DOES ALCOHOL AND TRAMADOL CAPSULES HAVE THE SAME EFFECTS?

Does alcohol and tramadol capsules have the same effects? The answer to this question I don't know but I'm about to find out. Rewind a decade and half ago, and there was me, a medical student suffering from dysmenorrhoea (menstrual cramps). i had a bad case of it, still did up to very recently. Remember how I said doctors are the worst patients in the post "I am human afterall"? It's very true. We take ill and think of only the worse possible diagnosis but we calmly reassure patients that theirs is mild, saying "afterall common diseases occur commonly" - something we were taught in school as students. At some point a name for diseases of a medical student was dubbed medical studentitis meaning fear of the unknown, maybe nothing.

this is not tramadol by the way

So back then, with such severe pains, I sorted for the fastest possible cure to my problem. Again, something doctors like to do without much rationalization. (patients are not a very patient group of people, I wonder how they came about that name). I took anything offer as long as it would stop the pain. Lots of  pain killers (resulting in an ulcer) then one day someone said alcohol (hot brandy) stops it. I waited for the next month brandy in hand. The pain started and I drank half a cup (*lol, I don't think I did it right though). Immediately I was fast asleep,woke up a few hours later and emptied the whole content of my stomach leaving my throat very raw to the point that I could only eat bland diet for 2 days. I swore of any form of brandy that day.

Tramadol is a pain relieving medicine that is safe for ulcer patients. Yesterday morning I went to visit my sister and took one for some pain I was having. She warned me that it causes drowsiness and hoped I would be able to drive home. I reassured her that everything was fine and it was until I ate lunch. Immediately my lunch hit my stomach, I began to feel sleepy. I looked at my watch and said to myself  "okay I have 1 hour before work resumes, let me just sleep". At 2 pm, I got up to present at my duty and realized I was dizzy, well too late, I thought. I'll just have to pull through somehow. 1 hour later, I was wishing I could burp. I believed I'll feel better if I did. 1 hour 30 minutes later, I did burp and felt slightly better. In another 30 minutes, in the middle of a consultation was when I felt it. Something was coming up my gut! I hurried ushered the patients (a whole family of six) out of the room, locked the door and faced the sink and emptied.

Oh! I felt a whole lot better, the medication however wasn't done with me yet, neither was the dizziness. At 7 pm, I called up my brothers to come pick my car and I up. I couldn't home I realized. I went into the emergency room and had an antiemetic (something to stop the vomiting and queasiness). It did it's job well. I got home finally, bathed and was fast asleep with no more vomiting.

The answer to the initial question; Yes, "tramadol before food" and " excessive alcohol after food" have the same effects of vomiting and drowsiness. They are not a good combination and I'm never going near them again. *Lol. On a lighter note, they also same 3-syllable words and both end with "-ol".

If you've had any such experiences, share your experience here with the rest of us. Thank you.
Cheers....