Prescription Painkillers Help Please!

Former Member

I was recently in a road accident and was in hospital for a week- having a plate in my leg and 4 broken bones (I wont go into too much detail). I was discharged after a week and given Tramadol, at first these were fine but as the days have gone on I have found they are not really helping the pain that much. I went to my GP and he said Tramadol are very addictive try to cut down blah blah. But what he failed to understand was that they are not working very well for pain relief as it is! He gave me Diclofenac Sodium Slow Release and said take twice a day as they are slow relief and take the Tramadol when you really feel the need.

So basically I was taking the maximum dose of Tramadol (400mg a day) and was still in considerable pain and he's given me some weak shitty aspirin type slow release things and I'm allergic to Ibuprofen!

I am going back to see the consultant at Hospital tomorrow and have left the Diclofenac alone and carried on my normal Tramadol. I am a bit concerned too about these because if I don't take them I get flu-like full body aching symptoms but I can always taper off.

So what I really want to know is, how can I best go about getting something stronger than Tramadol? What is the best thing to say to the consultant?
I was given 10mg(IM,IV and oral) morphine as and when I needed it in hospital but would they willingly give me morphine sulphate tablets? As I think thats the only other option?

I just don't know what to do, any help would be much appreciated!

Former Member

Taramadol doesnt have a strong addiction potential at all, from some reports there is a risk of physical addiction, but that only comes from big use over long periods.

As for getting something stronger, I wouldnt tell them you havent used all you have been given, they will just say to try that and then come back if it still hurts.

They can potentially give you morphine, but its hugely unlikely unless you are in massive pain.

Ask nicely if you can have codiene inconjunction with the Taramadol, that would be your best answer.

Former Member

I'll take your advice onboard bongbudda. Does anyone else wanna share their experience? Or any further advice? :wave:

T.

Former Member

MST/SEVREDOL etc are generally only given for palliative care or for long-term pain associated with a variety of disorders.

At your consulatation tomorrow, highlight this to your consultant. There are a variety of analgesics out there.

Former Member

Whats MST and SEVEREDOL? Can you explain your post a little please?

Former Member

Both are morphine salt tablets, with MST being a "sustained released" and Sevredol being an immediate release. Long term use of opiod analgesics cause problems [as your use of Tramadol is higlighting - Tramadol is a 'cousin' of Morphine.]

There are a variety of analgesics out there and most docs like to try these before migrating onto morphine derivatives. Meptazinol, Dihydrocodeine, Codeine Phosphate are just a couple of examples. No-one should be in pain. Good luck for tomorrow :thumb:

Former Member

Ah, I understand. Well thanks for your help, I hope it goes well.
I going to basically say I'm not happy with the amount of pain I'm in and it is causing me to become anxious sometimes contributing to panic attacks, and that I'm finding it really difficult to sleep because of this. Just so you know I have a broken bone in my foot, broken toe, broken hip, plate in my leg and a cracked rib.