Hello and Welcome to ‘Ask A Doctor’ service. I have reviewed your query and here is my advice. Medicines have side effects. Voltaren, as an anti-inflammatory, is not for everyone and can be associated with ulcers in up to 10% of those taking them. Much rarer are effects on the kidney (usually only for the few hours while the drug is working and going away entirely when the drug is stopped; I ve had people who got hospitalizable heart failure from this sort of drug that went away in hours after stopping them), and effects on vessels producing a (small) increase in risk of stroke and heart attack. Narcotics have none of those side effects but can be addictive. It s strange because the addictive problems have been in the news and the problems of the Voltaren haven t been in the news. Most physicians are taking people off of Lortab and Oxycontin and giving them ulcers and heart disease instead. Cannot say in your particular case, but generally, Voltaren is preferred. Hope I have answered your query. Let me know if I can assist you further. Regards, Dr. Matt Wachsman