Tramadol was approved for marketing as a noncontrolled analgesic in 1995 under the trade name of Ultram®. Although the company initially claimed that this substance produced only very weak narcotic effects, recent data demonstrate that opioid activity is the overriding contributor to the drug’s pharmacological activity. Because of inadequate product labeling and lack of established abuse potential, many physicians felt this drug was safe to prescribe to recovering narcotic addicts and to known narcotic abusers. As a consequence, numerous reports of abuse and dependence have been received.
Tramadol approved for the treatment of moderate to moderately severe pain in adults. Tramadol Although the Department of Health and Human Services has not recommended the scheduling of this substance in the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), a Tramadol requirement necessary for DEA to place a substance under control, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has required the manufacturer of Tramadol to inform physicians about recent abuse data. The approved labeling has been modified on three separate occasions to include new information under the "Drug Abuse and Dependence" section.
The search for pain relief has existed for centuries, if not millennia. It has long been known that the opiates are able to produce excellent analgesia as well as feelings of euphoria. Unfortunately, they are also habit forming, cause respiratory depression, sedation, and hallucinations. As science has examined the brain, several types of opiate receptors have been found so we know that stimulation of different receptors is responsible for the different effects of the opiates. For example, the Tramadol receptors account for analgesia (pain relief), euphoria, addiction, dropped heart rate, and respiratory depression. The Tramadol receptors cause dysphoria (unpleasant feelings), constricted pupils, and sedation. The Tramadol receptors account for hallucinations. In the laboratory, it is possible to create opiates that stimulate only some receptors and not others. With delicacy it is possible to create a drug that creates analgesia and euphoria without being addictive or sedating. Tramadol represents such a drug.