Hi Hangin,
The way I deal with my pain now is with very limited use of anti-inflammatories, because they don't help me much with bone on bone arthritis. I do use heat, sometimes ice.
What I have found the MOST useful is to continue to MOVE. I try to do range of motion exercises, stretching, walking, and I ride a mountain bike because I can't over tax the fake knees.
I found I have LESS pain without opiates than I did ON opiates. The opiates made me retain fluid in my joints, which made my pain worse. I've also lost a bunch of weight, which the oxys made me gain, and that has helped a lot.
Oh, I am prescribed neurontin for neurogenic pain, but it doesn't seem to do much. But then, I take very little of it because I don't want the side effects, which are also fluid retention and weight gain. Can't win with drugs, so I go around them.
FT