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Theresa Barfus keeps a bundle of empty prescription drug bottles as a solemn reminder of the last quarter-century of her life.
They once held a dizzying cocktail of painkillers, muscle relaxants and anti-anxiety drugs, the peak of her pill addiction since she got hooked in 1984. Her daily regimen: two Xanax, 1 mg; 10 Roxicodone, 30 mg; and eight or so Soma, 350 mg.
Barfus, 52, often washed them down with whatever cheap whiskey she could afford.
Today, five months after giving up the pills and alcohol, she hopes to stay that way. The fix, if it lasts, is a drug as powerful and addictive as any obtained from a "pill mill" or on the streets - methadone.
"It's just doing so much for me," Barfus said. "I'm so happy."
Long linked in popular culture as a drug replacement for heroin users, methadone has emerged as a key weapon in Florida's war against prescription drug abuse.
A little-noticed 2010 state review concluded that more than a dozen methadone clinics and satellite offices are needed in Florida to deal with expected patient loads. Taxpayers will bear some of this burden, in the form of federal and state grants and insurance coverage.
Operation PAR (Parental Awareness and Responsibility) in North Fort Myers - Lee County's sole methadone-replacement treatment center and the only such clinic between Miami and Bradenton - is ready to fill much of the gap. The nonprofit organization plans new clinics in Hernando, Pinellas and Sarasota counties. It is also considering one in Naples.
In Lee County, the number of patients receiving methadone at any given time to treat their addictions has jumped from about 200 a decade ago to 640 today, still a relatively low number given the tens of thousands in Southwest Florida who abuse or are addicted to opiates. Bradenton's clinic, which served about 350 patients in 2000, now has about 800.
PAR counselors and administrators estimate that 85 percent of today's patients are pain-pill addicts.
"Every time they close down a 'pill mill,' the clinic traffic goes up," said Eileen Ball, program director at PAR's clinic in Lee County.
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