Cautions with other medicines
Some medicines can affect the way tramadol works and increase the chances of you having side effects.
Tell your doctor if you are taking any medicines:
- for depression
- for mental health problems
- for pain relief
- to help you sleep
- to reduce tension or anxiety
- to treat symptoms of an allergy
- to help prevent blood clots (such as warfarin)
- to treat an infection
Some medicines may weaken or shorten the effect of tramadol. Tell your doctor if you're taking:
- carbamazepine to treat epilepsy
- buprenorphine, a painkiller
- Ondansetron, to stop you feeling sick
- Rifampicin, an antibiotic
Important
Do not take medicines called monoamine oxidase inhibitors or MAOIs (which are used to treat depression) with tramadol. The combination can cause significant side effects such as anxiety, confusion and hallucinations.
Taking tramadol with other painkillers
It's safe to take tramadol with paracetamol, ibuprofen or aspirin (aspirin is only suitable for most people aged 16 and over).
Some everyday painkillers that you can buy from pharmacies contain codeine, which is a similar medicine to tramadol. Codeine-containing painkillers that you can buy from pharmacies These include co-codamol, Nurofen Plus and Solpadeine. Do not take these pharmacy-bought painkillers with tramadol because you are more likely to get side effects.
Mixing tramadol with herbal remedies and supplements
There's not enough information to say that other complementary medicines and herbal remedies are safe to take with tramadol. They're not tested in the same way as pharmacy and prescription medicines. They're generally not tested for the effect they have on other medicines.
Important: Medicine safety
Tell your doctor or pharmacist if you're taking any other medicines, including herbal remedies, vitamins or supplements.