Thank you for being the first one to reply, Ginger. For pain medications, when I've taken the anti-seizure meds as prescribed but the neuropathy pain is breaking through, I take tylenol. It works most of the time. When it doesn't, I take 1/2 of 1 Tramadol. My GP told me not to take aspirin/advil/naprosin because they thinned my blood too much when I was taking them daily. If pain is breaking through at night, I take 1/2 of 1 codeine. I am frightened of getting progressively worse and having to use things like morphine, dilaudid, oxycontin, cannabis, demerol, heroin, valium, etc. I fear that they will make me so sleepy that I won't be able to get up and live my life - I'm hoping to learn from others here that their sleepiness wore off and they can live fairly normally ... so that I can hope that I might react that way as well. I worked in the music business in Hollywood all my life and I have known many addicts - they often nodded off, sometimes they disappeared for days, they died young. I totally agree that we're all different and we all need to do whatever works. With aging (I'm 69), I am developing arthritis - it is getting progressively painful as well. Peggy