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For more than 10 years, Shannon Greenwood took 16 opioid pills a day for her chronic pain. But over the last eight years, the 59-year-old Longview resident has cut the daily dose to two.

“It was a long, hard road,” Greenwood said. “I was going up and down like a roller coaster, and it just ruins your life. You don’t have the ability to do what you used to do, and you don’t want to run out of feeling good before you do all your duties for the day.”

Onalaska resident and chronic pain sufferer Ramona Poppe also lowered her opioid dose. Poppe was born with a congenital deformity and has had more than 20 operations since she was a child. About four years ago, the 56-year-old dropped her daily dose from seven pills to five over several months.

Poppe said the pills don’t take away all of her pain, but they allow her to keep a clear head. But if her dose drops any lower, Poppe said she would lose her ability to function.