Tramadol is a common painkiller over here UK .I myself cant take it , they gave it to me when they put my line in my neck and it made me really drowsy and made me sick. Yet my mum who has back pain takes 3 a day ! and they dont have any effect on her ! I think like everything, its what you can tolerate. But they are certainly not for me. I get alot of neck and shoulder pain from sitting in that dammed chair for hours , so maybe thats your hubbys problem? Also the 'heartburn' will probably be Reflux , its quite common. Usually caused by the amount of tablets we take, wearing on our stomach lining. The tablets we have over here for that are Lanzaprazole. Dont let your hubby be fobbed off about the heartburn , it can lead to an ulcer . Talk to the neph about that .
Your hubby being tired and sleeping alot is very common with kidney failure !