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Honored Contributor
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Registered: ‎03-09-2010
On 4/6/2014 KYToby said:

NSAIDs are broken down in the kidneys, and long-term usage can lead to kidney disease. In fact, tomorrow is the two-year anniversary of my mother's death who died of kidney failure as the result of long-term NSAID usage.

If the grogginess with the new med remains an issue, speak to your doctor about changing it. Due to ruptured discs in my back, I had to be on long-term pain medicine. Because I could not stand the side effects of hydrocodone, my doctor gave me Nucynta which, while an opiate, does not have the side effects of others.

Your mother died of kidney failure - why didn't they put her on dialysis?
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Posts: 16,156
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Tramadol is a controlled substance, and contains an opioid

Tramadol is a type of opioid painkiller used to treat moderate to severe types of pain. Because it is considered a controlled substance, it is available only by a doctor’s prescription.

Tramadol is available in both short-acting and long-acting (called “extended release”) forms. The form you take depends on the type and severity of your pain.

Tramadol is used primarily to treat moderate-severe pain, both acute and chronic. Its analgesic effects take about one hour to come into effect and 2-4 hours to peak after oral administration with an immediate-release formulation. On a dose-by-dose basis tramadol has about one-tenth the potency of morphine and is approximately equally potent when compared to pethidine and codeine.[10] For pain moderate in severity its effectiveness is equivalent to that of morphine; for severe pain it is less effective than morphine.[8] These painkilling effects peak at about 3 hours, post-oral administration and last for approximately 6 hours.[9] These analgesic effects are only partially reversed by naloxone, hence indicating that its opioid action is unlikely the sole contributing factor; tramadol's analgesic effects are also partially reversed by a2 adrenergic receptor antagonists like yohimbine and the 5-HT3 receptor antagonist, ondansetron.[9] Pharmacologically, tramadol is similar to levorphanol and tapentadol in that it not only binds to the mu opioid receptor, but also inhibits the reuptake of serotonin and norepinephrine.[1] Due to its action on the noradrenergic and serotonergic systems, such as its "atypical" opioid activity.[11]

Available dosage forms include capsules, tablets, including extended release

“sometimes you have to bite your upper lip and put sunglasses on”….Bob Dylan
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I copied the above info from WebMd, and Wikipedia.

“sometimes you have to bite your upper lip and put sunglasses on”….Bob Dylan
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Registered: ‎03-25-2012
On 4/6/2014 Snowpuppy said:
On 4/6/2014 jagk said: How long does the rebound pain usually last?

My rebound pain lasted about 30 days.

It reminded me of discontinuing Pred when I was on it short term (about 6 mos).

The pain came back with a vengence.

I am expecting that once I get down to 5 mg. That's when the pain becomes so bad I can't stand it and have to "up" the pred dose once again. I am down to 7 mgs from 10 mgs (started last fall), that is how slowly I am tapering. I will try to go to 6 mg in May. Perhaps I will stay there for two months instead of one and maybe do a 6-5, 6-5, 6-5 every other day for a while also. I would do anything to get off this med (well not anything). I have been on 10 to 8 mgs for almost ten years now . . . and I know what to expect, and hope I have the courage to withstand the Mack Truck pain when it starts again at around 5 mgs.


Formerly Ford1224
We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Elie Wiesel 1986