I'm not a frequent user of opiates. I mostly take codeine once in awhile (60-120 mg), and it's effective for pain relief and is somewhat sedating/relaxing. I had only ordered it from one of the main vendors.
I decided to order codeine from one of the other main vendors, which comes in capsules. Although these caps feel somewhat similar to the tablets I had previously ordered from the other vendor, they are extremely stimulating. Even just 60 mg prevents me from sleeping all night, even after taking larger-than-normal doses of benzos. And I feel like crap the next day.
I'm trying to figure out what's going on, and I'm wondering if these capsules are actually tramadol, which I've never taken before. Since tramadol is a norepinephrine-reuptake inhibitor, this could explain the extreme stimulation. For those of you who have tried both codeine and tramadol, could you describe the differences in their effects? Thank you.
Very different effects in my experience. Tramadol does not give the same soft buzz that I get with Codeine. To me they act a little be more like benzos, but instead of sending me to sleep they keep me awake. It's usually a restful insomnia if that makes any sense (inability to sleep but no anxiety about it). So the inability to sleep certainly chimes with my Tramadol experience.
However, I haven't personally experienced the extreme stimulation you refer to, but then I have been asking Tramadol for many years, so there might be a tolerance issue here with my experience vs yours.
Thanks for sharing your experience. These capsules definitely don't have that soft warm buzz of codeine. Hmmmm...
I think you have to expect a certain amount of inconsistency even from the most reliable vendor.
I find inconsistency in efficacy from prescription medication so I don't see less regulated vendors being any less likely to suffer inconsistency. Maybe not to the extreme you refer to though. Come back after more of the batch and give us some more feedback your experience.
Could be a paradoxical reaction, but then you've had codeine before, so seems less likely.
I'm prescribed tramadol and well used to it now (which is a nice way of saying "addicted"), but I remember how I felt when I first took one capsule. There was some stimulation in the sense of being talkative but tramadol didn't keep me awake. On a higher dose, taken especially late at night, I've had a bit of the "restful insomnia" Zebra1922 describes. I wouldn't sleep so quickly, but then I was happy just resting and drifted off gently after a while. I'm an insomniac by nature and tramadol hasn't made it any worse (probably better, if anything due to being comfortable).
You've said "extremely stimulating" doesn't sound like a description of tramadol, but these things are hard to express. Did you have any anxiety, higher pulse, or jittery feeling with that (like too much coffee)? Or was it more like the restful/relaxed insomnia described above?
What color is the capsule? e.g. white, yellow/green, clear?
I've taken prescription Tramadol for years. It's a very interesting drug. When I first took it, I hated it because it made me feel so foggy the next day, really dumb and out of it. But I had to take it for pain because it was the only thing the doc would give me and it wasn't a scheduled drug back then. Eventually when I would take it in the morning it did turn out to be quite stimulating at times and I felt great, sometimes very emotional and happy. And it was an appetite suppressant as well. I wasn't big to begin with but then I got really skinny while on it. I usually only took it twice a day, so 100mg. Sometimes I'd take 3-4, but mostly just 2. The problem was, after taking the 2nd one it would really make me slow and crash in the afternoon. I'd have to take these short naps that were very strange because it felt like I was in this waking dreamlike state. But sometimes after 15-20 minutes that's all I'd need to recharge.
Eventually I got worried I wouldn't be able to get off it after reading lots of bad stories. I tried cold turkey once and got a very upset stomach. But I found it was super easy to taper off and quit altogether, so long as I had some loperamide on hand. I've always had a bit of IBS anyway so it wasn't a big deal.
However, I try not to take it if possible now, no more than 1 a day. And it's back to making me tired rather than energetic. If I have trouble sleeping sometimes I'll take one and it will help. So my point is that I don't think whats in your pills is Tramadol because it would probably make you tired until your body latches onto it (scientific I know) because it also works like an SNRI antidepressant. I'm kind of in the same boat as you with powder "codeine" capsules, but I've never taken codeine before so I don't have much to compare it to. It actually makes me pretty tired after a couple hours. It's not nearly the good feeling I get from other opiates so I'm a bit skeptical as well. Maybe there are stimulants mixed in with yours? I'd be interested to know if you ever find out. I ordered a chemical reagent test kit so I can at least do some basic testing on the things I'm putting in my body. Should be here in a couple days.