Seizure from Tramadol

hi blue.i was on tramadol for years and never had a seizure from it.getting off the stuff is very difficult but i am sure this medication is helpful for many people out there.are you worried about using this medication and having a seizure?i do know of other people who have used this medication and they have been fine,no seizures.good luck with it all.

Hi Titan,

Thank u for your reply. I have been on Tramadol for a few years now, 400mg daily to be exact. How ever I had a seizure around a year and a half a ago, went to hospital, had all the tests and every thing came back fine. The doctor's said that I had a tonic clonic seizure which is like a one off, and was more than likely caused by the mixture of strong pain meds that I was on. At the time I was Tramadol, Lyrica and Cymbalta.

I did some research online and found that both Tramadol and cymbalta alone or combined may cause seizures, so I stopped the cymbalta. How ever I had another seizure the other night, and as I stopped the cymbalta over a year ago, I am now questioning if was the tramadol ias apposed to the cymbalta. I mean both times I came to feeling absolutely fine, having no memory of even passing out.

Blue, you must go back to your doctor and ask about this again. And if you are concerned, ask if you can be put on another pain killer.

Tramadol has a checkered history. The drug doesn't have any bad effects with many people, but there are also many people around who cannot tolerate it at all and it's side-effects range from bad to downright dangerous, depending on their situation. Now, I am no expert and I claim to know very little. But it is a strong drug and it does have, as I have said, a checkered past.

If you are starting to have some problems with it, then maybe it's time to change. Conversely, you could suggest to the doctor that you would like to change the drug to something else, so that you can see if you continue to have the seizures and if you do, then you want a full investigation into why you are having them.

You have been using this drug for a long time without problems, then there is no reason for you to panic. But please go back to your doctor and tell them about the latest seizure.

Peter

Blue don't leaving yourself second guessing, I would talking to my medical team, as Peter pointed medication can have different effects on different people. I have personally had side effects to a lot of pain meds that the manufacturers have never listed, so you can go by everything quoted on their web sites, you have to remember a lot of the meds used to treat CP were not originally designed for that purpose.

Don

Blue. Tramadol is well known as an instigator for serotonin syndrome. Particularly so when used with certain anti depressants. I forget what was in the fact sheet but seem to remember something about seizures. regards Outlast.

During my appointment with the pain specialist on Monday he was going through my history of all the various drugs I have tried which included Tramadol 100SR and Tramadol 50's, I was also taking Endep at the time to boost the effectiveness of the Tramadol. The specialist said I was very lucky not to have had a Granmal seizure and that Tramadol alone can cause that in some people but with the addition of Endep it was very risky.

Blue, as others have said, I really think it is in your best interests to see your GP, if you don't get satisfactory answers you could ask for a referral to see a Pain specialist.

All the best and take care 🙂

Thank you to every one for your comments, it has been very helpful. The problem that I have regarding medication or any treatment at the moment, is that my G.P is way out of his element. After this second seizure he does not want to deal with me anymore, he keeps telling me that he is not a specialist and cannot help me.

I just don't know where else to go. My pain management clinic told me over a year a ago that there was nothing more they could do with me, so my treatment there stopped, my neurologist told me I had the worst case of crps he had ever seen, and he too told me that there was nothing more he could do for me.

My Gp was all I had left, I mean at least he was still prescribing me medicine, but now I think he is concerned that what he is prescribing me is causing the seizures even though initially the medicine was orescribed by my pain specialist. And now I feel by telling my G.P about the seizure I have burnt my last bridge for treatment.

Regards

Blue

Blue I would ask your GP for a referral to go back to your pain clinic, may I ask was this a public or private clinic as I am one who my pain clinic can offer no more treatments, but I still am heavily involved within the system, it's a whole lot more than just pain doctors who are helping me, there has never been any mention of just leaving me to my own devices, I go through a public hospital.
You need to have your whole case reassessed by pain specialists, if the previous one doesn't help ask to see another preferably one that deals in multidisciplinary approach to pain.

Don

Blue. Peter told you pretty clearly i thought what to do. I will bet my bottom dollar its the Tramadol. And probably the reaction came about because of the mix with an antidepressant.

Personally i would ditch the Tramadol and see what happens. You got all clear from hospital so its not gran mal seizure or anything. Tramadol was pain killer of choice in some Geriatric Hospitals until lots patients started twitching and jerking with serotonin syndrome.

And are you saying your gp has ditched you and doesn't want to see you or is that just a feeling you have? Your gp can only do generalised pain control because he is not a specialist. Maybe he doesn't know the very real side effect of Tramadol. Mine certainly didn't and i endured crap for 3 years.

Where does that leave you. 1.Maybe a different GP. 2. Return to pain clinic regardless that they told you they could not do anymore. 3. get reappraisal of your pain killers. 4. Stop Tramadol.

goodluck Blue

I will just add in here that if you decide to stop the Tramadol please do it under the supervision of a doctor. You can't just stop taking it cold turkey.

If your GP is telling you that he can't do any more for you then ask him to refer you to someone who can or is willing to try. See if you can locate a group pain management course. Even if you have already done one, it never hurts to do a "refresher".

Mary

Again thank you all for your advice. During my first seizure over a year ago I was on Tramadol SR 400mg, cymbalta and lyrica, I then stopped the cymbalta. The seizure that I had last week I am still on the Tramadol but am also on the occasional Endone during very bad flare ups. I have since stopped endone and am trying to cut down tramadol. My concern is that I do need something for pain and to be honest Tramadol is not strong enough as I am in pain all the time. I tried oxycontin but it made me very sick so I cannot take that.

I know that I need to start going to pain management again, it is a private clinic and I too had a team. Like I said before the reason that I did stop going was because after I had a ketamine infusion that was unsuccessful my pain specialist told me that there was nothing more he could do. He was very sincere and told me that it would be wrong of him to continue taking money. I am under work cover so all expenses are paid, it just seems no one wants to deal with crps.

I was very hesitate in starting pain management as I did not want to learn to deal with the pain, I wanted it gone. I was told that there is no cure and I will be living with this pain for the rest of my life. As you are all very aware the pain does take over life and becomes very disabling. I have learnt to take day by day, but just feel that there has to be more.

Thank you for allowing me to vent, it is very much needed sometimes.

Blue

Blue. You seem like a very well controlled person to me. In terms of a vent that was pretty mild so vent away and ask away. Sometimes even a full blown dummy spit is good for you. Got to keep expletives out of it though! Let us know how you get on. I for one am interested to see how you are when lessen or wean off Tramadol as Mary says.

sending big cyber hugs your way blue.when i withdrawled from tremadol,it took me a whole year and the last three months were pretty bad.if you decide to get off the tremadol,do as everyone has said and get a doctor to help you with this.we all feel the same as you blue when it comes to our futures and chronic pain.we can all only hope in years to come that there will be some sort of relief from constant pain but in the mean time,just do the best you can.i wish you luck.take care.