I am on longterm maintenance doses of Robaxin for severe spinal/hip pain...it helps a lot. They had used tramadol on me but I hate the side effects and fear addiction (here they prefer to give you tramadol rather than NSAIDs).
I use a heating pad filled with cherry pits that I heat up in the mic for 2-3mins...it is about 2 feet x 6inches. I place it on my bed so as when I lay down my spine is aligned on it. It gives off a moist heat and does wonders. Depending on what hurts most that day I use it on my shoulder, hips, neck or back. Although it is not a cure, it does give me hours of relief and helps me to fall asleep almost pain-free. Intensive physiotherapy helps a lot too.
As Scott says, certain forms of arthritis are linked to our diseases...autoimmune...and when we have one (even if they removed our offending colons) we often end up with the other.
Without biologics, we cannot slow or stop the progression (and biologics are not for everyone) but we can do our best to fight the pain anyway that we can.
I do hand exercises with a handball sized silicon ball (bought at Walmart or the dollar store)...it has bumps and prickles on it so when I squeeze it it stimulates the nerve endings too...it helps to keep the muscles in my hands strong although the joints are still swollen and red the movements are a bit more fluid and easier.
The rheumy said to keep them all moving so I do...there is an argument for using cold/heat alternately but I find that heat helps me the most.
Sharon