Moving from Tramadol to Palexia sr...

[val4]

My Pain management doctor has moved me to 50mg Palexia sR am and pm. I was on 3 x100mg Tramadol for 2 years, but that was not working for me. I suffer from chroniv nerve pain in neck, shoulder and chest pain from previous surgeries. I started Palexia Sunday pm, and have been feeling really spaced out, nauseous, diarreha, extreme fatigue since then. Hopefully things will settle down in few days as I get used to it. I'm aware that Palexia SR is an opiate and relatively new on scene but hopefully it will work. I will be upping it next week (under docs orders), but just wondering if anyone has any experience of switching from Tramadol to Palexia? Are my symptoms due to coming off Tramadol or the new Pradaxia? As I said Im feeling really ropey at moment, and cant even drive.
Any experience of this please??

[val4]

Sorry....Palexia....NOT Pradaxia!!!

[FurryDogMother]

I've never had Pradaxia, but your symptoms sound like Tramadol withdrawal to me (and I have had that!). Are you getting a sort of 'zoomy' head feeling? I hadn't realised what effects suddenly stopping Tramadol could have, and stopped taking them when I had the flu last year, 'cos I was on so many other painkillers (paracetemol etc) for the flu that I didn't think I'd need them - I was wrong! Doc told me to cut down gradually if I ever want to stop. Maybe have a word with your GP?

[val4]

Thanks Furrydog for your reply. Been through rough few days but slowly coming round! Yes, my Consultant says that most of symptoms are from Tramadol withdrawal, so he doubled the Palexia dose which slightly helped. Still have diarreah , weakness and shooting pains down legs, but easing slowly. Didn't realise tramadol was such a nasty drug to come off.
The pain nurse said they are still not sure what the conversion dose from Tramadol to Palexia is, so a bit of trial and error. Hopefully will be feeling more normal by weekend.

[elfonshelf]

You should be tapered down from tramadol - cold turkey is no fun at all. It's a seriously nasty drug to come off - morphine, codeine (240mg +/day) are a piece of cake in comparison.

It does depend on the individual as to how long the withdrawal lasts.

If nerve pain is the issue, you might be better with something like lamotrigine or gabapentin or pregablin. Opiates aren't that great on their own for nerve pain.

Not come across Palexia before but sounds rather impressive (although the no gin rule is a bit ). I've been on the chronic pain train for nearly 14 years (spine) and so always interested if new drugs crop up with better side-effect profiles.

[val4]

So after a horrific week I have at last started feeling normal. I ended up in a+e (by my gp) ,as my bpd was 180/110,, had extreme weakness, nausea, trembling, and basically thought I was having a heart attack. I'm on Warfarin ( previous p.es and heart surgery) so things complicated. Thankfully all blood tests and xray were clear .Finally my pain specialist took me off Palexia and started me on Targin (yesterday). Already I'm feeling so much better. He thinks that my symptoms were not just Tramadol withdrawal but I had reaction to Palexia. Don't care what he says I will never touch Tramadol again! New drug Targin, is combination of Oxycontin and a laxative. I'm aware that it is an opioid, but seems to suit be better. I have tried other meds like Lyrica, amdetriptolene(spelling?), and others for nerve pain but could never get passed the spaced out, knocked out feeling . Hopefully Targin will suit me better. Don't suppose anyone has any experience of this medication??

[FurryDogMother]

Sorry, no, but glad you're doing better. I'm still stuck on the Tramadol!