I tried Oxycodone for DDD and my wife uses it daily for other pain issues. Both of us tried, and quickly discontinued Tramadol because it was not helpful at all.

In my case, I eventually settled on using Dilaudid (Hydromorphone) because; 1) it is stronger than any other PO medication, 2) had no side effects for me, and 3) does not contain APAP which I rather save for other problems.

I never tried OxyContin, but my wife did recently and she switched back to oxycodone w/APAP. IMO, she never used it long enough to get the proper dosage set, but that was her choice to make.

There is a 24 hour extended release form of Dilaudid called Exlago. It worked great for me, but it is very expensive (starting at $12 per pill) and my insurance company stopped paying for it. I believe that there is a generic form available now, so maybe the pricing is a little more reasonable.

Tramadol has a serious dependency issue (seems even more so than other opiate-based medications), so it may be difficult for you to move to something else. Maybe others can comment on that issue.

The DDD board is rather slow, so you may want to repost your question on the much more active Chronic Pain Board. I know that Tramadol is mentioned often there.

sptrout - thanks for your reply. When I first started Tramadol the packaging said it was non-addictive, but a little research of users revealed that those who used it certainly said it was habit forming and difficult to titrate off. Tramadol works for me but after 6 years on it, its efficacy keeps declining so I'm looking for something stronger so I can continue to work and stay mobile. Morphine may be my next port of call.

We're lucky here in the UK in that our medical insurance isn't used for this (if we have it), the NHS picks up most of the tab and we pay for the prescription. Having said that, I believe that the NHS and doctors limit the drugs they offer to keep costs down, so they might not make Exlago available if it is deemed too expensive by them. And if they don't mention it, we don't know about it!

The first time I took Tramadol I had hallucinations so I never took it again. I react strongly to new meds. I'm kind of afraid of the Oxy meds so I usually take Neurontin.

I am on oxycodin at night, so I can sleep with less pain, but I refuse to take during the day...I also take 800 mg of gabapentin twice daily, it helps some, but I also have neuropathy. Tramadol, I have been told is a strong version of tylenol, it does nothing for me.