Tramadol SR vs "regular" Tramadol?

[Ladybugsrcool]

It's honestly my saving grace. Allows me to do the work that I do and put in all the hours. If you guys know of a vendor for the sr you mentioned please msg me. I'd be forever grateful. I've had them once and they helped me alot but never been able to find anything similar since. Thank you!

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I have had experience with both.  I had taken tramadol for about 8 months before the sides became too much.  At first I got great sleep at nights, had energy during the day when I took them, but as soon as the tolerance developed and the doses went sky high (won't post how much I took here, but let's just say if my genes had me prone to seizures I would have had MANY) I started getting skin rashes, intolerable itching (I always like some itching, my own little gauge of how much of the tramadol was being converted to o-desmethyltramadol), and then ultimately led to panic states to where if I was approached by a colleague for something as simple as borrowing a piece of equipment I would start sweating and become afraid.  Not the medication for me to say the least.

But to answer your question, I found that the amneal mfg. tramadol, which is/was immediate release, always worked the best.  Even if I had to redose 2 times a day.

The extended release for whatever reason I felt did not get enough of the drug into my system quickly enough for my body to metabolize it to o-desmethyltramadol fast enough, so-to-speak, to get the best pain relief.  

My own conclusion was that my body was metabolizing the smaller quantities into inactive metabolites before the o-desmethyltramadol could start doing its job.  BUT, if I gave myself a decent dose, 100-150mg IR at once, I wouldn't have the same problem.

FYI, if you didn't already know: tramadol is a prodrug for o-desmethyltramadol, where one of the methyl groups on tramadol is replaced by a hydrogen atom, similar to the conversion of oxycodone to oxymorphone, hydrocodone to hydromorphone, etc....and o-desmethyltramadol binds with a MUCH higher affinity to the mu-opioid receptors than tramadol, which is one of the chief components responsible for the pain relieving properties of the drug.  

Also, if memory serves me well enough, the German chemist who discovered (synthesized) tramadol was doing so to market it as an anti-depressant.  It was only found later that it had pain-relieving properties as well.  Funny how one simple drug will get discovered to have a myriad of uses, and each subsequent one will get a new patent!  Money grubbing pharma wh*r*s.....*trails off rambling about the business-run pharmaceutical giants taking our money for drugs that have been around forever*

Grade a info.. I knew the liver enzymes were required to convert to mu but you just explained it a whole lot further.  Thank you!