{"id":189005,"date":"2025-10-09T21:35:15","date_gmt":"2025-10-09T21:35:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/189005\/"},"modified":"2025-10-09T21:35:15","modified_gmt":"2025-10-09T21:35:15","slug":"serious-illness-warning-to-millions-taking-prescription-painkiller-tramadol","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/189005\/","title":{"rendered":"Serious illness warning to millions taking prescription painkiller Tramadol"},"content":{"rendered":"

New research shows the side effects of the drug, which has a number of brand names, may outweigh the benefitsNeil Shaw<\/a> Assistant Editor (Money and Lifestyle)<\/p>\n

11:52, 08 Oct 2025<\/p>\n

\"PillsThe strong painkiller is prescribed under a number of names<\/p>\n

Hundreds of thousands of people in the UK who take a strong painkiller have been warned that it only has a slight effect on chronic pain and its side-effects may outweigh any benefits – with a risk of heart failure. P rescription-only drug Tramadol, which has the brand names Maxitram, Marol, Zydol, Zamadol, Tramulief and Tramquel, is a strong painkiller from the opiates family.<\/p>\n

It is used for moderate to severe pain, such as after an operation or a serious injury, but some patients are also on the drug for long-term pain if weaker medicines fail to work. In a new study, published in BMJ Evidence Based Medicine, experts suggested the drug has a limited impact on chronic pain and likely increases the risk of serious side effects, such as heart disease.<\/p>\n

The team assessed 19 published clinical trials involving 6,506 people with chronic pain. Five trials looked at the impact of tramadol on neuropathic pain; nine focused on osteoarthritis; four looked at chronic low back pain; and one focused on fibromyalgia.<\/p>\n

\"TramadolTramadol is used for severe pain<\/p>\n

Most people were taking the drug as tablets, and length of treatment ranged from two to 16 weeks. D ata showed that while tramadol eased pain, the effect was small and below what would be considered clinically effective. Researchers also noted a doubling in the risk of harms associated with tramadol compared with placebo drugs, mainly driven by a higher proportion of things such as chest pain, heart disease and congestive heart failure.<\/p>\n

Some patients also suffered nausea, dizziness, constipation and sleepiness. The researchers concluded: \u201cApproximately 60 million individuals worldwide experience the addictive effects of opioids.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn 2019, drug use was responsible for approximately 600,000 deaths, with nearly 80% of these fatalities associated with opioids and approximately 25% resulting from opioid overdose\u2026 Given these trends and the present findings, the use of tramadol and other opioids should be minimised to the greatest extent possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Professor Kamila Hawthorne, chairwoman of the Royal College of GPs, said: \u201dGPs understand how debilitating chronic pain can be and the serious impact it can have on the lives of our patients. We want to be able to provide the most appropriate care to help patients manage their pain.<\/p>\n

\"MedicsThe drug has been linked to heart failiure<\/p>\n

\u201cIn line with this study, tramadol has not been found to be helpful for chronic pain, and patients can suffer from its many side effects. As a result, GPs in the UK have been advised to limit, reduce and preferably stop tramadol prescribing for chronic pain and not to start tramadol for new patients with this condition.<\/p>\n

\u201cTreating chronic pain can often be challenging given the underlying reason for the pain is often unclear, making it hard to target treatment. \u201cAs with any condition, GPs will consider the various physical, psychological, and social factors potentially impacting on a patient\u2019s health when coming up with a treatment plan, in conversation with them.<\/p>\n

\u201cPart of this process will also involve exploring non-pharmaceutical options to supporting patients manage their pain, but access to interventions that could help, such as pain clinics, is often patchy across the country.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New research shows the side effects of the drug, which has a number of brand names, may outweigh…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":189006,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[22068,102,2750,6591,78345,8083,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-189005","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-medication","8":"tag-back-pain","9":"tag-health","10":"tag-heart-disease","11":"tag-medication","12":"tag-osteoarthritis","13":"tag-prescriptions","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom","16":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189005","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=189005"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189005\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/189006"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=189005"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=189005"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=189005"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}