Glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate in knee injury rehabilitation.

or however its spelled...

I am told it would to wonders for my knees, which have been abused and beaten and operated on and contain donated tissue and whatnot. somone told me it could prevent arthritis and help with keeping the meniscus healthy.

I hate taking pills though, and dont take any unless absolutely necessary. (like my allergy pills, I take them because I enjoy breathing. And not scratching my eyeballs out during ragweed season.) but if I dont have to take them I dont.

anyone take this stuff for knees or joint injury prevention? is there scientific proof that it works? should I take these?

I always wondered about it, and it is expensive, and there were conflicting scientific reports.

I believe in it now though! Some US dogs that I know, who were very stiff and arthritic (one incredibly so) have had years stripped away when their owners began feeding them glucosamine supplements.

There's no placebo effect with dogs! When I see a dog who, a year ago was shuffling along awkwardly and obviously in pain, now jumping around in the street with a ball, I have to believe that this stuff really works.

I take one placebo per day (glucosamie).
For something that I found really works try JOI.
http://store.sunrider.com//Shop/Prod..._id=6&pf_id=17
Now if I could just find those herbs at a reasonable price, like they were 10 years ago....

A friend of mine who skis 100 + days a season (and has for 20some odd years) swears by it, and I really meant to try it out, but I didn't have the combination of thinking about it and the money in hand at the same time.

Gonzo also wrote that he swears by it, and he was never one to advocate for anything he wasn't conviced in.

I use the Gluc/Chondroiten/MSM blend - it's a liquid I get from Costco - tastes yucky, but I got used to it, not a horsepill & 2 spoonfulls a day & I'm good.....

I don't notice anything when I take it....but when I don't take it - I definitely notice a difference.....

Ya ever think of mixing it with a shake or smoothie or something? :

LindaA....True testimony....
10 years ago my husband's knee was shot. early 40's and looking toward a knee replacement within a few years.
I went to our local health food store and asked about shark cartilage. She says, that may work but I'd like to have you try this new stuff GS500.(Glucosomine) I asked about it and took some literature home, as well as a bottle of the stuff(120 capsules were $80.00 at the time)
It was a lot of money but my husband could hardly stand to walk, let alone ride dirtbike, ski or any of the other things he loves to do.
I never told him what it was, just slipped into his vitamins he was taking. (I wanted to see if it worked or if it was a placebo effect)
3 months later I noticed he wasn't limping anymore
6 months later I asked him how his knee was and let him in on the 'vitamin' I'd been giving him.
1 year later his knee was nearly 100%

This doesn't have the condroitin in it and after the mass marketing of Glucosomine products the price dropped dramatically (now$30.00/bottle)
A few times he ran out and he noticed an aching in his knee after a week without it.
Now he lets me know when his bottle is getting low.

Brands.......After Glucosomine became available in different brands, I tried a few, some maintained the healthy feeling in his knee, but there were a few we tried that didn't maintain the "good" that GS500 does for him(osteobiflex comes to mind).

I'm sure that body chemistry has something to do with how an individual pill breaks down in your body.
As for me....I'll keep buying GS500 because I want to keep him skiing with me and it works for him.

Hope this helps.

yeah the people I knew who took it to start with were taking a vet product after seeing the effect on dogs (it was not then a registered human product in Oz)....

Make sure you take it with food if you take it!

http://stoneclinic.com/index_glucosamine.htm

oh and it can affect diabetic control from memory... so be careful if diabetic...

I began taking glucosamine complex (just glucosamine sulfate and HCL, none of the chondroitin stuff) several years ago at the advice of a physician because he wanted me to walk more, and when I walked my feet got sore. It didn't make me walk more, but it's helped a lot with my tired old knees. Before starting, my knees ached after about three days of skiing (I've averaged 100 days a season since 1970), especially on hard snow. I skied 124 days this season. No knee pain. I take three 500 mg tablets daily with lots of water and after a meal. They're not nearly as big as those pills with chondroitin.

My understanding is that the glucosamine serves as a joint lubricant. If you have damage, chondroitin is supposed to help the body repair the tissues.

In the midwest there's a chain discount store called Meijer that sells 60-pill bottles of glucosamine complex for about $6. The bottles were $5 when I started using glucosamine. Occasionally Meijer has all its supplements on a two-for-one sale ($6 for two bottles), and we get a bunch then.

I'm the guy that turned Gonzo onto glucosamine.

I've been taking it pretty regularly and it's helped with joint pain.

Also - it's very big in the retired racer greyhound adopter community. When LM and I have attended various greyhound owner gettogethers, it's often highly recommended by the adoption groups. Many greyhound people have seen big changes with their dogs. Like ant said, no placebo effect with the hounds!

It's my understanding and experience that it takes several months of DAILY dosage to start noticing any results in reduction of joint pain. It's possible to skip a dose or two once it's working for you and not notice any change, but I'd think you need to maintain whatever your maintenance dosage is with daily consumption.

I noticed last spring that the two tablets a day I'd been using was leaving me with a bit of knee discomfort after a hard day of skiing. So I increased dosage to three a day.

What dosage does that work out to?

I hate pills......never finish all the meds that Docs prescribe when I get injured and will put an Ice Pack on my head rather than take an Advil (when at altitude) for a headache.....having said that....

I have been on G-C and msm for about 10 years. Working in construction your hands take a beating and before I started taking the stuff I could crack ALL the joints in my fingers (even the little ones at the end) all day if I wanted. Get on the G-C msm mix and the problem it totally gone.

I started with the normal dosage of 2 horse pills per day and cut it back to 1 a day after 2 weeks. I can get away with 1 every other day during inactive periods....but 1 in the morning is the norm most of the year.

I use the stuff make by Schiff...They make 2....one with msm and one without....the pills WITH msm seem to work better for me.

I'll leave home w/o my American Express card....I won't leave home w/o this stuff.

Don't really drink shakes or smoothies often......plus I got used to the taste and it's not that bad.......

As others have said, the improved feeling you get is very gradual and hard to quantify. What is noticeable is when you stop the ache comes back pretty quickly and time and again you can confirm the timing with when you run out/stop taking it.

Word of warning for anyone with shellfish allergies, it is (usually) derived from crushed shells and will often cause a reaction for those with an allergy.

The shellfish is the chrondroitin, I think.

I have been taking the glucosinine sulfate for several years:http://www.vitacost.com/NSIGlucosamineSulfate, also http://www.vitacost.com/Store/Produc...r=021078009047

I take two per day each, one am one pm. It is true that it takes about 3 months for the effect to be felt. I have stopped the dosing on purpose and have again felt the joint pain, mine in the arms (elbows). Once restarting the dose all is well agian ,no pain. Of course It takes another 2-3 months. Best thing is to NOT STOP if it works for you. The prices at vitacost are reasonable and I get all my supplements from them. Shipping is quick and they will even auto ship at whatever time frame you like. Very reputable folks with lots of info and IMHO good products.

Mark

I would have thought that too but my girlfriend who has the shellfish allergy thinks it's from the glucoesamine. I need to figure that out. We're getting a dog and judging from the hives from a dog lick dog food contents could be a factor. We're guessing it's from dog food or a supplement as no other dog has caused that before.

L7, I think the gf is correct. Check loboskis' link above.

Glucosamine commonly carries a shellfish allergy warning.

The tablets I use are 500 mg, so my increase in dosage went from 1000mg daily to 1500.

OK, I've been on 1500mg/day for 3 years now.

I took it for about a month...stopped for about two weeks now to see if it really gave the relief I felt...haven't resumed yet. My knees and feet felt great. I should probably take it again especially after reading what I have here. My knee pain is back...but not where it was...then again, I haven't skied since I stopped.

The New England Journal of Medicine in a recent study finds no evidence of benefit for most mild cases.

article summary here

If it works for you great but I'm saving my money.

I had my medial meniscus removed in 74. I have been grinding bone on bone for too many years. I have been taking glucosamine for 3 years and my knees have less arthritic pain now than ever. I believe this stuff has really helped me.

After two months on it I'm beginning to feel better...of course, I've been off skis for 6 weeks as well...

If it's a placebo effect, so be it.

The report mentioned mostly "mild cases" were not helped. They do mention that severe arthritic pain may be helped.

DC

The study also used Glucosomine Hydrochloride instead of Glucosomine Sulfate. You have to use the right product for the study to be valid and I believe all of the supplements use the sulfate!!!

I have used the combo of Glucosomine Sulfate and Condroitin since I was diagnosed with arthritis in my back about 16 years ago. It has gotten worse over the years, but at a slow rate. My knees have given me no problem and I am now 59. I also had a friend whose dog improved tremendously from it. I believe there are now dogfoods that include it-especially for big breeds.

Does anyone know a link to a study on dogs?? LewBob