Can I Take Tramadol With Ibuprofen?

Pain is supposed to be a significant part of the body’s survival mechanism, alerting us when something is wrong.

But sometimes too much pain can be very irritating and distracting. Sometimes even debilitating.

Pain medications are great when they work, but it’s just too easy to build up a tolerance to pain medication, and you’ll soon need a bigger hit of pain relief in order to carry on with your day.

One way around this is to combine different types of pain medication, and use them in unison.

But sometimes this can be fraught with issues, so you have to be careful and do it right.

In this article, we’re going to look at tramadol and ibuprofen. We’re going to look at how they work and whether it is safe to use them together.

What is tramadol? How does tramadol work?

Tramadol is a very strong pain medication. It is only available via prescription, and there are a number of reasons for this.

Tramadol works in a very similar way to morphine, and as such can be very addictive.

For this reason tramadol is only prescribed with caution to those who really need it. This is the best way to prevent tramadol addiction, and in turn prevent overdose and death.

To be more specific about how tramadol works, it mimics the body’s endorphins in the cells of your nervous system in order to prevent signals of pain being received by your brain.

What is ibuprofen? How does ibuprofen work?

Ibuprofen is also a medication that’s used for pain relief. But unlike stronger more addictive pain medications such as tramadol, you don’t need to have a prescription in order to take ibuprofen. You can typically buy ibuprofen in the grocery store or the drug store without the need of a prescription.

Ibuprofen works in a very different way to tramadol. Ibuprofen blocks your body’s production of some of the natural substances that cause inflammation and swelling in the body.

This is why it’s often used for pains where there is an element of swelling involved. It can also be used to decrease fevers.

Unlike tramadol, ibuprofen works on the body’s immune system rather than the central nervous system. And this is in large part why it is commonly believed that there are no interactions to worry about between these two very different pain medications.

Temporary and Long-Term Conditions

Because of its tendency to bring about addiction in it’s users, tramadol is prescribed predominantly for temporary pain relief issues.

And while ibuprofen is so readily and easily available, it’s also not recommended for frequent use. This is not so much because of concerns around it causing addiction, but more because
you could very easily build a tolerance of this medication, and it starts to become less effective for you.

This means that you will increasingly need a higher and higher dose in order to achieve the same effect, until the strongest dosage available no longer becomes workable for you.

Any long-term pain relief that you require should really be discussed with a qualified physician or doctor in order to provide the most effective and appropriate long-term treatment.

Can I take tramadol with ibuprofen?

I am pleased to confirm that it is in fact, safe to take tramadol with ibuprofen, and that there are no known interactions between these two drugs.

This is because the two drugs work in very different ways and basically “attack” the pain from different angles.

But as a word of caution, it’s certainly worth noting at this point that although there are known interactions between these two drugs that does not go to say that there definitely aren’t any interactions.

It may be the case that interactions between the two do exist, but that we aren’t aware of them just yet.

How to Best Take Tramadol and Ibuprofen Together

In order for the pain medication effects to last as long as possible, you can distribute your doses of each medication spread out evenly throughout the course of the day.

You should always take the tramadol exactly as it has been prescribed to you. That way your physician will not get angry with you, and you can be assured that you are not going to overdose on the tramadol.

But rather than take a tablet or two of ibuprofen at the same time as taking the tramadol, you should at least give the tramadol some time to take effect before taking the ibuprofen. And only take the ibuprofen once the pain has started to return. That way you can resist building up a tolerance to the ibuprofen too quickly.

We also recommend that you initially start your pain relief regime by starting on the smallest possible dosage, and then only increasing this dosage when absolutely necessary.

Other Pain Medications You Can And Can’t Take With Tramadol

You may also be pleased to hear that ibuprofen is not the only pain medication you can take alongside tramadol. You can also take certain other non-prescription pain medications. These include paracetamol and aspirin.

However, there are certain pain medications that simply aren’t worth taking alongside tramadol. These include medications that contain codeine, co-codamol or dihydrocodeine. This is because they all work in a very similar way to tramadol, and taking them could lead to an exacerbation of the various side effects of tramadol.

Wrap Up

So, to sum up, as far as the most recent medical research has shown, it appears to be perfectly safe to take tramadol and ibuprofen together.

But remember, ibuprofen is not the only pain medication you can take alongside tramadol. Your other options include paracetamol and aspirin.

But as we have mentioned previously, tramadol is only available to the public via a prescription. And we cannot state strongly enough that you should only take prescription meds that have been prescribed specifically for you, and you should never take anyone else’s prescription drugs, even if they have a surplus.

If taking two pain medications together doesn’t feel like enough, then the best thing you can do about it is to see a doctor, and have your tramadol dosage increased.