The good news - I have been off methadone now for 7 weeks. The nasty part of the withdrawal lasted two weeks but I found the Thomas Recipe including a Clonidine patch really helped. After the hard withdrawal period I was very lethargic and unmotivated for a few weeks but felt like I did not hurt any more than I did while taking the low dose of methadone.

The bad news - I have been hurting a lot lately and believe I will need to find something to help. Neurotin has not been working. Neither has muscle relaxors and Alleve. In the evening I sometimes take a Valium and that helps.

I am thinking about asking my doctor for one of the SNRI anti-depressants as they are supposedly good for chronic pain / depression. I currently take Wellbutrin but it does not help with the pain. I have chronic upper back and neck pain. I have had two spinal fusions and Thoracic Outlet Syndrome surgery. However I still hurt a lot but feel like it is due to the muscle wasting and imbalance on the surgery side. I just carried the TOS problem too long before it was diagnosed and it caused a lot of damage.

Any suggestions for non-narcotic pain relief? Cymbalta?