Drug Combo's

[jilly]

First timer so bear with me- I have been living with CFS and Fibro for five years now. I am currently taking Emtec, Immovane for sleep and clonazepam for nerves. My new Dr. has suggested going to prozac and switching to tramacet after I taper off the Emtec. But I:icon_wink: have read you should not combine the two ( Prozac and tramacet) Does anyone have any info on this? thanks

[Curious]

hi lilly. welcome to neurotalk.
i'm not sure about the rx's, but wanted to bump this up for you. :)

[fiberowendy2000]

What is tramacet? Is that like Ultracet just in generic form???

[mrsD]

For tramadol + Prozac this is the result I found for you:

1 potential interaction was found for the drugs you selected.

You searched for interactions between the following drugs:

* Prozac
* Tramadol

Add or Delete Drugs

Start Over with a New List of Drugs

(Note: Not all drug interactions are known or reported in the literature, and new drug interactions are continually being reported. This information is provided only for your education and for you to discuss with your personal healthcare provider. )

TRAMADOL may interact with FLUOXETINE (in Prozac)

Both fluoxetine and tramadol have an effect on serotonin, a chemical that is found in the brain. Excess levels of serotonin in the brain may cause serious or potentially life-threatening side effects. Early signs of this problem include increased confusion and restlessness. Other possible symptoms may include weakness, fever, nausea, and anxiety. In rare cases, high levels of serotonin in the brain may cause severe complications like seizures, stroke, and even death. If fluoxetine and tramadol are used together, your doctor may want to closely monitor you for side effects. Ask your healthcare provider about these drugs and this potential interaction as soon as possible.

This interaction is poorly documented and is considered major in severity.

Last Updated: August 2006

from http://www.drugdigest.org/DD/Interaction/ChooseDrugs/1,4109,,00.html

Many doctors do NOT understand drug interactions. You can visit your
pharmacy and ask the pharmacist to print it out for you. Alot depends on doses used, and your own reactions to both drugs. People who are high
serotonin types genetically would have more side effects.

We have a Medications forum here, with links in useful websites, to search for information concerning drug questions.

[Wittesea]

Hello and Welcome to NeuroTalk :)

:welcome_sign:


My doctor once tried to prescribe Tramadol and Effexor together, and the pharmacy caught the interaction and did not fill the prescription for the Tramadol (Ultram).

Then I stopped the Effexor, and the doctor had put me on Flexeril (muscle relaxer) and the doctor tried to prescribe Tramadol/Ultram again - and again the pharmacy caught an interaction between Tramadol and Flexeril.

So, after that, my doctor stopped prescribing Ultram/Tramadol for any of her patients due to the number of drug interactions it has.

It's a good thing that you paid attention to the potential interactions, because as mrsd said, most doctors have no idea about drug interactions... Thankfully, most pharmacists use computer systems, so even if they forget an interaction the computer will remind them -- one more reason why patients should always use one pharmacy for all of their prescriptions!

Welcome to NeuroTalk :)

Liz

[jilly]

thanks for all the replies. Tramacet is also called Tramadol and is like Tylenol3 but supposedly not as addictive. I realy appreciate the drug info from wittesea and mrsd. i will not be taking these two together for sure. :)

[bucky]

Hi Jilly,

I have been taking Tramacet as well as Zoloft. I asked my pharmacy several times if Tramacet could cause severe bruising and was told no. I went to my doctor and showed him my bruises and he immediately sent me for blood work. He checked both meds and said that this side affect was not listed and was going to contact his supplier. I have taken Zoloft before and never had a problem with it so I thought it might be the Tramacet (newer drug on the market and I haven't use it before). I looked up Zoloft on the internet and found that it shouldn't be taken with Tramadol (which is one of the drugs in Tramacet) because bruising for no apparent reason can occur. We are talking purple grapefruit size bruises all over my legs and arms. I would have pains in my legs and then the next thing I new I had yet another bruise.I am now waiting to find out if I have liver damage. Dana

Has anyone else had this same problem?

[jacko]

Hi bucky, I have been taking tramacet for about 1 year as well as arthotec and effexor, for the past 6 months I have noticed extremely large bruises all over my body, I talked with my dr as well as the pharmacist and they say different things. the dr says it might be the gluclosamine i take for my joints and the pharmacist says it might be the arthotec, which is a blood thinner, i have recently cut down on this but am still bruising alot.I have also heard that tramacet can cause liver damage which scares me .how will you know if this is true. If I dont take these pills I have alot aof pain , I have degenerative disc disease and pain in me legs when i walk so they take the edge of but the pain is always there. any wise words or suggestions. thanks Jacqueline

[Silverlady]

Ask your doctor to run a liver panel to see if the liver is o.k. and also I'd run a general metabolic panel to check vitamin K level. You don't say if you are anemic. That can cause bruises.

This needs to be investigated futher.

Billye

[mrsD]

Hi bucky, I have been taking tramacet for about 1 year as well as arthotec and effexor, for the past 6 months I have noticed extremely large bruises all over my body, I talked with my dr as well as the pharmacist and they say different things. the dr says it might be the gluclosamine i take for my joints and the pharmacist says it might be the arthotec, which is a blood thinner, i have recently cut down on this but am still bruising alot.I have also heard that tramacet can cause liver damage which scares me .how will you know if this is true. If I dont take these pills I have alot aof pain , I have degenerative disc disease and pain in me legs when i walk so they take the edge of but the pain is always there. any wise words or suggestions. thanks Jacqueline

SSRIs--- which Effexor has this action in addition to the SSNi effects, lower platelets in the blood.--Combined with the Diclofenac in the Arthrotec you could have an additive effect. I really don't think it is the glucosamine.
If you type in Effexor bruising into Google there are many hits on other boards.
I think it is the combo for you however.

Also Arthrotec contains Cytotec, which may affect clotting. Here is a paper describing using this drug alone to help with
peripheral vascular disease--
Methods Find Exp Clin Pharmacol. 1998 Jun;20(5):439-45.Click here to read Links
Treatment of peripheral vascular disease with misoprostol (Cytotec): a pilot study.
Goszcz A, Grodzinska L, Kostka-Trabka E, Bieron K, Slawinski M, Jachym R, Ochmanski W.

Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Cracow, Poland.

Misoprostol, the oral analogue of alprostadil, was used to treat 20 patients (aged 40-60 years) with peripheral arterial disease (PAD) according to Fontaine's classification at stages IIa and IIb. All patients received 200 micrograms of misoprostol 3 times a day during a month. The therapy with misoprostol resulted in clinical improvement in all patients. Elongation of pain-free (before treatment: 129 m +/- 78 m; after treatment: 214 m +/- 109 m) and maximum walking distance (before treatment: 304 m +/- 169 m; after treatment: 471 m +/- 264 m) was observed. At the same time, a shortening of the duration of pain was noted (before treatment: 100 sec +/- 37 sec; after treatment: 71 sec +/- 23 sec). The ankle/arm pressure ratio (AAPR) and arterial blood flow increased in both limbs after 4 weeks of treatment. Activation of the fibrinolytic system was seen in the course of therapy (shortening of euglobulin clot lysis time (ECLT) and increase in t-PA activity). The platelets became less sensitive to ADP and collagen after intake of misoprostol. The results justify administration of misoprostol as a new therapeutic agent for the treatment of patients with PAD.

PMID: 9701783 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

SSRis can cause bleeding by themselves.