I am not sure, something to check with your doctor.

I take one pain pill in oral med form and rub the creme on six places on my body that are most painful, and it works really well for me. I have no cognitive effects, sleepiness, or weight gain issues from my pain meds, (unless I get flared up enough to have to add other meds)

There are several different transdermal bases they can use, the one I use (not the website ones, I have not tried his products) is pretty thin and can spread over a wider area.

The dose of meds is related to the quantity of creme you use, as you might guess.