no, but they can cause physical tolerance to develop wherein your body gets accustomed to the effects of the medicines and now you need more and more medicine to achieve the same degree of pain relief. I think your doctor did the right thing though because narcotics are not the best answer for pain of joint disease. I often encourage patients to try Physical therapy and if that doesn t help you could see a pain specialist about steroid injections into the joints. if all fails, then would need to see an orthopedic surgeon to discuss surgical options. hope that was helpful. if you found the answer helpful please take a moment to provide a rating- thank you!