I will help myself because I only have this one life. Don’t worry, I wouldn’t use H. There are other things. I’m going to ask for help. I wouldn’t put much confidence in Tramadol if you’re having real pain. I’ve been in management for a very long ten years, have never run out, never asked for early. I’ve just gotten worse at a bad time I guess but I refuse to just suffer silently when help is out there. In my experience, expect Tramadol to add relief for about 10 days. Then you’ll need more but DO NOT go from opiates like hydrocodone or oxycodone to Tramadol unless you don’t really hurt.

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I've been taking Tramadol 50 mg for 2 days and was wondering if after my last encounter with Tramadol this evening (over 6 hours ago), would it be ok to stop it and start hydrocodone 5/325? I’ve had a bad fall on my chest and it's hard to breathe due to the pain.

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