Posted by Ame Sans Vie on September 12, 2003, at 22:09:15
In reply to Re: Forgot morning Ultram dose -- *never again*!!!!, posted by matthhhh on September 12, 2003, at 20:04:15
> Hey Ame, so i got my ultram and tried a pill and it relieved my anxiety and ocd for the day from 1 50 mg pill. But im a little concerned about the long term use.
Wow, it lasted the whole day? Can we trade metabolisms? lol
> Is ultram like oxycontin or heroin? ive heard very bad things about these drugs and opiods. I kind of feel that if i continue with the ultram that im just taking a drug not a medication, if u know what i mean.
Ultram shares very little in common with smack, morph, Oxy, or any of that stuff. Its activity at the mu-opioid receptor (the same receptor morphine and heroin target specifically) is 1/6,000 that of morphine. Its active metabolite is about 20 times more potent though, which means that Ultram binds to mu-opioid receptors with about 1/300 the strength that morphine does. Just FYI, heroin is about three times as potent as morphine, and oxycodone is about 50% less potent than morphine.
At first glance, this might make Ultram seem practically useless for pain. But due to its serotonergic/noradrenergic properties, the pain-relief is magnified -- 50mg oral Ultram is approximately equal to 9mg oral morphine, and 100mg Ultram IV is approximately equal to 10mg morphine IV (the reason for the ratio difference between oral and IV dosing is due to morphine's relatively poor oral bioavailability). This makes tramadol just slightly less potent than codeine for pain relief (60mg tramadol = 50mg codeine), but keep in mind that has little to do with its effect on the opioid system. The withdrawal I had this morning was more SSRI-reminiscent than anything, with just some minor opioid-withdrawal symptoms (which I probably perceived as being worse than they actually were because the serotonin-mediated withdrawal had me in a not-so-good frame of mind).
poster:Ame Sans Vie
thread:259342
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030912/msgs/259512.html