Co-codamol 30/500 works best for me, but I cannot take it during the day as it makes me sleepy (great for night-time), can cause constipation but I only use ot maybe once a week max. I also have tramadol for night time, not as effective, but I only ever take 1x50mg, 2 may work well. Less constipating, but again knocks me out and makes me thirsty!
Plain old paracetamol - 2x500mg is perfectly decent for the day.
On the anti-inflammatory front, diclofenac gives me heartburn even with food, my GP recommended the 1x400mg ibuprofen with food instead (not sure why but apparently better than 2x200ng)
Another anti-inflammatory option that is gentler on the tummy (if you have NO issues whatsoever with your heart or BP) is Celebrex (a Cox-2) - some people have good success (takes a while to kick in), while others have found it makes them very spacey. It's much costlier than a 'normal' NSAID, so UK GP may be unwilling to prescribe if the other stuff is working
If you are taking any anti-inflammatory long term you should ask your GP to prescribe a PPI to protect the gut
Remind me what is wrong with your knee as there are other drugs depending on what is going on?
