Nikki Stone: The Road to the Gold - Rising Above the Pain
Nikki Stone is a 37-year-old Olympic champion best known for being
the first American to win a gold medal in inverted aerial skiing at
the Nagano 1998 Winter Olympic Games. Today, Nikki shares her
Olympic spirit with others as a motivational speaker on how to reach
extraordinary goals and overcome obstacles.
Two years following her 1994 Olympic Winter Games debut, Nikki
suffered a back injury when landing a ski jump during World Cup
competition. The accident left her in pain, and multiple doctors
told Nikki that her injury would prevent her from ever skiing again.
Months after the injury, Nikki's pain continued on a daily basis and
made it difficult for her to bend over or perform daily activities
such as household chores. Her doctor diagnosed her as having
persistent chronic pain and decided that she might be an appropriate
candidate for ULTRAM® (tramadol HCl tablets), a prescription
medication for the management of moderate to moderately severe pain
in adults.
ULTRAM helped Nikki to manage her pain so that she could participate
in physical therapy allowing her to strengthen the muscles in her
back. With therapy, doctor supervision and tireless motivation,
Nikki worked her way back to competing in the Nagano 1998 Olympic
Winter Games where she made history by becoming the first American
to win a gold medal in inverted aerial skiing.
After Nikki stopped skiing competitively, she found that she still
experienced chronic pain on a daily basis and again consulted with
her doctor. Because her pain interfered with her daily activities
and woke her up throughout the night, Nikki's doctor recommended she
try a once-daily formulation of ULTRAM that had recently become
available called ULTRAM® ER (tramadol HCl) Extended-Release
Tablets. ULTRAM ER is an effective treatment approved for the
management of moderate to moderately severe chronic pain in adults
who require around-the-clock treatment of their pain for an extended
period of time.
Nikki's doctor explained that ULTRAM ER is a once-a-day opioid.
Opioids are a class of medications commonly prescribed for their
effective pain relieving properties. Nikki's doctor told her that
like all medicines, ULTRAM ER could have side effects. Nikki
experienced some mild constipation when she first started taking
ULTRAM ER, but the effects subsided after a few days. The most
common side effects reported with ULTRAM ER are dizziness, nausea,
constipation, headache and drowsiness.
Nikki found that ULTRAM ER helped manage her chronic pain throughout
the day and night. For Nikki, the convenience of once a day was one
of the best features of ULTRAM ER. She no longer had to remember to
take several pills throughout the day. With her pain properly
managed, Nikki could participate in more of the daily activities
that she enjoyed, such as skiing, running and spending time with
friends and family.
By sharing her story, Nikki hopes to encourage others with chronic
pain to work with their doctor to find relief.
Please note: This is Nikki Stone's story. Not all chronic
pain patients will experience relief from ULTRAM ER. Some people
can manage their chronic pain by taking a medicine intermittently.
For those who have persistent, daily moderate to moderately severe
chronic pain and require around-the-clock treatment of their pain,
a once-daily prescription medication, such as ULTRAM ER, may be
appropriate. Long-acting pain medications, such as ULTRAM ER,
release the active ingredient over an extended period of time,
which allows patients to benefit from consistent drug delivery
throughout the day and night. Patients should work with their
doctor to manage their chronic pain condition and identify
appropriate treatment options.
ULTRAM IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION
Seizures have been reported in patients receiving ULTRAM. The risk
of seizures is increased with doses of ULTRAM above the recommended
range. ULTRAM increases the seizure risk in patients taking certain
medications (e.g. tricyclic antidepressants, SSRIs, opioids). ULTRAM
may enhance the seizure risk in patients taking MAO inhibitors,
neuroleptics, or other drugs that reduce the seizure threshold or in
patients with epilepsy, those with a history of seizures, or
patients with a recognized risk of seizure (such as head trauma,
metabolic disorders, alcohol and drug withdrawal, CNS infections).
See WARNINGS in full Prescribing Information.
Patients with a history of anaphylactoid reactions to codeine and
other opioids may be at increased risk and therefore should not
receive ULTRAM.
Cases of abuse and dependence on ULTRAM have been reported. ULTRAM
should not be used in opioid-dependent patients. Since ULTRAM can
reinitiate physical dependence, it is not recommended for patients
with a tendency to drug abuse, a history of drug dependence, or
chronically using opioids.
The most frequently reported side effects experienced with ULTRAM
(cumulative up to 30 days of therapy) were constipation (38%),
nausea (34%), dizziness (31%), headache (26%), somnolence (23%), and
vomiting (13%).
For additional information and to read the full PI, please visit
http://www.pricara.com/pricara/shared/pi/ultram.pdf
