I am also one of the lucky ones for whom tramadol is a lifesaver. I prefer it over opiates any time. BUT........, it is not good for acute pain, it needs to be taken on a regular dosing schedule to be effective, and it does have weird side effects on some people. I took it daily for nearly 9 months, ordered from good old click mostly, but I have become so paranoid about it, even though it is not scheduled, it could get me into some trouble is the LE decided to press the issue, because it is illegal to order ANY med overseas thru the mail, so I went cold turkey about 2 weeks ago. I was prepared for bad withdrawal since so many had mentioned it but there was none. I just felt a little more tired than usual. There is one terrible drawback tho, I suffer from restless legs, and the tramadol controlled that perfectly, but when I stopped it came back with a vengence. Triple vengance.