More than 1 in 4 U.S. adults have doctor-diagnosed arthritis, per the Arthritis Foundation. To cope with pain associated with arthritis, doctors may prescribe medicine regimens to include a combination of drugs such as Gabapentin, Celecoxib, and when pain is severe, an opioid such as Tramadol. Containers for these drugs each include the printed safety warning: “May make you drowsy or dizzy. Use care when operating a vehicle, vessel, or operating other machines.” 

I am on the medicine regimen described above. X-rays that I received early this year confirmed that I have severe arthritis in my right hip. I am scheduled at the end of this year to have a total hip replacement, joining nearly one-quarter million Americans that annually have a hip or knee replacement procedure, per the 2021 American Joint Replacement Annual Report.