I spent three years on Ultram. It worked fine for the first then the following two were interspersed with increasing dosages and dealing with side effects such as hot and cold constant sweats.
You will build a tolerance like any other pain med. It was horrible to come off a year ago ( I replaced it with Burprenorphine and Panadeine forte).
If it works, then take it slowly and once you find yourself going up in dosage you may want to look elsewhere as it's not a pleasant med to get out of your system.