Is tramadol a controlled substance?

I totally agree

Certainly do.

It goes both ways, don't you think we're in pain and suffer because we can't get treated.

Kais,

The point is, controlled or not, you will be able to get the drug if the doctor prescribes it to you. It is not going to be heavily regulated like a schedule II Percocet, it is just going to be monitored more carefully. I don't see how making it a schedule IV drug makes it harder for your doctor to prescribe it.

Your attitude is very disheartening for those that are reading these forums. They come here for answers not to be condemened.

No I won't be, my doc won't prescribe long term controlled drugs. No doctor in this city will, and finding one in the state that would is pretty hard. Virginia has cracked down harder then other states on docs. All we have left in pain management is anesthesiologist who just give shots that don't help. If it becomes controlled I have no pain management whatsoever. And why is that, because people abused this med that if taken as ordered doesn't cause a high. The minute it becomes controlled I am cut off. Now do you see why abusers tick me off.

Kais,

I am sorry you are having issues. I still think that you are missing the point and directing your anger in the wrong way but I understand that you just want to feel better.

I don't understand how the doctors there wouldn't prescribe the drug long-term because the warning as I understand it means that the drug shouldn't be given to people with mental illnesses or abusive tendacies. However, at least in South Carolina, the drug will still be given as a long-term substitute for strong opioids to those without that history.

It is not the fact that people abuse the drug that makes it a controllable substance, it is the fact that the drug has qualities that will allow it to be abused. Regardless of how you feel about us, recovering addicts need to know these things before we take them.

I understand but its old news. It happened years ago when the benzodizepine family was limited to say five drugs or so. Valium was then the number one abused as well as perscribed benzodiazepine of the 60's late 50's. (I did not bother to see when it first arrived on the market, its an oldie/goldie) I'm in my 70's now and was on it back in 1965 or so. Give or take a year.

Tazc, you made a very good point. It is the drugs qualities that allow it to be abused. If it didn't help you feel good it wouldn't get abused and so many people don't even know how the medication works! Including doctors! I feel bad for people that are affected by 'drug' abusers, but myself, i have had a Tramadol addiction but have never abused any other medication and i've been prescribed a LOT in my life. So why is it just this one? Doctors need to be more responsible about what they prescribe to who, and ask more questions.

When I first heard they wanted to control it, I asked my dr about it, because I never felt anything from it that would make me want to take more then I needed for pain. She said people abused it and I was shocked. In this city I have already been treated like a drug seeker, because I take tramadol. I can't imagine what I'd go through if it was controlled, and I could get it. I actually had a pharmacist refuse to refill a prescription and made me wait 3 days, because I took it as the doctor prescribed. I wasn't supposed to do that in her mind. I got a 10 minute lecture on addiction in front of about 15 people in line, and in her mind that was ok, because I was just a drug seeker. So don't even try to make me feel any different. I have my reasons and my own feelings and pain.

To Tazc23, Appreciated your honesty and apology earlier. And you are learning more about the extreme consequences. Don't feel disheartened by the truth. It's just a fact. And again, thanks for your apology.
Sara

Oh, I guess that you didn't apologize, just trying to explain. Appreciate that much. Good luck with your depression.

Have a great day folks :-0)

kaismama--many people become addicted to tramadol even when they take it as prescribed. That is a fact. People think that only drug abusers get addicted, but that's not true. My grandma has a prescription, and she's supposed to take it 1 pill 3 times a day for pain.That's enough to build a tolerance and get dependent on those pills everyday. And you know why doctors don't want to prescribe it for long-term usage? Because you will most likely become addicted that way. When the body is on that medication for a long time, it doesn't matter if you are taking it accordingly. Everyone is different though. Some people become dependent on a small amount everyday, and some don't. It's not always a matter of "abusing."

The problem is that its not always that way. Not everyone becomes dependent on it, and a lot of us take it the way its supposed to be used, yet because people abuse it we should suffer. Right now its the only med alot of docs will prescribe, because its not controlled, and that wll leave us with nothing if it becomes so. Why do the people in pain suffer, will the addicts move on to something else?

I'm a recovering addict Kaismama, but I actually agree with you!! lol I am srry to say that my addiction started with prescription pain killers, percocet, vicodin, and Oxycontin and then moved on to Heroin, but because of ppl who abuse pain killers it does make it harder for those of you who use them as directed, and believe me... I regret that I added to that problem. I've been clean for many years now and I am grateful that I am.

Yes, I took it 24/7 for 4 months until nerve block injections took away my severe migraines entirely for 5 days. And I stopped the Tramadol entirely during those 5 days, then as the migraines came back not nearly as badly, I took the Tramadol far less. I NEVER had a single side effect from the abrupt stopping of the Tramadol. Just someone else who didn't suffer from any addiction, but I can't speak for others.

If doctors monitored their patients sufficiently then the problem wouldn't be as rife. And i agree with Taz, some people suffer mental illness and/or are predisposed to addiction or have a history of it, and shouldn't be prescribed Tramadol in the first place.

The doc should know that before he prescribes anything.

In my case my doctor was and still prescribed it. And when realising the problem continued to prescribe it at 200 capsules a time.

My dr will prescribe enough for me for the month, and that's alot of them, because I've gone to her for 10 yrs and she trusts me, but she won't prescribe controlled meds to anyone because she's afraid of the state and DEA. She just doesn't want to invite the hastle. She will tell me to see a pain dr. I used to go to one in Virginia Beach(a 3hr trip one way) but the state took his license. The one here in town is an anesthesiologist who thinks shots help everyone. Forget about any meds.

Well if your doctor knows you so well and trusts you then they shouldn't be worried about prescribing any med's, whether a controlled substance or not.

i am prescribed tramadol,what kind of side effects will i encounter if i take my other medication(seraquil)?

off from the last comment... i take 400 mlgs of seraquil a night and a 100 in the morning and just wondering if it would be dangerous to take both tramadol and seraquil together?

Hi, i've only just seen your comment, sorry for the late response... i hope by now you have found that you can take the 2 together quite safely. I take Seroquel, and used to take Tramadol with it. Both medications were prescribed by the same doctor.

A bill was recently signed by our Gov making Tramadol a schedule IV (controlled) drug in ga

It's also a controlled substance in Kentucky.
Lisa

wow!! this is something that I didn't know!! I thought that it was controlled in all the states! thanks for the info guys! I've been learning so many new things in the short time that I've been here! :)

now 10 states including ky