I hear you about the addiction problems, but obviously, having come off of alcohol and xanax, that was very much on my mind, and one of the reasons I didn't really want the medication in the first place.

I think you have to make a distinction between addiction and dependency though. Although people don't really get "addicted" to xanax (or other benzos), the withdrawl is just plain *horrible*, and took at least 3 months in my case. It's also possibly lethal if not supervised properly. So trust me when I say I never ever want to go through that again ever.

A couple of months before quitting alcohol/xanax, I had quit 100mg tramadol/day very quickly without any ill effects or much effort. Yes, there is a sort of "high" in the beginning, but it's absolutely not the kind of high that I feel good about.

For the same reason, although readily available here, marijuana doesn't do it for me. Not alone does it not seem to work on the pain (for me), I do not like the way it makes me feel. It would have been great, as growing my own plant wouldn't even really be a legal problem here (grey area), but I tried it and it just doesn't work. Also: I have seen people who did become hopelessly addicted to marijuana, and it is not a pretty sight. It doesn't happen often, but it's not uncommon either (the things you learn in rehab... )

I took the double dose to establish if it worked. If not, it would have been a good reason to quit immediately, and find something else. It did work however, and I'm now back to 1 pill (37,5mg tramadol/325mg paracetamol) every 6 hours. The nausea is going away (like before) although I wouldn't drive a car yet - still feel a bit too dozy.

As MrsD said, it seems to work longer than I thought (mornings), and that may be because I finally relax the muscles in my feet/toes. So weighing the good/bad, I think it's a good plan to keep taking it for a while.

And again, I'm not stopping the vit/supp. I'm convinced that they are the only thing that can help long term. This may be semantic, but I don't even consider it "alternative". In fact, I guess a lot of people without PN, especially over 50, would benefit from D3/B12/mag./DHA-EPA etc. My GP agrees, as the number of people she sees with very low D3 for example is stunning (her words).

As for cost, with an rx here it costs me $12 for 60 pills, so it's not breaking the bank either. So far so good.