Augmentation from tramadol
Posted: Thu Mar 21, 2019 8:19 am
Good morning all. It’s 2:00 AM which seems like an appropriate time to discuss augmentation which is currently driving me nuts!
I’m new to this group. I’m 68 years old and have had RLS as long as I can remember. I have taken a combination of tramadol 100mg in the afternoon and oxycodone 10mg at bedtime for the past 20 years with GREAT success. Almost complete relief for the first 10 years. I began having symptoms so I added ropinorole 1 mg at bedtime which helped for about a year but then experienced augmentation. I got through that horrible experience which lasted 2-3 weeks by taking a bit more oxycodone and when the augmentation subsided, went back to just the 10mg of oxycodone and 100mg of tramadol. That worked reasonably well until about 6 months ago when the augmentation returned. I wasn’t even aware that tramadol could cause augmentation until I listened to Dr Buchfuhrer’s webinar but then it all made perfect sense. I tried tapering the tramadol but finally decided cold turkey was the best approach. My last dose was 21 days ago. Needless to say the augmented symptoms were severe at first but are gradually getting better. I’m currently getting by with 20-30mg of oxycodone through the day, most of it at night. I have an appointment with my physician tomorrow and the plan will most likely be a ferritin level (was 99 2 years ago) and starting Lyrica. I tried gabapentin briefly a couple of years ago with zero benefit.
My questions for the group are:
1. Any idea how long augmentation from tramadol will last?
2. Since tramadol is not a dopamine agonist, will I be able to use it again any time in the future?
Thanks for your thoughts.
I’m new to this group. I’m 68 years old and have had RLS as long as I can remember. I have taken a combination of tramadol 100mg in the afternoon and oxycodone 10mg at bedtime for the past 20 years with GREAT success. Almost complete relief for the first 10 years. I began having symptoms so I added ropinorole 1 mg at bedtime which helped for about a year but then experienced augmentation. I got through that horrible experience which lasted 2-3 weeks by taking a bit more oxycodone and when the augmentation subsided, went back to just the 10mg of oxycodone and 100mg of tramadol. That worked reasonably well until about 6 months ago when the augmentation returned. I wasn’t even aware that tramadol could cause augmentation until I listened to Dr Buchfuhrer’s webinar but then it all made perfect sense. I tried tapering the tramadol but finally decided cold turkey was the best approach. My last dose was 21 days ago. Needless to say the augmented symptoms were severe at first but are gradually getting better. I’m currently getting by with 20-30mg of oxycodone through the day, most of it at night. I have an appointment with my physician tomorrow and the plan will most likely be a ferritin level (was 99 2 years ago) and starting Lyrica. I tried gabapentin briefly a couple of years ago with zero benefit.
My questions for the group are:
1. Any idea how long augmentation from tramadol will last?
2. Since tramadol is not a dopamine agonist, will I be able to use it again any time in the future?
Thanks for your thoughts.