[at-l] glucosamine and chondroitin?

[jbullar1 at twcny.rr.com (Jim Bullard)]

I've been taking glucosamine for about 5 years. When I began I took only 
glucosamine but for the last year or so the wholesale club where I buy it 
only carries it in combination with chondroitin. Most of the anecdotal 
evidence I read prior to starting to take it discounted the effectiveness 
of chondroitin, rating it as contributing 15% or less to the effectiveness 
over straight glucosamine. Since taking the combination I have noticed *no* 
difference over the straight glucosamine. OTOH the glucosamine resolved my 
knee pain before I started the combo so it would be difficult to improve on 
that (regrow my hair maybe ;D ) so I may be unfairly discounting it's 
usefulness to someone just starting. Neither has caused me any problem from 
side effects which is more than I can say for the heavy duty NSAIDs that 
some proposed as an alternative. The average for *feeling* the effect is 
4-6 weeks from others I've talked to. Mine was less. I began to notice 
reduced knee pain in less than two weeks.

Glucosamine is *not* a pain reliever. What it apparently does is assist 
your body in rebuilding the damaged soft tissue between the bones in your 
joints. I suppose the amount of time before you *felt* the effect would 
depend on how badly damaged the tissue was. Worse damage takes longer to 
repair. Once there has been sufficient repair the pain stops naturally. All 
I can say for certain is that taking glucosamine ended over 6 months of 
constant (and sometimes intense) knee pain for me. My left knee is still 
less than totally stable. A sudden twist the wrong way or a blow to the 
side of my knee can result in a sharp stab but it does not hurt at all 
otherwise and I've learned not to make the moves that cause pain. Sadly, I 
had to give up running but I ***can*** still hike. :D

At 07:36 PM 12/13/2004 -0500, Slyatpct@aol.com wrote:
>Hey Druggies,
>
>My doctor suggested, (among other things and I still have to go back) I take
>chondroitin for my ailing knee.  I told him I had some glucosamine and
>chondroitin at home and would this be ok.  He only thought sure, but just 
>using
>chondroitin would help and be cheaper.
>
>Anyway, since I do have some glucosamine AND chondroitin, I'm taking that.
>
>I know there's a few on the list that having been taking it, so the questions
>are...
>
>When do you notice a difference?
>
>How long do YOU suggest taking it?
>
>What's the proper dosage, how often?
>
>The bottle of pills I have, has along with other ingredients, such as vitamin
>C, calcium, zinc and copper, 1500 mg of glucosamine hydrochloride and 1200 mg
>of chondroitin sulfate and suggests 3 pills, twice daily, yet I see other
>brands with a third of the milligrams and sometimes only suggesting once a 
>day.
>See what I'm getting at, how much will do?  In this case I'd rather take
>advice from a hiker than a doctor.
>
>Thanks,
>
>Sly
>
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