Posted by Linda on March 22, 2000, at 20:48:58
In reply to Re: under the influence, posted by KarenB on March 22, 2000, at 17:45:43
Hi CarolAnn & Karen,
I know exactly what you mean - I have chronic shoulder pain that I have taken hydrocodone & ultram for (at different times) and they both have given me that "sense of wellbeing" - and added energy with Ultram. Karen, Ultram is showing itself to be a habit-forming drug & one of the company's drug reps just recently told me that there is a move to place it on a controlled list - really a shame because it works so well for chronic pain. It's important to be carefull with Ultram & psychotropic meds (esp SSRIs) because they can interact. The reason narcotics are not given for this nice side effect is because a quick tolerance developes & it takes increasing amounts of med to achieve the same result - which is usually true of any addictive substance. Its a real bummer to have chronic pain on top of depression - I wish there was a "magic bullet" too! You might also keep in mind that when you ask a doc for a controlled substance, they will almost always label you as having drug seeking behavior. That's really a shame, too, because many of us know just what works. I try to keep this in mind when my patients ask for controlled meds - it is sometimes really difficult to identify those with a real (or potential) drug problem & we have to be careful not to contribute to a new problem! Life is never easy, is it?? Linda
poster:Linda
thread:27724
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000321/msgs/27891.html