Tapentadol and Anxiety: What Users Say

• Lau...
• February 13, 2020

Tapentadol for Pain "I've never had more side effects with any other medication. I ended up in the ER, I'll get into that more later. Blurry vision, can't read off my phone. Can't focus my eyes, they feel strained. It causes this 'psychedelic effect' where things look like they're moving with slight colors. Chest pain. Went to the ER. They gave medication to slow my heart rate, which was 150 bpm. Heart pounding, tightness in chest, fast heart rate, low blood pressure. Unable to concentrate/poor memory. Forgetting mid-sentence. Dizzy, the room is spinning. Uncoordinated. Depressed breathing. Hallucinations. I thought I saw a red bug on me, but it was just my birthmark, I was hallucinating! I've never hallucinated before. Restlessness. The skin on my hands and feet turned blue. Anxiety/depression. I have slight anxiety, but not like this, it made me depressed. Urinary pain (from the coating on these pills made to prevent people from misusing them). Heaviness in limbs. Trouble swallowing. Severe constipation. Indigestion. Low energy."

• Zvo...
• February 4, 2016

Tapentadol for Pain "Nucynta was prescribed by my pain clinic a few months ago. Despite my complaints of severe anxiety, restlessness, elevated blood pressure, restless legs, my skin turning blue, inability to sleep, they continue prescribing it. I am losing my mind. I have spinal stenosis, DDD, RA and OA with cervical fusion surgery, two total hip replacements, and one hip revision. My life is governed by pain. Since I started taking this horrible Rx, I am losing my mind. I am 69."

• Dkw...
• February 19, 2013

Tapentadol for Pain "Nucynta - started off with 50mg 2-3 times daily. Had pretty weird side effects, talked with doctor who encouraged me to stick with it for a week. Also was on 5mg oxycodone 4 times daily. After about the 5th day, all of the nausea and side effects dissipated, with the exception of increased anxiety (which runs in my family to the point of being debilitating), so I simply increased my 0.5mg Xanax to 1.0mg as needed, which worked out fine. At the next visit, I was increased to Nucynta 100 mg 3-4 times daily. I felt like I was 19 again. Two months later, changed my dosing to 100mg Nucynta extended release 2 times daily and decreased my anxiety problems. Also increased my oxycodone to 10mg 4 times daily due to end-stage osteoarthritis in my back, neck, knees, shoulders, etc."

• Hol...
• July 26, 2013

Tapentadol for Pain "I started Nucynta the first time and was on a low dose of 25 mg of Zoloft. I had been taking hydrocodone 10 mg for several years. The reason for Zoloft was for minor depression that the hydrocodone causes. The first two pills I had of Nucynta caused insomnia, weird dreams, and a bit of anxiety. Also, I had shivering and felt so hot I thought I was burning up. Even though my rheumatologist/pain specialist suggested I give it 5 days, I did not. Well, a couple of weeks later, I am trying it again. So far, so good. My pain level is better but not yet all gone. I did have to take hydrocodone early in the morning as I started having withdrawal symptoms from not taking it. I was told I would not. I'm glad for Nucynta. I have neuropathy, fibromyalgia, and two kinds of arthritis."

• axi...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• March 8, 2013

Tapentadol for Pain "The first 4 days were great, no pain and no lethargy. Day 5 began with stomach upset and hot flashes. Day 6 brought anxiety ending in severe depression and a psychotic break. All resolved after cessation in 24 hours."

• KLH...
• September 17, 2010

Tapentadol for Pain "I was given this medication after a series of painful surgeries. I took 100 mg every 4-6 hours for pain. This medicine did relieve all of my pain. It made me a bit itchy. The problem came when I tried to get off of it 3 days ago. I'm having severe anxiety, which I've never had before. My doctor said it's withdrawal symptoms. I pray I get over this feeling soon."

• vel...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• June 9, 2012

Tapentadol for Pain "I was prescribed Nucynta 100 mg IR and 150 mg ER. I have been taking Oxycodone 10 mg and tramadol for breakthrough pain. I was on Percocet but developed resistance, and then my PM doctor added the Nucynta. Nucynta is excellent as it took most of my pain away. The bad part of it is that the Nucynta made me nauseous, gave me headaches, and made me feel wired. I also experienced palpitations and anxiety. Nucynta worked really well, it's just the side effects outweighed the pain relief. Anyone else have the same reactions?"

• Che...
• February 12, 2013

Tapentadol for Pain "I was only taking Nucynta for 3 months and had to switch to another narcotic pain medication because of the serious side effects. I had terrible anxiety attacks, which required me to take Xanax. The absolute worst side effect that I had was the hallucinations... I thought I was going totally insane! I have a friend who takes this, and it works well for her, but I must have been allergic to it!"

• Max...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• March 4, 2019

For Pain "Tapentadol - I was on tapentadol for 4 months after breaking my neck in a bike accident. While on the drug, it did a great job of controlling my pain. The issue I had was coming off it. The sheer pain and anxiety with coming off the drug was horrible. I could not sleep for days, and the onset of nerve pain was intense. Never again."

• Myt...
• October 21, 2015

For Pain "This drug is horrible! The researchers and drug company that came up with this drug are sadists. I can't believe this is a Schedule II opiate. My doctor prescribed this instead of oxycodone yesterday, telling me that my body would metabolize this medication better (they did a cheek swab a few weeks ago to see what painkillers would work best). One 100 mg tablet gave me the following: hallucinations, sleeplessness, muscle spasms, back pain, anxiety, and irritability. I took the one tablet early evening yesterday, and I haven't slept, and I still see things coming at me from my peripheral vision. Anything with light burns into my eyes and moves when closing my eyes! This drug actually harmed me and caused more pain."

• Cat...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• December 31, 2018

For Pain "Perplexia SR was given to me for severe back pain and spasms associated with damaged discs, and the side effects were terrible! Diarrhea, nervousness, weakness, chest pain, and trouble sleeping; and pain was not eased at all! I don’t recommend anyone be on this one. I was on 100 mg of Perplexia slow release, and taking it caused more trouble than help."

• Anonymous
• February 24, 2012

Tapentadol for Pain "Very good medication for the first couple of months, and then effectiveness reduced, and I had to add back in Norco for breakthrough pain because it did not last more than 3 or 4 hours, and the max I could take was 4/day (100 mg). I did well as far as not feeling tired, it seemed to give me a zip of energy, but when it wore off in the 3 or 4 hours, the anxiety was terrible. I have trouble sleeping, and for some reason, Nucynta did not seem to aggravate this like Tramadol did."

• Anonymous
• October 14, 2011

Tapentadol for Pain "Have been taking Nucynta for a few days. I was on OxyContin with oxycodone for breakthrough, but since the OxyContin was changed in February to tamper-proof, it doesn't work very well anymore. When I take Nucynta, it makes me feel like a zombie, it only works for 3 hours for pain when it is supposed to be 12 hours. I feel like I can't breathe and get anxiety. It doesn't help me when waking in the morning from taking the night before like Oxy does. It seems everyone says to let it build up, but it is hard since I can't get up in the morning to go to work. I will give it more time to see if it gets any better."

• Bac...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• September 5, 2020

For Pain "Tapentadol slow release was generally effective in managing moderate to severe pain after a radio frequency nerve ablation of medial nerves from my lumbar facet joints. It was easy enough to step down from 200 to 150 to 100 mg after the procedure. But I quickly developed tolerance, meaning the lower dose became ineffective almost immediately. I stepped off without major physical side effects (other than increased pain) but suffered from considerable exhaustion, anxiety, depression, and confusion for several days. I wouldn’t have made it through post-procedure recovery without this medication, but be wary."

• Log...
• August 30, 2011

Tapentadol for Pain "I'm 17 years old and I have Sutton's disease 2, and my doctor told me to take Nucynta 4 times a day. Well, I can only take it once a day because it is very strong. It did relieve my pain, but I'm having VERY bad anxiety, and I can't sit still or concentrate at school or work, but I am pain-free."

• SS3...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• May 31, 2018

For Pain "I got switched from Oxycodone 10 mg (5x a day) to this garbage last week for a 20-week trial. Something to do with a 4-pill daily limit. My Nucynta dosage is 75 mg, 4x a day. I will call it maybe 20% effective over Oxycodone or Percocet. I also have anxiety, restlessness, and a headache now and then. I am calling my doctor today to get me off this with some luck. DO NOT try to take 1.5 or 2 of these and drive a car or operate machinery. AND it costs me $75 for a trial of 60 pills with insurance."

• ren...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• June 6, 2012

Tapentadol for Pain "First month of taking 75 mg twice a day, didn't like the anxiety effect in the beginning, but that has become more tolerable. Gotta say it has eased some of the pain for the majority of my workday except for Sundays and Wednesdays, due to the fact that I am a waitress, and those are my long days. But have had difficulty resting, and it hasn't helped with the fatigue at all. See Dr. tomorrow."

• loo...
• January 28, 2012

Tapentadol for Pain "20 years in the evening for lupus (SLE), rheumatoid arthritis, and now AVN (avascular necrosis, from steroid use and the SLE). I have been on Exalgo 16 mg, Nucynta 100 mg every 12 hours for breakthrough pain. The Exalgo was sufficient. Nucynta takes pain away for a short time and does make me sleepy, combined with the fatigue from lupus. Once in a while, I get headaches and jittery, don't know if it's from the Nucynta. (Better described like a painful spot in my head instead of a headache)."

• ano...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• November 16, 2024

For Pain "Don't like it. I suffer from lower back pain and mental health issues. So usually prescribed co-codamol and diazepam. The codeine only works for mild aches, really, but not if I bend, etc. Anyway, I tried this last night, and although it does eliminate pain more, waking up this morning, the side effects are horrible. I feel more like I've taken antidepressants, amitriptyline, or Zoloft. I felt so anxious and weird, like everyone knew I'm weird. Even my eyes looked weird. I had urgent matters I needed to deal with at the moment, and I was on a roll going through stuff yesterday, feeling more confident. Now I can't speak and paranoid someone will knock at the door. Eyes rolling. No concentration, and unsteady with low moods. I will give it a score of 5 because it did help one night, and I slept well. Obviously, others have stated it helped them, so for them, I've evened it to a 5. But for me, the side effects are not worth it."

• Pat...
• October 20, 2015

Tapentadol for Pain "This gave me severe anxiety and panic attacks. I thought it would go away, but it's 16 days on this and getting worse."