Posted by Ame Sans Vie on November 7, 2003, at 12:06:26
In reply to Re: Just a little warning..., posted by HoosierDaddyTim on November 7, 2003, at 11:41:32
Hi Tim,
Ultram is actually an opioid, albeit a rather unusual one. There are only two opioid analgesics that come straight from the opium poppy, morphine and codeine, and semisynthetic opioids are generally manufactured from morphine, codeine, or thebaine. The fully synthetic opioids, which include Ultram, Darvon, methadone, and fentanyl, all have a very real action on the opioid receptors just as the others do. Ultram is often considered to be a rather weak opioid (it is about 1/6,000 as potent as morphine at the mu-opioid receptor), but one of its metabolites is about 20 times stronger than the parent drug itself. I don't believe that its opioidergic activity is as responsible for its effects as are its actions on serotonin and norepinephrine, but that mu-opioid activity is most certainly there, making Ultram an opioid. Ultram is most definitely habit-forming -- its non-scheduled status under the CSA is currently being reconsidered on federal and state levels. Many cases of dependence, addiction, and abuse have been reported, and I know I for one can attest to the fact that it's a very hard drug to kick. Without Prozac to replace it, quitting Ultram would have been something I most certainly would have had to have done on an inpatient basis.
I'm glad the Paxil works for you -- it was one of the first meds I ever tried and I found it to be a complete nightmare personally. Now that you mention it, I do recall feeling a bit less of the "brain fog" on Paxil than I usually do, but along with that came horrible apathy and completely sapped mental energy. Prozac seems to be ridding me of the fog just as well, without the side effects.
poster:Ame Sans Vie
thread:273743
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20031105/msgs/277473.html