Hi Ron,
Disclaimer: This is quite a thread and I have not read all of it, so I may be repeating a suggestion provided earlier.

A number of years ago I dropped a lump of cast iron on my left great toe, resulting in a longitudinal Crack. It repaired, not a problem.......... for a while.
If I do a lot of walking, or activity that places pressure on the toes (climbing ladders), then I'm very soon in trouble with pain in that big toe.
I have found that pain killers / anti-inflammatories, are "horses for courses".
Of all those meds I have and have had (so far), the only thing that has given me relief (and I mean total & quick relief) has been Diclofenac NA 75 mg EC tabs.
As soon as my toe kicks off, I hit it with 2 tabs and maybe 1, 12 hours later.
Trouble is, it's a prescription med and if you already get other anti-inflammatories they won't give you a script for Diclofenac.
If you are lucky, maybe the OTC diclofenac Sodium topical gel from your local pharmacy might work but I would put my bet on the tabs not the gel.
An aside: I take Celexoxib for RA and Tylenol 3, for other stuff and neither of them sort the toe out.