both doctor and pharmacist (Walgreens) are telling me that the new tramadol has percocet in it and that i have to go to doctors office to get scripts and they are saying that now it's a controlled substance. My pain is so intense with L3,4,5 along with disks in neck is bad and also I have fibermialga so pain is really really bad. they say it will help with pain and I have been on it so far for two months and still waiting for relief...
Why is my doctor/pharmacist telling me that the new tramadol has percocet in/have to pick up script?
Question posted by tmwgirl on 10 July 2014
Last updated on 11 July 2018
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8 Answers
Andlloyd
28 May 2015
I'm having the same issue as Indiana law has changed but I'm also seeing a bigger issue of Walgreen's being the biggest culprit of people not being able to get their legal meds doctors have prescribed to them. I have been on Tramadol for 3 years now for cervical radiculopathy and also suffer migraines which I take Fiorinal with codeine as needed. I had dental work done today (root canal, under gum cleaning, 2 crowns and an extraction) and when I went to Walgreen's to fill my antibiotic and pain med (Norco) the pharmacist decided that I was already on a "narcotic" (Tramadol) and didn't need the Norco so they refused to fill it, would not return it to me and called the dentist to let them know I didn't need it??? I'm a nurse and I am NOT a druggy or drug seeking in any way. I feel as if they have crossed the line making these types of decisions, they are not my provider and they are not the one's in pain.
I am fuming mad over this and I will be transferring ALL my RX's to another pharmacy. Who made Walgreen's the gatekeeper? This is ridiculous and something has to be done. If everyone boycotted Walgreen's pharmacy someone might pay attention! Fed up and in pain.
Kels33
30 Oct 2014
Only advice I can give you is with all the laws and reclassifications of drugs they are doing, be prepared for anything. I was told since I had received my hydrocodone prescription before October 6th, (when texas changed their laws) I would still be able to get the 2 rrefills I had on file at the pharmacy as needed. And legally, that was correct but none of the big pharmacy's like cvs,Walgreens could figure out how to do it with their software so instead of letting me transfer them somewhere, they voided them and deleted them and told me that was the law. Which was a lie. I don't know how a pharmacy can just withhold your medication and lie about it, that has to be totally illegal but what am I to do against a huge corporation? Then I called my doctor, and he informed he no longer could legally prescribe hydrocodone and I would have to get back into a pain management doctor... I was like really? A little heads up would have been nice.
Luckily he did have a cancellation for the next day so I was able go see my regular doctor and he could give me tramadol which has seemed to be a blessing in disquise. Works better for my pain without the mental effects. But I was terrified I was going to be left with nothing for my pain and sick in withdrawal after being on pain meds for 3 years then cut off with no warning. Luckily it all worked out for me, but to summarize, pay attention to the laws and keep in touch with your doctor & pharmacy if you hear about anything changing in your state.
lezzy444
25 July 2014
I live in Oregon and I just called my pharmacist just now to see what's up with this. She said the only change they are aware of is that on August 6th or 8th? it will change to be treated like Vicodin. You will not have to go to your doctor for a written script to take to the pharmacy. I told her I didn't know how Vicodin is treated, and she explained that it basically means that my doctor will need to pay more attention to how many I am taking. In my case, this is something my doctor is already doing. This medication is a synthetic narcotic that has long been known to act very similarly to a true narcotic, and there has been talk of reclassifying it for quite some time.
I would like to say to anyone considering taking Tramadol that I have been taking it for a few years for fibro pain and it still works very well. It is cheap and effective. I take the 50mg tablet. When I first started taking it I was taking 4 tabs per day, spread out evenly. Now years later, I have only needed to increase the dose to 5 tabs per day. That is total 250mg per day. I find that it doesn't cause constipation like narcotics do, which is very important to me. In fact that is my main complaint with narcotics--constipation.
Delila
13 July 2014
Hi, i can't be sure, but i would be very surprised if there is a tablet containing both Tramadol & Percocet - due to a very serious drug interaction if you take these medications together, please check out the link below...
https://www.drugs.com/drug-interactions/percocet-2-5-325-with-tramadol-72-8505-2221-0.html
Please speak to your doctor about this...
tmwgirl
26 Jan 2015
I didn't say that the tablet contained both tramadol and percocet. I said that the doctor and pharmacist said that Tramadol has Percocet in it but I just found out recently that tramadol doesn't have percocet... I took tramadol and percocet together before and nothing happened as for serious drug interaction. but thats just me though everyone is different...
timstdy
12 July 2014
Tramadol or Ultram is a synthetic drug that acts like a narcotic and some people lump it in with narcotic medications but, the FDA calls it a "narcotic like" medication. No, it does not have oxycodone (Percocet) in it at all. Yes, it is a controlled medication, meaning that the pharmacy (ie. Walgreens) must keep accountability on the number they have vs the prescriptions dispensed. It is only a class 4 medication however compared to percocet being a class 2. Walgreens and CVS pharmacy chains have been trying to "over-classify" pain medications ever since Florida started the ball rolling with the massive narcotic pain medication rules and restrictions.
I would check with another pharmacy as to the prescribing guidelines in your state as even Florida does not require the written prescription for each 30 day supply as for a class 2 medication.
https://www.drugs.com/pro/tramadol-capsules.html . This is a link on drugs.com's website and if you scroll to almost the end you can see the FDA's form for medications which shows that Tramadol is not assigned to any class of medications. I will note that when looking on FDZ.gov it mentioned that the DEA requested in March 2014 for Tramadol to be placed in class 4 status however, no action has been taken on the request as of 7/11/2014.
I apologize for the long response but as I currently live in Florida and have had repeated problems when I was on prescription narcotic pain medications where yes, I did have to do the paper prescription every 30 days to get my medications and put up with some pharmacists and ER nurses who had their own opinions on my medications which differed from my doctor.
Just check with your state board of pharmacy, drug control unit or whatever they call it where you live and get the right answer for where you live.
Best of luck on your recuperation!
DzooBaby
18 July 2014
You are right about the attitudes today! It seems like a lot of medical people have their own ideas. I am a nurse myself and some of the worst offenders are other nurses!
tooteelee
20 Jan 2015
Over classifying is the problem I'm having with a whole county. I have taken tramadal for several yrs for neuropathic pain. I refused stronger because I can't tolerate it. I moved from SC to Nashville, got a local dr, got refills. ..no problem. Moved to Henry County TN. Got local Dr. I now have to go to an appointment each month. ..no refills. I checked and all Dr's in the county won't give refills on tramadal. TN STATE LAW however allows up to 5 refills. Oh yeah Dr's charge full office charges each month. What's up with this?
balbanese
11 July 2014
I've never heard of such a thing, they are 2 totally different things.
kaismama
10 July 2014
How much are you taking a day? It could be that its not enough for you.
agshep
17 Sep 2014
It could be that multimodal analgesia is the way forward rather than pursuing an increase in a single agent.
If a patient has so many pain issues, and they've been persistent, the patient needs to see a pain clinic within which there's psychology, physiotherapy, exercise physiology, as well as a pain specialist.
pmik
22 Nov 2015
Go to Mexico, They have Dr's down there who will fill your prescription, If you walk further in you won't even need a prescription. They can find you one if you need one. I've never had trouble getting medication like tramadol or ambien over the border. The further down you go I may be a little skeptical if I'm getting the correct me, but so far, no problem.
DzooBaby
10 July 2014
Tramadol doesnt have Percocet in it (percocet is oxycodone and acetaminophen and tramadol is tramadol) but they may have now made it a controlled substance in your state or area. If they changed the status and made it a controlled drug, they will need a new written script. Depending on which schedule they put it on, it may not be able to have refills (C-II) or it may have limited refills (C-III or C-IV) Percocet is a C-II drug so it has to have a new written hard copy script each fill-it cant have refills and cant be called in-you have to have a new written script each fill. Perhaps this is what they mean? I will have to research and see what I can find but I have heard nothing about a reformulation of tramadol. I do know that some states are now making it a controlled substance where before it was not.
tmwgirl
10 July 2014
I was told that it is a controlled substance here in toledo ohio plus i have to pick up script every time to fill no refills and both my doctor and walgreens are telling me that it has percocet in them now so did they lie to me? is that why i dont feel any relief?
DzooBaby
10 July 2014
I cant find anything about a combination of tramadol and oxycodone (the opioid in Percocet) There is no drug that has both the ingredients of percocet and tramadol in it so I dont know if they are lying to you are if you misunderstood what they were telling you. I do see that they are changing Tramadol in Ohio from a non scheduled drug to a Schedule IV drug starting August 18.2014 but perhaps Walgreens is putting it in place already. (Percocet is a schedule II by the way) Perhaps they are telling you that Tramadol will now be a controlled substance like Percocet is (although Percocet is a more tightly controlled C-II drug which is the tightest control for prescription drug. Tramadol will be a C-IV which is the second to lowest control) If you go to the Ohio Board of Pharmacy website (www.pharmacy.ohio.gov) there is a link on the home page that explains Tramadol is going to become a controlled substance and what pharmacists and Drs must do.
There is NO drug combining Percocet and Tramadol however. I think perhaps you are misunderstanding or they are telling you something not true.
DzooBaby
10 July 2014
yes, it is becoming a controlled drug in Ohio as of this August 18 but perhaps Walgreens is starting to prepare already as that is just a month away. Tramadol will now be a C-IV controlled substance. Percocet is a C-II. There is no combination of Percocet and Tramadol on the market. Are you sure you arent misunderstanding and they are telling you that tramadol has become a controlled drug LIKE Percocet? Although Percocet is a more tightly controlled drug than tramadol will be.
tmwgirl
10 July 2014
yes, it is becoming a controlled drug in Ohio as of this August 18 but perhaps Walgreens is starting to prepare already as that is just a month away. Tramadol will now be a C-IV controlled substance. Percocet is a C-II. There is no combination of Percocet and Tramadol on the market. Are you sure you arent misunderstanding and they are telling you that tramadol has become a controlled drug LIKE Percocet? Although Percocet is a more tightly controlled drug than tramadol will be.
No they said it had percocet in it so yea they were mistakin so thats why its not touching my pain... that sucks... thank u so much for responding.. bless your loving heart..
DzooBaby
10 July 2014
Were you on Percocet before? Tramadol is not nearly as strong as Percocet (Sorry there were two answers above. The first one didnt come up at first so I rewrote it then both showed!) No Tramadol is nothing like Percocet so if you were on Percocet before and are now taking tramadol, you wont get as much relief from the tramadol. If they told you they were the same thing, then they are lying through their teeth! Yes, they are both opioids (well Tramadol is "opioid like" in that it works on the opioid receptors but isnt a derivative or alkaloid of the poppy plant) vut that is about the only way they are similar! Tramadol is much weaker. Tramadol can be a good medicine for fibromyalgia but they should have started on that first rather then giving you a stronger drug then going to a weaker one. You have to take Tramadol on schedule whether you feel you need it or not. Dont take it "as needed" take it around the clock. If it is 4 times a day-take it for times a day or whatever he ordered. It works better if you take it regularly.
Donhill
11 July 2015
Ultraset has Tylenol in it, tramadol does not, my mother in law used to use ultraset but always got a headache from them, now she takes tramadol n is doing much better
jbandalos
5 Dec 2016
Tramadol is schedule IV in Maryland. That's all I know, but, like you said, tramadol is tramadol and percocet is what you say. I'm not sure of the difference between the schedule designations. I'll Google it. lol thanks.
jbandalos
5 Dec 2016
I copied this from a site in response to a Google question about scheduling...
The abuse rate is a determinate factor in the scheduling of the drug; for example, Schedule I drugs have a high potential for abuse and the potential to create severe psychological and/or physical dependence.
As the drug schedule changes-- Schedule II, Schedule III, etc., so does the abuse potential-- Schedule V drugs represents the least potential for abuse
Related topics
percocet, depression, pain, restless legs syndrome, back pain, fibromyalgia, tramadol, chronic pain, doctor, pharmacist, walgreens
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