Tramadol is a unique painkiller

How can a painkiller be unique?

From the beginning of recorded medical history, we have been looking for a way of controlling pain. Early on, it was discovered that an answer lay in various plants growing around the world. One of the most consistently effective has been the poppy which, depending on the process applied, produces a range of opiates. These drugs are remarkably effective in reducing awareness of even the most severe pain. Unfortunately, they are also remarkably addictive. In some forms, you need only take two doses to find yourself physically dependent. This has always made their discovery a mixed blessing. There is no point to killing awareness of pain if the price is destruction of the personality of the person as he or she grows increasingly addicted.

What is different about Tramadol?

This drug is a manufactured version of one of the opiate drugs called codeine — a variation on morphine. As such, Tramadol is considered an anomaly in that it works in the same way as an opiate, but without the same quality of addictiveness. Thus, your perception of pain is reduced without any of the sense of wellbeing that gives the opiates their addictive quality. Technically speaking, it is a fully synthetic version of the opiates, but it is not considered one of the opioids. Indeed, the manufacturers are not able to explain exactly how Tramadol works. This distinguishes it from the other synthetics which are chemically closer to the opiates and therefore properly considered one of the opioids.

Why is this important?

In one sense, explaining the chemistry does not matter. If you are in pain, you want something to stop that pain. It does not matter what label you paste on to the pill bottle, the drug either works or it does not. Except that, if you look down the list of the synthetics, you come to names like diacetylmorphine. On the street, this is rather better known as heroin. If a doctor suggested you took a drug like heroin to control pain, you would rightly be alarmed. But Tramadol offers a similar level of pain relief without the same unfortunate side effects. The importance of the uniqueness is therefore clear.