The real benefit from opiates for osteoarthritis might be that as the osteoarthritis grows bone nodules in an arthritic joint, the patient won't mind the pain of having to move so that the bone nodules get ground down to a smooth joint surface.

Just be honest about your pain, you owe it to yourself and the prescriber to do what is therapeutic, I'm sure that you know why. I'll never forget the time that I consulted with a different specialist, an emeritus at a prominent teaching hospital. I told him about my pain management, and he asked to see the medication. It was like I just handed superman a bottle of kryptonite, the poor guy was clearly tempted to gulp down a bunch of pills, or suffering some other anxiety about some measly Vicodin. A foremost healer in his field, and painkillers could maybe derail it all.