@patdeputch, remember. if you had Tramadol. and you can't remember if it helped or not. it might help your husband. depending on the dosage he is given. no 2 people are going to be affected the same. it might work and it might not. dosage is the main factor. ok?? danny5 edit;
i just Googled it. i forgot i had used this back in the late 90s for shingles. it worked great. it didn't make me loopy. except once. i was working and i lost track of when i took it. and ended up double dosing. very light sense of being loopy. which didn't affect work. but i admit that the pain was gone for that period of time. so with all that said. i'd use Tramadol again. just make sure you don't double dose it. alright??

@patdeptuch

I have taken Tramadol before too. It did not help me with my pain. My husband said I was depressed. Dr agreed and I stopped the drug. For some it is a miracle drug .. for others it does nothing. It is trial and error .. always hoping for the better outcome.

ZeeGee

I've tried a ton of meds. Some helped.

What I've learned is that, yes, a medication can make a person cognitively impaired (loopy). Often it takes some time for a body to adjust to it, and after a few days or weeks, see how it feels.

I take Dilaudid for pain that jumps above my tolerance level, and I don't have any problems with it. As someone else said, it makes sense to start with the lowest dose and increase it until it starts giving pain relief.

Everyone is unique. A good PCP and/or a pain specialist can be a big help.

Jim