Tramadol for sleep And euphoria

[testodan]

SWIM wondering if he can substitute his benzos or lower their doses substituing with Tramadol.But his first worry is if Tramadol will help him with sleep and second the possible euphoria that might give him.What SWIY think?

[Bio-Cellular Enigma]

Opiates are a poor choice of sleep aid, due to the fact they suppress REM sleep (and sometimes all sleep, despite causing drowsiness and a semi-conscious "nod" at high doses). IMO Tramadol would be an especially poor choice, as it also inhibits norepinephrine reuptake and can be stimulating.

To sum this up in simpler terms: Although Tramadol can sometimes cause drowsiness, it can also cause stimulation or anxiety at bed-time, as well as poor-quality (not very restful) sleep or even insomnia at times. Not a good choice.

Secondly, it's doubtful that Tramadol will help substitute for benzos... out of all opiates and opiate-like substances, it's probably the least likely to be relaxing and to relieve anxiety.

[Zaprenz]

Tramadol can be pleasant (Especially for its intention for relief of pain) just before going to bed but it definately doesn't help restore or promote natural sleep.

The opiate effects tend to fall away and the anti-depressant / mild stimulating effects are stick around.

[Swimster]

Originally Posted by Bio-Cellular Enigma

Opiates are a poor choice of sleep aid, due to the fact they suppress REM sleep (and sometimes all sleep, despite causing drowsiness and a semi-conscious "nod" at high doses). IMO Tramadol would be an especially poor choice, as it also inhibits norepinephrine reuptake and can be stimulating.

To sum this up in simpler terms: Although Tramadol can sometimes cause drowsiness, it can also cause stimulation or anxiety at bed-time, as well as poor-quality (not very restful) sleep or even insomnia at times. Not a good choice.

Secondly, it's doubtful that Tramadol will help substitute for benzos... out of all opiates and opiate-like substances, it's probably the least likely to be relaxing and to relieve anxiety.

Listen to SwiB. Swim cannot sleep for nothing on tramadol! It causes a "nod", and sometimes causes swim to be paranoid about health, somewhat uncomfortable.

[soma]

My kitten finds tramadol to be a great opiate-like buzz, but with a methylphenidate-like stimulation in the background. He likes to take 100mg when he wakes up, and repeats this dose three times daily.

In short- great for euphoria, bad for sleep.

[Wflash]

Tramadol seems to have a very wide range of effects from person to person. It's almost pointless trying to get a handle on what it'll do to SWIY from reading other people's experiences.

SWIM gets virtually no noticeable effect at all, but 500mg or more in slow release capsules will help stave off withdrawl in emergencies. That would be an enormous amount for SWIanyone to take if they got a good euphoric effect from 50mg, but I don't think it's due to opiate tolerance in SWIM's case - just the fact that his brain is one of those wired up in such a fashion as to derive few if any opiate-like effects from the stuff.

So he does wish people would stop sending him spam e-mails trying to punt it to him!

[Bajeda]

I just read a medical review of insomnia, and apparently opiate use can be a trigger for actute insomnia.

Judging from my monkey's experiences with Tramadol, it would be even worse so far as getting to sleep is concerned. My monkey tends to get quite stimulated and energetic when he takes it, and doesn't really even get a nod from it.

Benzos are a much better bet so far as sleep aids are concerned.

[soma]

Swim feels great in the morning after typical opioids such as hydrocodone in the evening- GREAT sleep. He feels the same way after high doses of benzodiazepines such as 4mg of alprazolam. However, he thinks tramadol is too stimulating to be of use.


He does, however, know many people that cannot sleep under the influence of opiates.

[sarbanes]

It is so much more complicated than this. Say someone is addicted to tramadol, and has none (and goes into WD) - sleep will be very difficult that night. Say same person has enough tramadol to curb their WD. They will sleep much better that night, most likely. Say someone is otherwise tramadol naive, & takes a huge dose - it very likely will impede sleep (that is, if you are still alive!). Say someone is in pain (& can't sleep), and takes only enough tram to help with the pain - it is very likely that tramadol, in this instance, will help with the sleep. Also depends on how long someone has been on the drug, and this itself brings up tons of other factors. It is very complicated. As a generalization, to the relatively tramadol/opioid naive, tramadol may interfere with sleep (perhaps only allow for 3+ hours), but often that 3 hours will be very refreshing and satisfactory, and feel more like a full night. Does this help? Sry 2 B such a dick, but really there is so much BS floating around regarding so many topics, and the truth is more valuable than BS, any day =)
http://aapm.confex.com/aapm/2007am/techprogram/P1989.HTM