"for low back pain from herniated l5/s1 disc, i take 4 ultracet (150mg tramadol) daily and up to 4 more when the pain is bad (300mg/day max).  this allows me to deal easily with breakthrough pain.  it is much less habit forming than vicodin and works just as well for pain relief.  i am able to &quot;manage my medicines&quot; easily with this.  i didn&#039;t like the extended release (ortho-mcneil brand name ultram er) as it seemed to hit too hard and then run out at like dinner time.  so i dose 4 times a day as the tramadol seems to last about 4-5 hours.  the only downside i&#039;ve had with tramadol is an occasional short headache.
i also take gabapentin, usually 1.2 - 1.8 grams/day depending on the pain level.  gabapentin works well with the tramadol."