Post Ops - (Tramadol) Anyone taking this?

I have some chronic osteoarthritis in my hip and knees that I have been treating with ibuprofen and I know I have to stop that and any other NSAIDs. In talking with my surgeon's office they suggested Celebrex (which is a 2nd generation NSAID) or Tramadol. I verified the Celebrex with other bariatric nurses outside my surgeon's office so apparently that is an okay NSAID to be on, but I wanted to try and stay away from that anyway. So now I was wondering if anyone has any experiences good/bad with Tramadol.

Thanks

Tramadol is fine, not an NSAID. It works okay, but I have chronic pain issues and the Tramadol is a little more effective than Tylenol which is to say it helps a very little. But others I know use it and find it very useful.

Celebrex -- I've heard -- is actually very hard on the stomach comparing to a lot of other NSAIDS... but I could be wrong. RNY and arthritis aren't good bed-fellows because of the NSAID issue, especially if you are sensitive to them as I am. I can take one dose. Two if I'm careful. But make it three doses of NSAIDS in any six week period and I get ulcers.

Yeah I'm trying out the Tramadol before my surgery to see if they work. I have tried Vicodin and that didn't work. I've been taking max daily dose of ibuprofen for a couple of years with no issues. I have to do some more reading on the Celebrex before I agree to take it, but I've talked with two RNY patients that have been taking it for years with no issues.

I know from previous history of myself that my pain decreases greatly with weight loss so I anticipate quite a bit of pain relief with the surgery. The hip will eventually need to be replaced but I'm waiting until I'm older to make sure it lasts longer. As long as I can take the pain I'll keep the hip. My doctor told me that if I had come to him sooner he could have repaired it, but now it's got to be replaced. I was born with mildly deformed hip sockets apparently which has never showed itself on any previous x-rays for some reason.

Anyway, I appreciate the feedback and I'll see if the tramadol even helps pre-op. I was just curious if anyone had any help or issues post-op.

Thanks!!

ive taken it.. makes me a little tired but thats about it.. i didnt take it for long.. few days.. it is not an NSAID

tramadol is about the only thing that has worked for my mother's arthritis. I'd try it before hand to see if it helps you.

I have osteoarthritis in my hands, hips and back, neck... heck everywhere I guess, LOL.  I am taking the tramadol and the only bad thing that happened when I first started was it would give me a headache.  So now I cut it in half and take half with a tylenol which gives pretty good relief.  Then I take the other half in an hour or so and no headache and lessening of "arthur" pain.  For me it is about as good as anything else I have used.  Have not used celebrex so cannot comment. 

I take it for chronic back pain and it helps immensely.

Thanks everyone for your responses. I took my first dose last night and am now on my 3rd. It is helping, but not as much as the ibuprofen. I am managing though. I think that this will work while I lose some weight and see if that does a majority of pain relief itself. If I can just go another 5 or 10 years without needing to replace my hip I'll be good.

My experience with it for the past 3+ years is that it helps with the pain in general, but not nearly as much as Aleve, etc. because it doesn't help the inflammation that is the source of much of the pain.  It just wasn't getting the job done for the worst of my two knees and I ended up alternating it with Vicodin to get adequate pain relief for the past year.  I just had that knee replaced, and am REALLY trusting that Tramadol (and the Synvisc and cortisone injections) will be enough for the arthritis in my right knee.

Lora

Well the Tramadol has kicked in and I have to say I am pleasantly surprised. It's not perfect, as others have mentioned, it doesn't help with the inflamation, but it's almost as good as the ibuprofen because it takes away a lot of those other pesky little pains and irritations. So overall I am happy with it and I can take it after surgery.

Thanks again everyone for posting your experiences.