I've taken anti-inflammatories for many years. I used to take them as and when I thought I needed them, then I finally got to see a rheumatologist who believed that my pain wasn't all in my head, diagnosed my problem (connective tissue disease and fibromyalgia) and who worked with me to develop a drug regime to manage it. I now find that if I take the hydroxychloraquine that actually manages the disease, together with a daily anti-inflammatory tablet, I'm pretty much pain free most of the time. Unfortunately, there are also huge downsides. It took me years to find an anti-inflammatory that didn't make me ill, but I did eventually get there. However, I do end up with severe reflux if I don't also take anti-reflux medication. I've also discovered since my back surgery that I apparently have some low level form of intestinal bleeding that has severely impacted my iron levels, so I now take an iron supplement as well. This is also almost certainly a side-effect of the anti-inflammatories.

The whole thing turns into a sort of 3 ring circus, but on the occasions when I've decided for one reason or another to stop the anti-inflammatories it's only taken a few days for my overall muscle and joint pain levels to shoot up again. It seems to be a question of deciding which of the evils I'm prepared to put up with - and my decision is that it's better to put up with the side effects and extra medication than the pain levels that stop me doing things.

Probably not a lot of help for you - I hope you can sort out something that works!