Posted by sukarno on March 18, 2010, at 21:52:11
In reply to Re: Parnate Needs to Be Spiced Up » bulldog2, posted by Maxime on March 18, 2010, at 15:54:04
Well, as tramadol is not scheduled in most US states (in other words it is not a controlled substance except in a few states), I would think it wouldn't be too much of a problem. It could be that the physician is afraid the patient might want the "real thing" (hydrocodone, oxycodone, etc) if they are on tramadol for the long term. I don't know though. I think they might be afraid of chastisement from their state medical board.
In the United States, a drug can be used off-label for almost any purpose though.
That said, there are anecdotes coming in about how distressing the withdrawal syndrome is from tramadol. It has a withdrawal syndrome similar to venlafaxine (Effexor), with the added misery of opioid withdrawal tacked on.
Probably, since it has mild opioid properties (comparing apples to oranges here.. it could be like codeine I suppose) it shouldn't be as distressing as discontinuing hydrocodone or oxycodone.
poster:sukarno
thread:939303
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20100318/msgs/940003.html