"after having had bilateral hip arthritis for over 16 years with osteopenia and herniated disk at 4  locations (l2- l3, l3-l4, l4-l5, and l5-s1) but found otc drugs  (ibuprofen, advil, motrin, meloxicam) not really effective. found physical therapy comforting on lumbar disks but not at all on arthritis. i have been coping with increasing pain since 2016. my primary care physician sent me to a pain intervention specialist who prescribed me to 25mcg butrans 4 patches (out of pocket and very expensive) with tramadol 50mg to catch up with in 7 days. it&#039;s been over 3 days on butrans with absolutely no effect at all.    very disappointed.  i am calling my doc first thing in the monday morning."