Soma?? Tramadol?? (Ultram)

Hi everyone!  Hope you are all doing well.  I will make a long story short... I had a bad car accident in 2004 and have suffered headaches ever since.  I didn't realize how much I relied on Advil until after surgery.  Since surgery Dec 2nd, I have been on tylenol with codeine, hydrocodone (makes me all sorts of messed up, I hated it), and now today my family doctor put me on Ultram and a Soma (muscle relaxer) to try to relax the muscles in my neck that contract too tight to give me the headaches that are so debilitating I have missed a few days of work unfortunately!  Before I take these, I just want to make sure they are ok to take.  My surgeon just had shoulder replacement surgery and is out of the office for another week, so I don't have him to call or I would have done that!  Any advice is greatly appreciated!  Also, 8 weeks out, down 42lbs!!!!!  (that's post op)  I also lost 16 pre op, so I'm down a total of 58lbs and feeling great as far as that goes!  Thanks again for advice or suggestions in advance!

 Ultram and soma are both safe to take.  Neither is an extender release med or an NSAID.    I love my ultram!  One of the nurses in your surgeons office should be able to tell you this too.  :-)  Good luck with your headaches!
Kat

Thank you!!!  Don't get me wrong, the hydrocodone got rid of the headaches, but I would rather have a headache than feel the way those things made me feel!  And talk about the nightmares!!!!!

they are both fine!

ultram is fine.  Soma is fine provided it is regular soma and not Soma compound - soma compound has aspirin in it.

Have you tried any headache medications?  Have you been to a neuroloigst to make srue they arent' migraines since migraines have specific treatments.  You can also gt injections in your neck to relieve the pressure and reduce headaches.

I have not been to a neuro.  They are not migraines though, I have been worked up before and had physical therapy.  I'm about 99 percent sure they are not migraines from the things I have read and my doc has told me about migraines.  Good to know about the injections.... if this doesn't help maybe that will be the next step.  I just knew i didn't want a life of becoming addicted to hydrocodone.  But reading about these 2, some websites say they are highly addictive also, so I don't know what to do....ARGH!!!!  (my soma is not a compound, so i'm good)

I am not familiar with Soma that much, when I took it about 10 years ago, I took Soma compound and only for a short while.  Because it had aspirin in it, I got an ulcer.

As far as additon to pain killers - Tramadol is used quite a bit now by physicians because it is very low risk of addition.  It is just as strong as Codeine but with out the side effects and addiction risk, so doctors love to prescribe it.  I wouldn't worry about the risk of addiction with hydrocodone either unless you were taking large doses and more than the doctors prescribe.

I have been on pain meds for a long time - I started in the 80's with codeine now and then but it got bad in the 90's when  I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia on top of my herniated discs and severe arthritis.  Then in 2002-2003, I had 3 knee surgeries and by then my back was really bad.  Then in 2010 (fall) I had complications for the RNY and had a bowel obstruction, perforated colon, needed an illiostomy and Gtube - it was bad and I have had severe abdominal pain every since.  June 2011 I started with severe kidney stone attacks with 3 surgeries since and think I may need my 4th one soon - just got another CT back and the stones are back on the right side.  I have also suffered from migraines since I am 12 years old  in 1974.

So, needless to say I have needed alot of pain meds - I am now on a Fentanyl patch (duragesic) and use percocet or dilaudid for breakthrough pain depending on how bad it is.  I do go to pain management and they monitor me closely.  I dont' worry about addiction because some days I only take a dose at bedtime and other days I need them 4 times.  Back in February I was at a dose about 3 times what I take now and took them around the clock every 3 hours - so I am on much less than before and no signs of needing more. I only take when needed but the patch is all the time - that they call dependance, no addiction,  I need it to work but could go off it without withdrawal - would just need to lower my dose slowly but with my pain,  I can't go off them.

I have had injections in my spine and many other joints and they do work.  You should consider them.  I wish you luck

Thanks for sharing....I have to say after 2 days I'm not impressed.  I've had a constant headache all day and hvae been taking the tramadol as prescribed all day (2 every 6 hours) and it barely dulls it.  I don't know what to do...I do have a call back in to my doctor...

where is your head pain?  Is it all over your head? On one side?  DO you have any eye or face pain?  These can be signs of migraines or sinuses.

I suggest you see a Neuro that specializes in headaches = they might be able to really help you.  There are lots of meds that can help headaches but a neuro is best to determine what type of headache first.

I started seeing a Neuro at about 12 or 14, can't remember exactly but it was very young.

boy do I miss my NSAIDS but since that is a post-op lifetime no-no....my pcp keeps me a refill of Tramadol and Flexeril (muscle relaxant).......I take 100mg of regular tramadol not ER and 10 mg of flexeril and I am usually all good.


After I tore my rotator cuff in my shoulders I was sent to a paim management clinic and for me they gave me the highest doses of vicodin and such and  just malabsorbed them and they never took the pain away, I was just super "high"......my 40th b-day last year was a blurr....so I stopped taking them and just had to allow some pain and stay with the above meds...