How do I handle daily pain pills?

I’ll be honest I take pain pills pretty much every day just to stay functional. It’s kind of become part of my routine at this point. Most days that keeps things tolerable, but when the pain isn’t manageable with pills alone I’ll use a topical too lately it’s been ketro gel. I don’t love relying on meds daily though and I’m starting to wonder what this looks like long term. How are you all handling it?