I know that exercise seems out of the question to a guy with
chronic arthritis, but there is a lot of evidence that it helps.

One thing that has helped some sufferers is to get in the water.
I read a book by a woman who was truly crippled and in a wheelchair.
She couldn't move her head without pain.  She couldn't walk.  She
was in terrible shape.

Her doctor got her to go to a pool where she was helped in to the
water - just to be able to move her joints in a place where there was
no gravity bearing everything down.

She moved more and more.  She wasn't doing any strength exercises,
just flexibility, using the water to support her weight.  Eventually she
was actually able to swim and still later to walk.  Thinking she was
over the arthritis she stopped swimming and all the pain came back
within a few weeks.  So she resumed swimming, spending 1-2
hours every day in the pool.

She never became an athlete.  She was never able to lift heavy weights
or do athletic things.  But she did regain her mobility and greatly reduce
her pain.

Check with others that have tried this.  It might do you more good than
you would imagine, and a lot more good than pain killers and
anti-inflammatories.

Best of luck.

   Alan