First, tramadol has narcotic effects on teh bowel like any other narcotic. Constipation during taking it and diarrhea after stopping with other withdrawal effects. This would typically settle down 1-2 weeks after quitting, but varies somewhat. Bowel narcotics like imodium stop diarrhea from narcotic withdrawal. And, obviously there is potential for tolerance, addiction and withdrawal from it too even if it does not get out of the gut (return of the withdrawlal gut symptoms when quitting it). Also, stomach pain with increased tone is often a sign of a serious condition that is NOT related to tramadol... This can include serious problems like bowel infection/inflammation or other serious bowel conditions. A lot of pain medication can mask pain from a bowel condition and only appear afterwards, but the hardness of the abdomen is typically present even if the pain is suppressed.