Opioids: Could You Be Addicted?

For most patients with arthritis, readily available and relatively inexpensive over-the-counter (OTC) drugs such as acetaminophen and an array of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are apt to provide satisfactory pain relief. Other patients, however, may require stronger medicine. Their pain is severe and disabling, and it occurs not in occasional flare-ups, but in unrelenting persistence over extended periods of time.