Reviews of Tramadol for anxiety/depression on med review sites

[Rafterman]

Hey everybody,

I often seek truly unbiased reviews of medication for anxiety and depression online. IMO, the medication reviews at Drugs.com give an unbiased viewpoint and the information is nicely laid out. I have been using it for many years. I used to use "askapatient.com" and "remedyfind.com", but I really think the reviews at drugs.com leave those sites in the dust. For anyone who doesn't use Drugs.com, you just put in the medication and the symptom you are looking to treat. Try it for "Tramadol for anxiety" and "Tramadol for depression" and check out some of the reviews. They are overwhelmingly positive. Hundreds of people on there claiming that TRAM saved their lives and works better than any AD they have ever used. Another reason I like that site is that they give hundreds of reviews on each drug. The other sites I mentioned really only give a handful. I am sure the site is not without it's "pumpers", but I do believe that most of the reviews are authentic. Does anyone have a favorite site for reviews such as these?
Regards, RM

[blandy]

I realise you're asking for other review sites but feel i need to say a little on using Tramadol for depression:-

I couldn't agree more that tram is an excellent antidepressant better than anything else i ever tried for the condition but like all meds its not with out its risks. For people who may not know Tramadol is both a fully synthetic opoid and and an SSNRI. The problem I and many people that i know have found is that tolerance raises quickly and the seizure threshold is quite low meaning that as little as 500mg can put you at risk of a seizure. Also if you are already taking an antidepressant SSRI then you are at risk of serotonin syndrome both this and seizures can result in fatality.
I'm not trying to scare anyone or teach people to suck eggs, I'm just sharing my knowledge and experience.
Feel free to PM me with any questions i would be happy to help.

[Rafterman]

I realise you're asking for other review sites but feel i need to say a little on using Tramadol for depression:-

I couldn't agree more that tram is an excellent antidepressant better than anything else i ever tried for the condition but like all meds its not with out its risks. For people who may not know Tramadol is both a fully synthetic opoid and and an SSNRI. The problem I and many people that i know have found is that tolerance raises quickly and the seizure threshold is quite low meaning that as little as 500mg can put you at risk of a seizure. Also if you are already taking an antidepressant SSRI then you are at risk of serotonin syndrome both this and seizures can result in fatality.
I'm not trying to scare anyone or teach people to suck eggs, I'm just sharing my knowledge and experience.
Feel free to PM me with any questions i would be happy to help.

Hey Blandy,
I agree with everything that you said and have actually seen a lot of it in action in the practice where I used to work. Tram definitely brings it's own unique set of risk's. I used to only recommend it for refractory cases of depression and, even then, at the lowest effective dose and for fairly short courses. Hard to believe that it took until 2014 for the DEA to finally consider it a controlled substance in all 50 states. But throwing it on the schedule as a 4 surprised me, even back then. With the conventional opioid crunch now underway, Tram will soon gain even more popularity and scrutiny, and surely make it's way up to a 2. I wrote in a former post that veterinarian's are hardly scripting for them any more, and that drug was staple in their practices. What a shame.   Regards,  Rafter.

[Rafterman]

Hey OldBoy,
Man, I again feel for you. Pain issues are like a Siamese twin to me. Wow, and that itching sounds insane. Itching is an underrated symptom. It can be completely debilitating. I agree with you, get the TRAMS while you still can. The "conventional" opioid crunch is surely going to turn scrutiny onto them and it has already began. Like you, I remember when they were being given out like candy.
The doc's were practically including a PEZ dispenser, lol. Now, even veterinarian's are curtailing script's for them, to some degree. They used to be the go-to med for pain in veterinary medicine. Opioid scripts are down FORTY ONE percent from 2010-2106 and NOW they are instituting draconian measures through federal and state legislation? Holy crap. What do they want? 41% reduction. The US was making progress. They are going to force people into going over the a substance that can't be discussed here. Not to mention an explosion in the street price of opioid's and counterfeiting outfit's thriving. I also predict a spike in the suicide rate. Don't meant to sound so pessimistic. I DO, however, expect much of the new legislation to be retracted or modified in time. The common man on the street, with the power to vote, still runs the show. Yes, we did need reform, but we didn't need this. The doctor's are scared of the lawyer's, but the governor's and congressmen are scared of the voter's. Take care, OldBoy.   RM

[yellowdog]

I used tramadol as a motivation booster to work ( I work as a dancer) meaning I need energy motivation and be able to socialise. I have written about it before.

It had no effect on my routines. I cannot dance on benzos or even codeine unless it is a small amount.

just thought I throw that angle in.

[Rafterman]

I used tramadol as a motivation booster to work ( I work as a dancer)  meaning I need energy motivation and be able to socialise.  I have written about it before.

It had no effect on my routines.   I cannot dance on benzos or even codeine unless it is a small amount.

just thought I throw that angle in.

Hey Yellowdog,
Would you mind me asking what your typical dose of TRAM is? And is a one time per day thing? (only answer if you feel comfortable in doing so). Do you think the help that it gives you in socializing is because of a reduction of anxiety? What you said is most interesting because many people find it to work more as an anxiolytic, while still other's find it to have more of a AD effect. It does inhibit norepinephrine reuptake, which would explain the motivation. The help with socialization may be due to the fact that it's a mild euphoriant. Millions of people use major euphoriant's (like opioids) to treat both anxiety and depression and TRAM is like the best of both world's. I predict it moving up to a Sched 2 will rocket speed, especially with the crackdown on conventional opioids. BTW, working as a dancer. How cool is that! RM

[Mikka]

7 years ago I was RX's [email=Tr@m]Tr@m[/email] for post- surgery back pain. Wonderfully, I noticed the amazing
anti-depressant effect. I have clinical depression & anxiety. NOTHING helped like this. And I've tried several SSRI's to no avail
or relief. I am a now daily user of it and has improved my life immensely. But with the new law,
my doc isn't willing to rx the amount I need. I hope Dr's can rx this off-label
for people like me. Just control the dosage and all will be ok, I believe.

[Rafterman]

7 years ago I was RX's [email=Tr@m]Tr@m[/email] for post- surgery back pain. Wonderfully, I noticed the amazing
anti-depressant effect. I have clinical depression & anxiety. NOTHING helped like this. And I've tried several SSRI's to no avail
or relief. I am a now daily user of it and has improved my life immensely. But with the new law,
my doc isn't willing to rx the amount I need. I hope Dr's can rx this off-label
for people like me. Just control the dosage and all will be ok, I believe.

Thanks for posting about this, Mikka. I know so many other's who have had the exact same experience. There is really no mystery as to why TRAM performs like a wonder drug. Part synthetic opioid, part AD. When the DEA threw them onto the schedule (as a "4") in August of 2014, you could see the writing on the wall. They knew how often they were being prescribed off-label for depression and anxiety. They tried to curtail that, by scheduling them, before it got out of hand. Now come the new opioid laws, which will force many doctor's to look for alternative's to schedule-2 opioid's. It's already begun. TRAM use is up in hospital's, now being given post-op in place of conventional opioid's that are higher up the schedule. Coincidence? I think not. Let's hope that trend continues and that we will see office doc's having the guts to write for them!  Regards, Rafterman

[Mikka]

Rafter man, that's awesome insight & I pray my Dr continues to to give me the small amount he does & not give into the pressure to not rx them off label.  Mikka 

[Rafterman]

Rafter man, that's awesome insight & I pray my Dr continues to to give me the small amount he does & not give into the pressure to not rx them off label.  Mikka 

Thanks, Mikka. I hope that will be the case. A lot depends on the individual doctor. The new opioid's laws have a ton of loopholes in them. They are more for show than anything else. (I started a few threads about the new laws under "Chronic Pain"). No need for any doctor to be worried, but some doctor's have so many superior's telling them what to do. Such is the case with my wife's doctor. She used to give her Hydromet syrup for bronchitis. That contains hydrocodone. Then the new law went into effect in our state and all of a sudden that same doc with only write for a cough medicine that is so weak that it really should be OTC. This is sad, because they law was not put in place to stop my wife from getting cough syrup. Some doctor's are twisting the original intention of those writing these laws. No one is trying to stop all opioid distribution. My wife's doctor is under the guidelines of her practice, which is owned by people who don't even live in our state. I hope that you will do better with your doc. My best to you.  RM