Do Any of You Take Glucosamine?

[Ben]

Wondering if any of you take Glucosamine. I think I may be starting to get joint pain in my knees (mostly the right). For the last few years I've been getting it when I overexert, like kicking the heavy bag or doing burpees (strangely, I have no problems when hiking steep trails, but do when I run too much), but then if I take a week off, it will go away. Now it seems to be sticking around, or at least has been for several weeks.

I've been reading some pretty compelling evidence that it helps. I'm still digging around to see if it can be taken for some period, like a month or two, and then stopped, or if I would be stuck on it all the time, like my dog, for it to do any good. I have to say it has been a miracle cure for the dawg, but she gets 2-3 a day for the rest of her life.

[Hawkmoon]

Yes. I have been taking Glucosamine-Chondroiten for many years, and my experience has been that it helps a LOT. I don't even remember when I started, but it was before I met my late wife, so probably around 2000 (or earlier). Arthritis started in the knuckles of my right hand -- they were so swollen and painful that I literally couldn't knock on a door using my right hand. I started taking Glucosamine-Chondroiten and the swelling and inflammation disappeared within a few weeks. And hasn't come back.

I take what's called a triple strength formula -- but the triple strength formula is based on taking three pills per day. I'm still only taking one per day.

My sister-in-law also takes it, and she says it helps her arthritis.

[230RN]

I use it (plus chondritin) when it  gets bad, never tried it on a continuous basis.  It does work.

I don't like continuous intake of anything.  I even spread out my supplemental vitamin intake.

[Jamisjockey]

Customized vitamins.  It's what we do.
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Take the assessment it's free, and see what it recommends.  The entire thing is based on algorithms that compare your medical needs to current and updated medical journals and papers.
 When it asks for conditions, you can enter many symptoms there as well, such as joint pain.
Let me know if you have any questions.

[brimic]

I took it for several years- it seemed to help my back... might go on it again as one of my knees is all clicky and poppy.

A friend of mine had some joint problems a few years back who had a foreign orthopedic doctor tell him to cut out caffeine and alcohol and drink a certain amount of pedialyte every day-it worked for him.

[Kingcreek]

I take glucosamine and chondroitin in a combination with the anti inflammatory herb boswelia. Helps my joints to a degree, based on what I feel like if I stop it for a week or 2.

[HankB]

In addition fo glucosamine and chondroitin, I also take turmeric, which contains a natural anti-inflammatory. I use the ordinary stuff from the spice department at the grocery store, about 3/4 teaspoon per day, with a dash of black pepper. (Piperine from the black pepper helps absorption.) This is just a spice, which hundreds of millions of people have been taking for centuries, so I figure it's pretty safe. There are some "concentrated" turmeric extracts on the market such that 1 pill is equivalent to a dozen or more TABLEspoons - I avoid those, since I've never been a fan of megadoses of anything.

Some of the internet literature (where EVERYTHING IS TRUE, of course!  ) claim that turmeric cures everything from cancer to heart disease to Alzheimer's . . . color me highly skeptical of extreme claims like that. But it DOES seem to help with the arthritis in my fingers.

[Andiron]

Oh yeah. 

Got the honkin big Sams Club bottle on my desk at work,  otherwise I forget to take the stuff.