Glucosamine...experiences? Pros, Cons?

Once I hit my early 50s the same thing happened to me, and it wasn't just in the knees, but also my hips. I stopped run completely for about 3 months it hurt so much.

About 6 months ago I started to take 1500mg of glucosamine and 1200 mg of chondrotin per day. The effect was almost immediate. When I run now, it doesn't feel like someone is jabbing a knife in my hip flexor. The knee pain is gone. I still can't run back to back days, but I've worked my way back to about 6 mile runs now.

The brand doesn't matter, this is generic stuff that anyone can make. It really has made a big difference for me.

I take a daily dose as a preventative measure. Now when I don't take it, I can feel it in my knees.

Placebo.

"There have been multiple clinical trials testing glucosamine as a potential medical therapy for osteoarthritis, but the results have not supported its use".

Wife is an academic and she says the data are inconclusive. That does not necessarily mean it doesn't work, but it might mean it works for some. I Started taking glucosamine 750 mg chondroitin 600 mg mms 750 mg recently. Too early to tell for me. Wife says it helps her.

I took it with some success about 10 years ago. Gradually went off. Now I'm 49 and just bought a bottle about a week ago. Placebo or not, it seems to be better.

nope nope nope wrote:

Placebo.

"There have been multiple clinical trials testing glucosamine as a potential medical therapy for osteoarthritis, but the results have not supported its use".

Wrong.

From the NIH:

"For a subset of participants with moderate-to-severe pain, glucosamine combined with chondroitin sulfate provided statistically significant pain relief compared with placebo—about 79 percent had a 20 percent or greater reduction in pain versus about 54 percent for placebo. According to the researchers, because of the small size of this subgroup these findings should be considered preliminary and need to be confirmed in further studies."

Already an Olde Farte wrote:

http://nccam.nih.gov/research/results/gait/qa.htm

Ummm,,,sorry, but I don't go in for that alternative medicine hoo-doo voo-doo.

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Ummm,,,sorry, but I don't go in for that alternative medicine hoo-doo voo-doo.[/quote]

On what basis. How about some facts...

Everyone "uses" glucosamine. Is there really any question that a substance that is absolutely necessary for joint function is beneficial?

glucosamine user wrote:

Everyone "uses" glucosamine. Is there really any question that a substance that is absolutely necessary for joint function is beneficial?

I could eat a tablespoon of neurons, but that doesn't meant those neurons would be added to my brain.

supplemental wrote:

glucosamine user wrote:

Everyone "uses" glucosamine. Is there really any question that a substance that is absolutely necessary for joint function is beneficial?

I could eat a tablespoon of neurons, but that doesn't meant those neurons would be added to my brain.

What does that have to do with the fact that everyone has a positive experience with glucosamine?

I give it to my dog in liquid form and it seems to do wonders for him.

two knee surgeries 11 years apart.

both docs said the exact same thing. take it... it can't hurt and it might help.

been taking a Glocosamine/Chondroitin/MSM mix for a couple of years now

i can 'feel' my knees if i don't take it for a few days.

i usually buy osteo-bi flex

It was a miracle drug for me. At the age of 37 developed athritic knees. Had to give up running totally. I kept going out to running trail and would hobble around. I could not even make it 50 yards. Read about glucosamine. Started taking it. After 2 weeks I was up to 6 miles. Took it for about 6 weeks and haven't taken it in last 17 years. Never had knee problems since and sometimes put in 100-mile weeks.

My orthopedic surgeon gave me the "it can't hurt and it might help" line. He said that the latest medical research was inconclusive, but some of his patients said it really helped, while others said it did nothing.

His recommendation was to buy the cheap stuff as the Walmart and Costco brands were actually the most potent.

I've been taking the Walmart brand ever since my knee surgery two years ago. I'm running consistently again, but have no idea how much the glucosamine has helped. I figure it's cheap and it can't hurt, so might as well.

I'll save you some time.

Glucosamine and chrondroiton may have some value for people with osteoarthitis but that's about it. Most knee pathologies do not benefit.

Here is the kitchen sink approach:

1. Walk a lot. Too many runners are "active-sedentary", so they are either putting a lot of stress on their knees or sitting. Your body needs lots of low-intensity exercise to be healthy.

2. Hot yoga once or twice a week. Knee pain has a bunch of theories and is probably multifactorial. "Poor ankle dorsiflexion", "inflexible quads", "inflexible hip flexors", the list goes on. The men who go to yoga pretty much all have stories of some sort of chronic pain that went away or at least became manageable once they started yoga.

3. Bone broths. In poorer times we used to use the whole animal and the only decent way to eat tough cuts of meat is to use wet cooking methods to break down the tendons and connective tissues. It makes for delicious soups and stews, but it is also rich in, well, the things that make up tendons and connective tissues. Some of them your body can make, but many inessential nutrients are really conditionally inessential because not everyone can synthesize adequate amounts, particularly as they age. (you can try supplementing with collagen hydrolosate and calcium hydroxyapetite, but I worry that these supplements may be as-yet unidentified co-factors found in bone broths).

4. Squats and hinges. Muscle imbalances may also play a role, just like flexibility defects. Do 3 sets of squats twice a weak and follow it up with a "hinge" exercise like deadlifts or kettlebell swings. That will give you some balanced lower body strength.

Quick followup to the above post - among other things, bone broths have glucosamine and chrondroitin in them. They were our original source.

Typical runner or sockpuppet wrote:

Quick followup to the above post - among other things, bone broths have glucosamine and chrondroitin in them. They were our original source.

I was gonna say, "wouldn't bone broth have glucosamine and chrondroitin in it?" But you beat me to it. I'd love to use a more natural source but I don't find myself whipping up a batch of bone broth on a regular basis. So I take the liquid stuff (Walmart brand like a previous poster). It took about 3 weeks to kick in and I felt a definite positive effect. My doc said that if it's gonna work for you, you'll feel it in a month. So buy a bottle and give it a try and if it doesn't work, you're only out a few bucks. Hopefully you'll see improvement.

BUMP!