Oh, hey. Doesn't matter. Because when I went to the pharmacy to pick up the Tramadol.........they hadn't received the scrip from my doctor's office. Which, by that point, had closed for the day. Of course.

Here's what sucks. I actually really like the doctor. But in the hours and hours I've logged on the phone trying to sort out this problem, I have become convinced that the snag is not at the insurance company or at the specialty pharmacy;it's with her office staff. The doctor's office is filing incorrect paperwork, or something. I asked the secretary/nurse today "You certainly have other patients on Humira, and undoubtedly some of them have the same insurance I do. Why on earth is this a problem?" No good answer.

Anyway, I guess I ought to look for another doctor, but jeez, having to do so on the basis of incompetent office staff kind of sucks, doesn't it? But, what does it matter how good the doctor is if her wishes don't get carried out? It will probably take months to get an appointment. I will see my doctor on March 24, and I intend to keep that appointment. I'll have the bloodwork done to make sure the MTX isn't causing any issues. I won't drop out of her practice immediately, because I want to at least stay on the MTX. But I guess I should find another doctor and make an initial appointment, so I at least have something set up. Thoughts? And will all of you be on the jury if I go postal at the doctor's office? I'm guaranteed a jury of my peers, after all. (Note: in today's volatile climate I feel obligated to point out that I'm probably genetically incapable of going postal, thanks to my polite Canadian ancestors. That was meant as a joke.)

And another update. Sorry for all the words, but I'm trying to limit my whining here at home, so, you guys luck out. The missing scrip for Tramadol showed up at the pharmacy after all, the fault was theirs and not my doctor's office for this one. Took the first dose last night. And what I learned was........I was apparently in a lot more pain than I realized, because having a few hours pain free was the most incredibly liberating, amazing feeling. Now, it doesn't look like Tramadol is a good long term solution; it's not actually an opiate apparently, but can still be addictive. My father had some serious addiction issues over the course of his life, and psychologically, I see some of the same personality traits in me, so I've always been extremely cautious. But I'm going to have to make pain management a larger part of my overall strategy. And I'm going to have to figure out how to be more self-aware. I should have realized I was in pretty bad shape, and I honestly didn't.


I have a 15 day supply of the Tramadol and can get one refill, and that's if I take it at the maximum allowed daily - I hope that if I can knock back the pain a bit, I'll be able to take less. My plan is to use this relatively pain-free window to get back to walking regularly and doing some yoga and trying to regain some of the flexibility I've lost over the last few months.

Sounds like you've got a plan katie. From experience, do the yoga but keep in mind that you have something blocking the pain so be very careful about over-doing and actually causing damage.

I had a dog on Tramadol - he loved it! :)

I hope it works as well for you during your "interim".

My only experience with tramadol is also with my dog.
It is good that you recognize your risk for addiction with family history and personality traits and that you plan to be very cautious with the strong stuff.
In the meantime, enjoy your pain freedom!

nonightshades, you raise a point that's always fascinated me as various parts of my body fall apart: is pain always a bad thing? It makes sense that it can be a warning to keep us from doing things that harm us further.

And I'm snickering about tramadol being used for veterinary purposes. My sister, who is something of a princess, had a bit of rosacea on her face and was given a prescription whose main ingredient is ivermectin, which I give to my dog for worms. I looked it up and discovered that some cases of rosacea are caused by very tiny mites in the skin! I didn't tell her, though!

I took Tramadol after foot reconstruction, after I broke my wrist, etc, etc. I never took it all the time, so I did not become addicted.

When my meds failed in Feb. 2015, my doctor put me on Nycunta, which is a sustained release Tramadol. I have been on it ever since. I need to wean off gradually, but I am in so much pain all the time these days, I am not motivated. I have so much damage from RA, that even when I don't have flares, I have bad pain. It used to be that once the RA was under control, I was just fine. But the last 2 years have seen a lot of tendon damage, in my hands, shoulders, elbows, wrists, and that damage just is ruining my life.

It is an addictive drug. But I do not seem to have an addictive personality. I have been able to easily get off addictive meds, like clonazepam, Lunesta, prednisone, etc. I am not worried about getting off this med.

I sure hope you get that Humira soon, or I am going to phone up that doctor's office myself and give those receptionists a piece of my mind!

I spent part of my afternoon in the ER after twisting my ankle, which turned out to be a small fracture (bummer), and the PA was asking what I wanted for the anticipated pain I am going to have these first couple of days. When I immediately nixed narcotics, he asked if I had ever taken tramadol. I laughed out loud! He and my husband thought I was crazy until I mentioned this recent discussion about tramadol and our dogs!

In my opinion Tramadol is the next best thing to Vicodin when it comes to pain. In my experience with it, it didn't seem to last as long (duration without pain) as the Vicodin, however it gave me much more relief than any OTC or prednisone (that was a joke ABSOLUTELY NO PAIN RELEIF AT ALL and made me gain 30lbs which made the pain in my feet worse). I have been prescribed many different opioid pain medications over the years due to a herniated disc in my cervical spine. I personally never had a problem with getting addicted to them, however from others I have spoken to, the tramadol doesn't seem to be as high of a risk for addiction. I'm glad someone is helping you with pain! Don't be surprised when it comes to prescription pain medications that they have to give you the script and you have to take it in, currently the FDA requires them to do this, so that can't be phoned or faxed in. When it comes to the specialty drugs, my experience was that my insurance company did not want to pay for the Embrel I was prescribed so they made me wait three months to get it. As if I would be magically cured in three months and they then wouldn't have to pay for it at all LOL. I am currently on Methotrexate (oral, but soon to be injections), Folate and Embrel (injections). I have gained a little relief, mostly in the swelling department, but I still struggle with a lot of pain and exhaustion. The OTC pain reliever I recommend is Aspercream WITH LIDOCAINE (I would not bother with the stuff that doesn't have the Lidocaine, for me it did nothing). I like to use it on my hands and feet to allow me to have blankets on to sleep. If you have the opportunity to get into a hot tub this is what truly has help me the greatest! After soaking for 30 minutes I can usually get about 4 hours of semi-normal function.

I have to laugh about all the comments about the Tramadol use in everyone's dogs. I was a veterinary technician for years and we did use that as a pain med a lot of surgical cases. A good 90% of the medications that we used to treat our fine furry, feathered or scaly friend were pediatric doses. I saw the comment about the Ivermectin LOL, however they are now using botox injections for migraines. Let's hope hope there is something out there to cure us!