as one who has severe arthritis, as well as other health issues, i have taken meloxicam, but my doc switched it out to another med [which of course i forget what the name of it is. ]
both of my knees have seen [way] better days, and towards the last part of 2021 and the early part of 2022, i was almost to the point of not being able to walk.
my left hip was worn down to a point where the ball was supposed to be, and the socket was so bad the "point" was almost pushed through the socket. to say i was a hurtin' puppy was putting it mildly.
i got my hip replaced in april, and as always, i wonder why i waited so dam long to get it done ! i sure got my money out of that part ! the doc gave me he!! because he had to chop up and repair way more of my leg bone[s] than the normal hip replacement requires, and the socket part required additional work as well.
fast forward to today, and my hip feels GREAT, i can walk reasonably well using a cane, and my left knee does NOT snap, crack[le] and pop anymore !
even though it still has the arthritis it had before, fixing my hip also took strain off of my knee. who would'a thunk ?
the only "problem" if you could call it that, is since my hip was so hard to fix, the nerves had to be re-routed [?] some, and i am numb from just below my hip to my ankle.
this doesn't cause any obstacles, so i put up with it.