@knocerine03 I am feeling connected to your journey as we have some similarities. And yes, after 13 othopedic/neurological surgeries and lots of opioids, and other debilitating and scary drugs like Ambien, I have now been on a program/protocol of medical marijuana for almost 3 years. Key to my ability to live reasonably well without opioids has been having good marijuana guides, a neurologist who accepts my choice and is a supportive partner. We work together to try to keep one step ahead of the progressive pain and debilitating issues of polyneuropathy, myofascial pain syndrome and SFN (small fiber neuropathy). The medical marijuana industry is a compassionate one. It also is having such phenomenal growth that problems are created because new products are being introduced every week. Let me explain. There are no RX's for MM (medical marijuana). You have to do some research and then find someone to help you through the maze of options and delivery systems. Be ready to experiment and evaluate . Start slowly and progress carefully. Choose products that fit your lifestyle: morning activity, afternoon rest, and pain free sleep. This may include, vaping cartridges with as pure an oil as you can find, topicals that tone down the needle like tingling, edibles that work well as long as you handle the dosage carefully. My daily routine begins with vaping and then moves to tinctures in my tea or coffee. The key here is what the ratio of THC to CBD works best for you. I use a 3:1 tincture, 3 parts CBD, 1 part THC. My topical is also 3:1 but this time it is 3 parts THC to one part CBD. I have not found any 100% CBD oil available everywhere and on line that works for me. It appears that you need some THC to potentiate the benefit of CBD. The other key issue is time. A vape will deliver help with your pain within a few minutes but only last15 or 20 minutes. A tincture can be subliminal or in a beverage and depending on the ratio may take longer to take effect but last several hours. For me, one dropper gives me an easy, comfortable morning. I may repeat this dosage in late afternoon or during the evening. Bedtime for me means some vaping, a tincture dropper and topicals on my hands/feet and bad myofascial knee. Edibles like infused cookies may take 45 minutes to take effect but last the entire afternoon. You must go slowly with edibles. Remember you can always have more but you cannot have less. So....I now have an older gentleman at the dispensary who helps me every time I visit. And one more tip...get a very good vaping battery. Some are pretty shoddy. And remember that I mentioned problems. Here it is: the industry is growing so fast that you can often not find the same products every time you visit. So you are always experimenting. And one final note: two no-nos. Do not use medical marijuana other than a bit of vape on an empty tummy. And number 2....do not drive after medicating. Most of all, be kind to yourself.