Will the feeling of being off my face when taking tramadol pass?

[mineofuselessinformation]

Just that, really.
I'm in severe pain from my hip, co-codamol as making no difference, so I contacted OOH, and a GP prescribed tramadol.
I'm well aware of the addictive properties, but currently need it.
It's reducing the pain to a reasonable level for about 50% of the time (I'm taking 50mg every four hours), so it is helping, but I'm not up for driving or going to work.
Ideally, I'd like to double the dose at certain times of the day, but am worried I will be totally out of it. I also need to get back to work ASAP.
Does anyone have my advice? TIA.

Duh, any advice!

I took it once - a friend had left some in my house when staying over, and I had a bad back, so thought I'd take one to help when I got to work. I was out of my tree, and had to fess up to my boss. He laughed. I never took it again and threw them away.

So no, they are hard core. It was mildly diverting, but I was useless all day.

To be fair, it knocked the pain on the head at the time, I was to busy looking at the ceiling tiles to notice the back.

I was prescribed Tramadol post hysterectomy. OH described me as "endearing" not an adjective he's used before or since.
I was off my face. Couldn't function at all, although it kicked the pain into touch.
And realised very quickly that I 'enjoyed' taking them too much to.
Never again.

Tbh when the feeling starts to lessen you may find you have become dependent. It's a highly addictive opioid. The last thing you want is to realise they don't have the same effect....and you need more.

You won't be able to work while taking the meds also doubling the dose is not advisable unless doctors have told you too

Generally speaking it does. I’ve taken the equivalent of 400mg a day (plus fairly regularly extra for breakthrough pain) for years in morphine and you wouldn’t know I’m on anything at all. The only issue is that tramadol is a synthetic opioid, rather than a natural opiate and so has a different mechanism of working; not everyone gets on with everything. Did you have any intoxicating effects with the co-codamol? If no, it might be worth asking for oramorph instead, as co-codamol becomes morphine in the bloodstream and so it might not affect you as badly.

My DH - who has never so much as smoked a cigarette in his life, never mind anything illicit - was prescribed Tramadol after a really nasty hand crush/fracture - was absolutely and hilariously off his face every time he took a dose. Then he had to go and lie down because he was 'feeling a bit funny'.
Fortunately he was able to step down to something less debilitating after a couple of days. Not sure he'd have been able to function at all on them.
OP, hope pain becomes more manageable soon.

Your body will more thank likely adjust after a while and you won't feel so out of it. It happens me with morphine first few doses and I'm off my head but after that it has less of an effect. Which is why these drugs can be addictive , you need more and more to achieve that high

Oh god, I’ve never felt so trippy as I did when they gave me tramadol in hospital for pancreatitis. I was telling people for weeks after. I wouldn’t have been able to do anything useful on that stuff.

Hi , ask for an anti sickness tablet to take with it , it does help

I take this daily and if I don't take the sickness tablet I feel like I am about to have a panic attack , very sick, drowsy and like im floating 🤣.

Be careful with it , you can become dependant on it very quickly, then when you stop taking it you get horrible side effects where your body is missing it .

(That's myself and dad's experience and we take it daily for chronic pain) xx

Lots of water helps too!

Your body will learn to get past the giddy feelings and it's quite easy to function well. The main trick is to make sure you take your doses consistently, don't wait for the pain and DON'T double dose. If you are struggling add in paracetamol, if you regularly use this it is a very effective pain killer just make sure not to take too many.

When I first started taking it I did have some mild hallucinations which were quite enjoyable as I was expecting them.

They don’t seem to block any pain for me, they just make me feel sick, like I have the worst hangover 🤕

I agree I don't think you want the feeling too pass as however good the feeling was is how bad the feeling will be stopping.

I was prescribed it in hospital and really had no idea of its side effects. I noticed in retrospect that I was becoming this wierd floaty tranquil person. I remember one of the staff asking me why I was walking slowly up and down the corridor and I was like just getting some exercise. At one point I was doing some kind of yoga/ballet on the ward and at that point I remember thinking uh oh I'm feeling euphoric. I decided to stop and bloody hell after just 2 days I had the worst nightmares and woke in the night drenched, literally, in sweat. I had to ask the night staff for a new gown. I called them so many times as I was hallucinating. So personally I wouldn't touch it with a barge pole. I was annoyed they could prescribe that drug without informing of its side effects.
It was just after surgery though and they wouldn't continue the morphine drip and cocodamol didn't seem to be enough. In the end at home I managed with cocodamol when necessary and paracetamol. If you need to be off then be off, but don't give yourself an extra painkiller problem for the sake of getting back to work.

I was on maximum dose for 8 months. Did very little for my pain but I have big memories missing. Not even sure how I functioned on it to be honest. And don't even get me started on trying to come off it. That took another 8 months. Had I known the effects during taking and coming off, I wouldn't have taken them. Addiction is the least of your worries.

DH has had it prescribed three times and every time he has been absolutely hilarious, but I def wouldn't have trusted him to drive or look after DC!

To answer the questions asked, I can have up to 400mg a day. (It's pain beyond anything I've ever experienced.)
I'm just hoping the woozy feeling goes. I'm not being a martyr, but I really need to get back to work.
I'm not very happy with the GP who suggested that I could perhaps only take them at night - that would be great if I didn't need to be able to get up to go to the loo, for instance.
When the pain is full-on, I need to lean on furniture to move as I really can't weight-bear on that side more than minimally.
Thanks to everyone who has replied. It's useful to hear your experiences.

The thing is, tramadol and co-codamol are exactly as strong as each other and the max daily dose of tramadol is only slightly higher than that of co-codamol. People get significant side effects from tramadol, as opposed to co-codamol, not because of the “opiate high” but because tramadol is processed differently by the body. If you struggle with tramadol side effects other painkillers might be better.

I did not cope well at work on Tramadol. I made silly mistakes all the time. Coming off it at work was even worse, especially with the restless arms and legs. Honestly, if you can find another painkiller then ditch the tramadol. The side effects are not worth the benefit.

They give me that for a tooth ache.....ending up calling an ambulance out, the paramedic collected my son from school!☺️ He said some people pay good money to feel like that.....as I kneeled on the floor unable to move.....never again...

Tramadol had horrific side effects for me, hallucinations, nightmares, severe depression felt like an addict it was the worst time of my life. I take a much stronger painkiller now and have no side affects.

For some people, no. The out of it feeling never wears off and tramadol just doesn't suit you.

I was also prescribed it for a bad back / hip last year. Not had a trip like that since the late 90s!!!! I am not kidding either - could not sleep and literally lost days of being off my head. I had to stop them in the end as I just could not function.

I have been there - and I am also medically trained. Yes, you do become more accustomed to it (usually), but that can equally mean that it becomes less effective - and it doesn't sound like it is being particularly effective right now anyway! People react differently to painkillers, and it is sometimes a case of suck it and see - what works for one person doesn't do anything for another. And some people can actually metabolise certain drugs very rapidly so they don't work at all.

Can I ask - what is the pain caused by? Is this a short-term measure whilst you wait for a solution - hip replacement from arthritis or similar. I got osteonecrosis in my hip from arthritis and it was the most agonising pain I could even imagine.

@Moondust001, that remains a question for now.
Despite me being recommended to have an examination by OOH, my GP would not see me. They have referred me for an x-ray which will take weeks.
I have arthritis in multiple joints and I'm also hyper mobile. I'm not sure whether it's connected (and I did mention it to the GP), but my pelvis clunks as I walk now. I think it's my SI joint, on the same side.
Any ideas?