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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Location
    Denver, CO
    Posts
    305

    Glucosamine recommendations

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    Hello all - I am thinking of starting on a daily dose of the stuff. I have had 3 knee operations, herniated disks and a fractured vertebrae. I am fine mostly, but being an ex-gymnast ahs definitely taken a toll on me. And I am only 31.
    So - I have heard that some people swear by this stuff - the Glucosamine, and the other is Chondroitan? I think?
    When looking in the store, the selection was overwhelming - so I chose nothing - and figured I would check with my Advisory Board first (aka - the ladies on the TE forum)
    Any brands, combos, side effects, successes, misfortunes.....I should know about?
    thanks!
    cheri
    Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans.
    John Lennon, "Beautiful Boy"

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2001
    Location
    Lakewood, Co
    Posts
    1,061
    Can't help you with the regular Glucosamine because I'm allergic to shellfish. I take a vegetarian formula, Glucosamine and MSM. It's made by a company called "NOW" and available in health food stores.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jun 2004
    Location
    socal
    Posts
    1,852
    i just buy the big bottle of glucosamine and chondroitin they have at sam's club... the one a day version!

    i've tried a couple different brands plus i've tried glucosamine with MSM... noticed no difference between the two!

    i say buy what's cheapest (remember to factor in how many pills you have to take... the cheaper bottle that wants you to take 3 a day may not be the best bargain!)

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    Seattle, WA
    Posts
    2,208
    Quote Originally Posted by cherinyc
    Hello all - I am thinking of starting on a daily dose of the stuff. I have had 3 knee operations, herniated disks and a fractured vertebrae. I am fine mostly, but being an ex-gymnast ahs definitely taken a toll on me. And I am only 31.
    So - I have heard that some people swear by this stuff - the Glucosamine, and the other is Chondroitan? I think?
    When looking in the store, the selection was overwhelming - so I chose nothing - and figured I would check with my Advisory Board first (aka - the ladies on the TE forum)
    Any brands, combos, side effects, successes, misfortunes.....I should know about?
    thanks!
    cheri
    My dad started taking glucosamine/chondroitin and exercising regularly last summer (especially in the winter and this summer). He found that exercising and building the muscles around his knees made a huge difference for regular day to day pain, and the glucosamine was helping his joint pain to some degree (harder to tell, but he's religious about taking it). He has arthritis in his knees -- you can actually see how much larger one leg is than the other because he favored it for so long. Now, he still can't run or anything hard like that for any distance, but he can bike and ski, and has become a LOT more mobile in general in the last year. His legs are a lot more comparable in size now, and he favors one leg over the other much less. I'm sure you can appreciate the day he got all excited about how fast he could go up and down stairs... something that seems so simple to the rest of us

    One of the glucosamine formulas is absorbed by the body easier, so you actually have to take less to get more of the good stuff. Glucosamine HCl is about 80% glucosamine, while Glucosamine Sulfate is about 65% glucosamine. Small difference, I guess, but if you don't like taking a lot of pills, that could be a good thing

    My dad was taking glucosamine+chondroitin for a while, but he switched to just glucosamine and didn't really mention any difference. I think it was just convenience, it's easy to find glucosamine by itself and only have to take one pill rather than 2-3.

    This is the one he's taking:
    Glucosamine Link

    These are the ones he was taking with the chondroitin and mojo:
    Glucosamine+Mojo Link

    (Edited to fix obscenely long URLs, sorry ladies)

    Hopefully more TE'ers will have more input that I can give back to him, too!

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Aug 2003
    Location
    Bendemonium
    Posts
    9,673
    Just used the search function to find this.

    http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showt...ht=chondroitin
    Frends know gud humors when dey is hear it. ~ Da Crockydiles of ZZE.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jun 2005
    Location
    Central New Jersey
    Posts
    88
    Why do you feel you need to take this supplement? It is supposed to be beneficial for stiff or sore joints. So unless you are suffering from serious pain, I don't see the point. Docs recommend that glucosamine be taken together with chondroitin, they seem to feel it works better that way. I have arthritic joints & take it to keep from getting so stiff I can barely get up from a sitting position. It seems to help that condition. But I didn't get this way until I was in my 40's. If you don't need it, I wouldn't bother.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jan 2002
    Location
    On my bike
    Posts
    2,505
    I take Move Free. It has glucosamine, chondroitin & MSM. It is by far the best combo I've taken. MSM helps with inflammation.
    To train a dog, you must be more interesting than dirt.

    Trek Project One
    Trek FX 7.4 Hybrid

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Posts
    5
    I injured my left knee in a car accident many years ago. My knee would usually only hurt when the weather changed and got colder. A few years ago, though, it started hurting all the time. I couldn't sit on the floor or cross my leg without excruciating pain. I saw a knee doctor who told me to take glucosamine and chondroitin. The bottle says you have to take it for awhile before you get the full effects, but I noticed almost immediately after taking a pill that the pain was better. Now I only take them when the pain flairs up, which it hasn't done in awhile.

    My mom suffers from really bad arthritis. She asked her arthritis doctor about taking it--Mom was told that her type of arthritis would not respond to glucosamine.

    The only other affect that I ever noticed was that it made me have more bowel movements. I took the chewable kind, in raspberry flavor that I got from The Vitamin Shoppe

    Hope you get to feeling better!

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    Pacific Northwest
    Posts
    3,436
    Even my family doc, a young, very smart mountain climber and cyclist, recommends this stuff because there's research to back up its effectiveness. I take Move Free, bought at Costco, on her recommendation.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Trondheim, Norway
    Posts
    1,469
    I take it for osteoarthritis in my ankle (after a bad fracture some years back). Seems to work pretty well. I take whatever's cheapest and haven't noticed any differences in effectiveness. Usually I get a G + condroitin combo, sometimes G alone, sometimes G + MSM, sometimes all 3. Never have been able to sort out if one works better than another. I also take ginger and turmeric (against inflammation). Have totally done away with stabbing pains in the ankle/leg/knee/hip ... and without getting stomach pains (as I would have done from daily doses of aspirin or NSAIDs).
    Half-marathon over. Sabbatical year over. It's back to "sacking shirt and oat cakes" as they say here.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Jun 2002
    Location
    Mrs. KnottedYet
    Posts
    9,152
    What sis said. 'cept I like to take the ginger and turmeric in the form of Cambodian or Thai food
    Fancy Schmancy Custom Road bike ~ Mondonico Futura Legero
    Found on side of the road bike ~ Motobecane Mixte
    Gravel bike ~ Salsa Vaya
    Favorite bike ~ Soma Buena Vista mixte
    Folder ~ Brompton
    N+1 ~ My seat on the Rover recumbent tandem
    https://www.instagram.com/pugsley_adventuredog/

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Apr 2005
    Location
    Middle Earth
    Posts
    3,997
    I use it for 3-4 days when my knee feels old - dunno whether it is a placebo or has a physiological effect - but the relief I have is quick and genuine

    Good luck in finding the right thing for you


    Courage does not always roar. Sometimes, it is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying,
    "I will try again tomorrow".


 

 

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