Tramadol notice

A few days ago I got a letter from my insurance company, stating that as of 18 August, tramadol and all of it's various forms, is being declared a controlled substance, due to "reports of misuse and abuse," as well potential as a pathway to drug abuse.

Wow.

This is bad news. I had very good results with Tramadol, back before my ruptured disc...still hoping to get off Hydrocodone
and back onto it...and now this.

I swear, if it works, they want to limit it to the point of ridiculousness. IMO.

Debbie

This is a shame. Many members have gotten help from this medication. Thanks though for letting us know.

Sherrine

Heart, it probably won't affect a lot of people that are already taking it, it seems to me. But obviously enough people have been abusing the medication like taking more than is prescribed and so on. Being considered a controlled substance, I think it will be monitored more closely and it might be more difficult to get a prescription. It seems doctors are balking about prescribing controlled substances lately. Just guessing here.

Sherrine

Tramadol can still be prescribed, but the DEA is labeling it as a controlled substance. Your doctor must give you a new prescription. This is at least what my insurance/medical provider says. I am with Kaiser permanente.

Well here in Canada I have to pay for my Tramadol and its not cheap cost me $160.00 for 50 200mg tablets.
And the Mint tramadol/acet cost me $85.00 for 100 37.5 & 325mg
I have the same problem Ins will not cover it and the cost is killing me but it works for me have tried so many different ones this one does not space me out at all.
So how much does it cost you down in the States ?

Wow you guys sure do get it cheap.

I am a First Nation Native and we are covered by the Gov for are drugs but most are not covered. And if we do have priv ins it costs about $165.00 per month for a family and at the most the ins covers 80% and thats it .
So maybe there is some thing to be said about the U.S. health care.

And when i hear about people getting a MRI down there I can,t believe it up here it,s like pulling teeth to get one done and takes like 6 months to get it .

Hi everyone! I saw the thread when it was started and again today and thought maybe I can help clear up some of the confusion concerning why this meds been labeled Controlled.

It does carry a very low risk of addiction issues but far less then most CS meds. It carries very low street value versus other CS meds and actually it's far cheaper on street level in the US then the Canadians and Australian pharmacys are charging. Actually from 50 cents to a $1.50 a pill depending on strength.

At the onset of it's start many Drs were replacing traditional narcotics with it, ERs, dentists, and PCPs were prescribing it freely since it wasn't controlled and therefore required no accountability to the DEA. The addicts were finding it plentiful and cheap on the street but it was not providing a high or preventing withdrawal symptoms from opiates.

However they found when all else failed and they couldn't get their drugs of choice due to tighter control and limitations on controlled meds that if they took enough tramadol they would experience some level of "high "and some temporary relief of withdrawal and it's far cheaper then say those $30 a pill Roxys.

It's a cheap, temporary fix to their problem, not one they choose or continue. This however increased the street demand, raising their value from nothing to that price previously mentioned, all catching the attention of the regulating powers and forcing them to relabel the med with a control status.

Sad that this "jumping the gun " was necessary due to such a temporary need and its just another casualty in this war on drugs.

Hope this helps and thanks for allowing me to participate in your forum discussion!

I had one dr tell me he didn't like giving it to me because he gave me an arthritis pill but still gave it to me. He explained it had a very same dose of morfin in it.

Thank you Sherrine for looking that up for us.

Crap. The only non-narcotic painkiller that does anything for me and they're going to make it a controlled substance. I was just okayed by my doc to go up to 150mg at a time up to 3x a day because 100mg wasn't cutting it and he literally could not find anything else that I haven't all ready failed on or am allergic to. I'm betting the DEA isn't going to be ok with that dosage. Thanks for the heads-up.