Tramadol

[macoduck]

Can tramadol have a slightly sedating effect? Bandit (age 12.5) started limping so I added tramadol in addition to his rimadyl for arthritis.

Normally he follows me around the house but not today. He's been sleeping in nearly the same position for hours. At least he did just get up, go outside with me, peed and pooped (him, not me) and then attempted to run in but thought better of it.

He has always had a rather expressionless face but I know the nuances of it. Today he was not happy nor feeling good.

I've made him a vet appt for Thursday. I hope that he's back to normal by then or that the tramadol is easing his leg pain/limp. He already has a wonky rear leg from an old hock fracture. He can't afford to have a front leg not work right.

[Batmom]

Yes, it can. Sending lots of prayers and gentle scritchies.

[Guest Tenderhearts]

Yes. I take it for my degenerative disc disease. It's a synthetic opoid. Randy has some for his recuperation from the dental today.

 

My vet said she can take half of one for a migraine and go to sleep. It does not have that effect on me.

[Guest Flysmom]

Yes! I had my Gallbladder out on Thursday and I take 2 every 6 hours - boy, I am rather mellow and tired.

[Guest zoolaine]

Yes it kinda made Sunny a bit out of it for the first few weeks he was on it. Then his body seemed to adjust to it. Hope Bandit is feeling better.

[Guest bigorangedog]

Can also have the opposite effect - anxiety, panting, dysphoria. That's what usually happens to my guys. Hope he adjusts to it and feels better soon.

[NeylasMom]

Yes, it can, as well as the opposite like Jen said. What dose is he on?

[Guest GryffinSong]

Gryffin was on a very high dose for the pain of osteosarcoma and it didn't seem to affect him. But the vet did say, as others have already said, that it can be sedating. Good luck!!!

[Guest FullMetalFrank]

It can have that effect. I have been taking tramadol for several years for arthritis pain and there is an adjustment period when you first start it or raise the dosage. I have found that most side effects from it are pretty temporary so it can be worth waiting out the week or so that it takes to see if your pup will come around.

[JohnF]

Yes, tailor the dose to the particular dog and their metabolic condition too. Tramadol caused dangerous arrhytmias in my last dog and she had to be taken off it(her heart was going like a motor for many hours) and then it heavily sedated her until it cleared from her system. The arrythmias have been mentioned in the human medical literature and the vet was not aware of the potential. My dog had CRF and that meant toxins cleared much more slowly from the body than would be normal meaning that the amount of Tramadol in the system effectively built up.

[macoduck]

Bandit is doing better this morning. Last night he was able to get up to go out for last potty and almost ran back in the house. This morning he ate well and went out to potty.

The tramadol is 50mg. Since he is showing no signs of a limp this morning I am not going to give him another tramadol until I see how he is at 1pm when I get back home. I figure if he responded that quickly to only 2 doses of tramadol that we're dealing with a muscle strain from running like a crazy man rather than a more serious issue.

When Gracie has had to take the tramadol it did not sedate her at all so that was why I was concerned when Bandit did get zonked out from it.

[FiveRoooooers]

Hope Bandit is feeling better.

 

It can, both sedating and the opposite effect as mentioned.

The warning labels on the bottle are correct ... I once took Pal's Tramadol instead of my own script, and napped during an entire veterinary seminar

 

edited b/c I can't spell.

Edited August 10, 2010 by FiveRoooooers

[Guest Energy11]

Bandit is doing better this morning. Last night he was able to get up to go out for last potty and almost ran back in the house. This morning he ate well and went out to potty.

The tramadol is 50mg. Since he is showing no signs of a limp this morning I am not going to give him another tramadol until I see how he is at 1pm when I get back home. I figure if he responded that quickly to only 2 doses of tramadol that we're dealing with a muscle strain from running like a crazy man rather than a more serious issue.

When Gracie has had to take the tramadol it did not sedate her at all so that was why I was concerned when Bandit did get zonked out from it.

 

Glad Bandit is feeling better! Yes, Tramadol can be sedating. When Max was taking it for OS, he was very sedated, which, in his case, was a good thing. Like any medication, dogs and humans can all be effected differently.

 

Sending lots of love to your Bandit!

[Guest ProudGreyMom]

Yes! Big time. Andy has been on Tramadol for a week and was sooooo out of it. We switched him to a new med once his bloodwork was complete and he is much more alert.

[DesiRayMom]

My DesiRay is 7 yrs old & 85 lbs. He takes 2 Tramadol every 12 hours.....it made him pretty gorked for a while at first, but now the only way I can tell I

haven't forgotten to give it to him is if he's gimpy or not. I used to take Tramadol myself for my knees & it didn't sedate me.....made me want to go out & mow grass, just because the pain was less & I could. I agree it affects everyone differently.

[GeorgeofNE]

Yes. I take it for my degenerative disc disease. It's a synthetic opoid. Randy has some for his recuperation from the dental today.

 

My vet said she can take half of one for a migraine and go to sleep. It does not have that effect on me.

 

Hey! Me too! Well, not for disc disease!

 

It ALSO has anti-anxiety properties. It does make George a little bit mellow, but because I take it regularly, doesn't have that effect on me. Sure does help with the pain though!

[duncan41]

Can also have the opposite effect - anxiety, panting, dysphoria. That's what usually happens to my guys. Hope he adjusts to it and feels better soon.

 

 

Yep. Happened to one of mine.............scared the heck out of me because at one point it seemed as if she were blind! No more Tramadol for her! I guess it works for some but not for others.

[macoduck]

Are any of you using tramadol regularly for your dog?

If so, for how long have they remained on it?

[DaisyDoodle]

Are any of you using tramadol regularly for your dog?

If so, for how long have they remained on it?

 

 

Daisy has been on Tramadol for a couple of months. She was taking 50mg twice a day, but we went to see Dr. Radcliffe in Wheeling last week and he bumped her up to 3x/day and added Rimadyl and an herbal supplement as well. He is very aggressive about pain management.

 

Daisy seems to be tolerating the meds well, but she had a liver issue in April (for which we never found the root cause) so I'm worried that all these meds really aren't good for her. Unfortunately after five days on the new regimen her limping isn't better. I wonder how typical it is to use this amount of meds for arthritis?

 

[background: Poor Daisy has been x-rayed multiple times over 2 1/2 years and Dr. Radcliffe finally pinpointed the problems. He found arthritis in her shoulder--several vets in VT kept telling me it's her neck when I _knew_ it was her shoulder. She does have compressed discs in her neck too--which VT vets had ID'd, but Dr R didn't think that could cause the limping. Dr R. also found a tiny fracture in her foot (probably from jumping out of DHs truck I'm guessing), and she has arthritis in her toe and had a corn which I hulled in the same toe, which we found with the vet here in PA.]

 

I think we might give laser treatments a try too, but I am also wondering about using Tramadol and Rimadyl long-term too.

 

So, that's probably more info than you needed, but I guess I'm wondering about the med issue too.