03/01/2025
John is a 45 year old man, who works in the factory, with a big dream and a chronic back pain making things difficult for him
When the doctor prescribed tramadol for him, he thought he has found solution to his problem
Open thread 🧵 to find out what happened next
Tramadol is a medication used to relieve moderate to severe pain. It works by altering how your brain perceives pain is just like reducing the volume of your speaker.
For John, he felt like the drug had reduced the volume completely.
The pain reduction was fast, he could sleep like a baby now, and returned to work feeling like he was in his 20s, a vibrant young man.
He couldn’t stop praising this drug, telling everyone around him how miraculous this drug is.
But before his drug was prescribed to him his doctor explained to him not to take the drug more than 3 days, just to relieve the pain till the test results comes out in other to deal with the main cause of the pain
Third day passed, John didn’t return since he was doing just fine with the drug. After some days he noticed something odd, he need more dose of tramadol to get the same effect he once hade with the lower dose. And when he didn’t take the drug on time the pain was more intense than before when he wasn’t even on the drug.
John ignored the warning sign, thinking he will be fine, if he just continues taking. One day his medication got finished, withdrawal symptoms set in, he started having restlessness, sweating and cravings. Just then he remembered the instructions given by his doctor and knew he has messed up.
He finally went to see his doctor, his doctor device a treatment plan, explaining what is going on to be done and why it is done that way. How his dose is going to be titrated or reduced gradually till his body get use to it to avoid withdrawal symptoms.
Over time John was able to overcome this dependency, though some days he still struggles, but he is free from dependency.
Over time John was able to overcome this dependency
