Combinations - Combining Tramadol with something "natural"

[HomerSimpson]

SWIM was just wondering if you combine Tramadol with something like caffeine or a little alcohol would it give you more of a relaxed, clearer mind.

[klonopinz]

Swim wonders if Swiy is expecting factual evidence to support whatever Swim states, or if Swiy openly asked, expecting any Swim to give their 2 cents on the matter if swim is experienced with the drugs discussed.

[Tweak92]

No, it's really dangerous to combine tramadol with anything else.Swim has heard of people having violent seizures when mixing tramadol with stimulants or other drugs, don't risk it.

[Jasim]

A bit of info about Tramadol.

Tramadol is a prodrug, which means it must be ingested and undergo Phase I metabolism before it become fully active. One of the active metabolites of tramadol is an SSRI. Meaning that one should be cautious mixing tramadol with an MAOI or another SSRI. Fatalities have been reported due to serotonin syndrome.

Swim has experimented with tramadol in quite a few ways and can suggest a few ideas to increase the effectiveness of a tramadol dose.

1. Prevent a drug from being held by drug depot sites, thereby making more drug available to cause effect:
Aspirin is an easily accessible drug which has a high affinity for drug depot sites. Drug depot sites sequester drug molecules (in a sense like holding them prisoner) preventing the drug from being active. Swim has noticed an increased effect of tramadol by taking a couple of aspirin (preferable with something in the stomach) about 1 hour before taking a dose of tramadol.

2. Increase Phase I metabolism, thereby accelerating the activation of a prodrug:
Nicotine increases metabolism by inducing cytochrome P450 (CYP P450) enzymes in the liver. The CYP P450 enzymes are involved in Phase I metabolism. By inducing these enzymes one could theoretically increase the onset of effect of tramadol. Swim has had mixed or uncertain results from this experiment. Swim would like to hear of others attempts with this method.

3. Slow down Phase I metabolism resulting in a decrease in the rate of deactivation of a drug:
This is counter to # 2 above. Swim has considered this experiment due to the lack of clear success with the experiment 2. Quinidine has been known to decrease the metabolism of tramadol by 40-60%. Swim has not yet tried this experiment. Swim would use caution when attempting this experiment and try a very low dose. Quinidine is a potent cardiovascular drug which could cause heart arrythmias and a drop in platelets if use without caution. Swim is interested in attempting this experiment and would be interested in hearing of any others attempting this experiment. But swim must advise caution when using quinidine due to the cardiac effects.

Reputation Comments on this post:

Great info and pharmacology explanation