I got no relief from Tramadol at all. It is a narcotic or very similar, but as I understand, it has been formulated in a way to reduce the incidence of physical dependency and minimize tolerance so it doesn't require increasing dosages the way regular narcotics do. It also means it doesn't work for everyone or for all pain, the way regular narcotics typically work for most everything.
I have found relief with gabapentin. I have permanent nerve damage in my right leg, actually the sensory part of the sciatic nerve is damaged so it sends constant signals like my leg is on fire, and I mean real strong pain sensations, but I have reduced or no sensation in the leg and all the way half-way up my torso. It is weird because it makes a clean straight line up my back and abdomen of sensation on the left and no sensation on the right, so weird. But gabapentin minimizes the burning sensations and helps calm the restless leg. I find it to be a god-send for me in that regard, and it has a minor effect on my upper neck and back pain from my surgeries which is a small bonus. I take a relatively high dose (600 mg 3x per day), but gabapentin can go much higher in dosage and has almost a linear affect on most symptoms it is treating. Cymbalta and lyrica are supposed to work somewhat similar to gabapentin I believe, but did nothing for me at all. But man am I glad I got on gabapentin. I really feel it when I run out, or even if I miss a dose.
Crazy the crap that can happen to our bodies over our lifetimes. And how fragile we really are. It is a good thing we developed a big brain because we can't even survive naked and afraid for 21 days in nature.
