Thanks, Dej. My first pain clinic introduced me to mindfulness meditation. Their drug of choice, I heard, was methadone. I said no thanks. However, I liked the talk therapy and the use of mindfulness. That I have been doing ever since.

The MS doc I go to sent me to their own pain clinic: MS and cancer and other pains. I believe their hearts are in the right place. It is just that the doc I see is more into the Rx pad than I expected. And they don't seem to like you asking if you could try things you have heard about. . . just those things they have on their " list." And it seems we are just going down the list.

I would love to try ativan, for example, on a vary low dose and prn basis, only as needed. Whoa, was my answer, you can't drive on that! Nearly everything they have given me so far carries that "do not drive until you know the side effects" warning label. I explained I would only use it when I am suffering so bad that I would not be driving anywhere anyway! But it is ok to prescribe drugs that make me nearly unable to get out of bed in the morning . . . or make me irritable to the point of becoming a real b**** to everyone I love.

I hope to hear from others how to wade through the process without ruining your life. And thanks for your encouragement . . . . you are a peach, you know.