Tramacet
June 27, 2005 on 4:24 pm | In Prescribing Extra - Drugs |
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Tramacet has been launched recently and is being heavily promoted in the form of adverts and journal inserts. It contains 325mg of Paracetamol and 37.5mg of Tramadol per tablet.
Given the recent announcement of the withdrawal of Co-proxamol, we feel it would be inappropriate to transfer patients to this drug. We are also concerned that this new product contains subtherapeutic doses of both ingredients.
It currently costs £10.07 for 60 tablets which is over £9 more than the cost of 100 Paracetamol and £3 more than 100 Co-codamol 30/500mg tablets.
Action: There can be no good reason to use Tramacet in any circumstance.
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i have just been prescribed tramacet. i have been suffering from severe headaches for over a year. am waiting to go for a brain scan. doctor has not said why i keep getting headaches. been taking the tablets for 4 days and my pain is still the same. the pain is in the back of my head and i am losing my hair aswell. am really scared because my moms sister had something similar and they found out she had a brain tumour which later killed her. get dizzy a lot when i stand up. the room starts to spin.
Comment by v chana — March 31, 2007 #
You should get some more answers from your scan. I’m not surprised you are scared but try not to worry too much until you have more answers.
Comment by Administrator — April 1, 2007 #
Having had osteoarthritis in one knee since a high impact trauma 10 years ago, I was on co-proxamol for many years to control the pain, which is always there and could flare up to intolerable levels once or twice each year for a month or so.
When the hounded Dr. Kelly used co-proxamol to commit suicide, causing the short-sighted govmt to recind its licence, I was panicking badly about what possible replacement I might be given. It turned out to be Tramadol.
I was put on 2 standard 50mg capsules twice daily, and though the pain relief was not as great as via co-proxamol, it was better (and less nauseating) than co-codamol and a hell of a lot cheaper for me than ibuprofen+codeine!
Anyway the point I wanted to make was that in March this year I fell down some steps and re-traumatised the knee. For the next 3 months until just a week ago, I was in excruciating pain day and night. Tramadol wasn’t very effective, either in 50mg standard caps or 200mg slow release form, so the doctor put me on Tramacet.
Brilliant! It works for some reason much faster than Tramadol hydrochloride on its own in a gel capsule. Perhaps its the combo of paracetamol? In any case it gives faster, more effective relief than any other form of this drug.
FYI the slow-release caps are next to useless for severe pain. Although the blood plasma levels are supposed to be maintained at a constant amount, the perceived pain relief is more like a bell curve; no relief for 2 hrs after taking the capsule. Then gradually-increasing relief until it peaks for an hour, before falling off again. One is in horrible pain again well before the next capsule is due.
Comment by Chris Nixon — June 21, 2007 #
I have been taking 30/500mg of co-codamol (3 a day)for the last 2 years mostly daily, this is to releive the severe pain of whats been diagnosed of I.B.S is this exceptable and is there any danger from continual use.
Many thanks
Sean
Comment by Sean — June 30, 2007 #
Sean,
If you have these sorts of concerns you really should be speaking to your own doctor.
There should be no long term problems caused by taking a regular dose of co-codamol 30/500mg of up to 8 tablets per day.
Co-codamol 30/500mg would not be my first choice as a treatment for IBS but I don’t have access to your medical history and have no idea what else you have tried. As I said above, discuss your concerns with your own doctor and they will be able to advise you.
Comment by Administrator — June 30, 2007 #
I have been taking tramacet for about 8 months now for a slipped disc in my neck, there is nothing that can be done because the risk is too great for surgery. The Tramacet work very well but the doctor only prescribes 60 at a time, when I start to run out with the week-end approaching I cannot get a repeat prescription, the reason I mention this is due to The Cold Turkey affect, it doesn’t take long for the side affects to start, cannot sleep, sweats, anxious. My doctor has now started to wean me off them, is there any other pain management to be considered.
Comment by Steve — August 7, 2007 #
Steve,
There are many strategies you can adopt for pain management that don’t involve pain killing medication. It will depend what is available in your local area but it’s worth talking to your doctor about physiotherapy and accupuncture for example.
Pain killers may still be required occasionally, or perhaps all the time, but my feeling has always been that the long term aim should be to minimise your use of pain killers so that when your symptoms are really bad you have a fall back position.
Comment by Matthew Robinson — August 7, 2007 #
I have been taking Tramacet since a fall down the stairs in August 2007. They do relieve the pain and I have tried to wean myself off them by only taking one per day. However I have noticed that I feel nauseos every morning and feel as though I may be addicted to them. The pain is not as bad as when I had the fall but it is still very uncomfortable. I work full time and need the Tramacet to get me through the day. I dont want to take them forever.
Comment by Julie Matthews — November 24, 2007 #
I had a small surgical procedure done and was given tramacet as an option to use..? Said it was not constipating which was the reason why I tried it. I hate drugs dont take any… I cut them in half and took half a day for two days. The third day I could not sleep, and was in pain so I tried another half… a short time later I started sweating , all my pain was gone, I felt panicky , jumped out of bed…did not know where I was going but knew I was in trouble..? I ended up blanking out on the bathroom floor, I stood up again right away..could not breathe, ears started ringing… I was scared and phoned ambulance… they seemed to think I was going into shock… I will never touch the stuff again.
Comment by Garry — January 26, 2008 #
I was on Percocet..the Dr. gave me a few samples of Tramacet to try…it’s very new to me and I’m afraid to try it. Do it have the same pain relief as Percocet and would I have any different reactions to it ? I’m not allergic to any opiads that I know of, or acetaminophen. Percocet agreed with me….but now I have none and he gave me these that I’m leary of taking…having lots of pain past few days…I have fibromyalgia.
Comment by Donna Mercer — March 19, 2008 #
Donna,
Perocet is similar to Tramacet. It is an opiate style pain killer mixed with paracetamol (acetominophen). If you are okay using Perocet there is no reason to be afraid to try Tramacet.
The only way you’ll find out how effective it is for you is by trying it. It may work better or it may be less effective. If it is the latter then let your doctor know and he can try something else.
Comment by Matthew Robinson — March 21, 2008 #
Do British GP’s (NHS) prescribe tramacet? My GP has said he is not allowed to prescribe it.
Comment by Lisa — April 26, 2008 #
Lisa,
GPs working for the NHS are allowed to prescribe Tramacet on a national level however there may be other factors such as local guidance, practice policy and clinician preferences for which medication to prescribe.
If your GP says he is not allowed to prescribe it ask him or her why not and they should be able to justify the decision with their reasoning.
Comment by Matthew Robinson — April 26, 2008 #
Hi
Thanks for your response. My GP said that he is not allowed to prescribe combinations. It could be a cost factor so he prescribed masses of paracetamol and Tramadol. I am not particularly happy with this as it appears not to work the same.
Regard
Lisa
Comment by Lisa — April 27, 2008 #
I have just been prescribed Tramacet after suffering a slipped disc in my back, the pain relief is great but I have only been taking them for a couple of days and have started to itch all over and unable to function on them, as a result I have stopped taking them, my pain is severe now and nothing else touches it, what would you suggest?
Comment by Rachel — July 3, 2008 #
Tramadol is an opiate analgesic and skin itch with opiates is common. A lower dose or an alternative opiate may be worth a try. Consult your doctor for dosing advice or an alternative.
Comment by Matthew Robinson — July 3, 2008 #
I take tramacet and diclofenac together for the attempted relief of a constant severe headache, only when it is at it’s very worst- when i’m passing out and screaming- do i take meds as otherwise they have no effect.
Even with this combination (and a pulse dose of amitryptaline every night) i am in ALOT of pain. I’m 16 and have tried lots of levels of codeine, co-codamol, ibuprofen, migraine tablets and other triptans etc. and because of my age neither my Dr. or my previous neuro would prescribe anything stronger.
When i come down off the tramacet i feel horrible, really really down and irritable, is there anything else i could take that might help the pain?
Comment by Rach — July 13, 2008 #
Rach,
Tramadol and codeine are pretty high strength pain killers. There are not many pain killers that are stronger if the correct does is used.
Without knowing exactly what you’ve tried and in what combination it would be very difficult to make recommendations about what else you could try. It would seem that by trying triptans and amitriptyline that your doctors have suspected migraine but are now trying nerve stabilisers.
I’d suggest you go back to your doctors and ask what else you can try and what the risks and likely benefits of each option are.
Comment by Matthew Robinson — July 14, 2008 #