I've taken this basic mix for several years now and haven't had any issues. I don't believe I have arthritis, and I've never had much pain, so I've really been taking these as a joint health supplement. I've never given it much thought but I recently ran out of these supplements for about a month and I think my joints might actually feel better. Like I said, I don't have regular pain but I occasionally have some slight joint pain when I've been exercising fairly hard or have taken a long hike (particularly with weight) but it's always pretty short-lived and not bothersome, really. Still, it seems like this intermittent pain (without Glucosamine) is less than before. It has me thinking that stopping this supplement might be a good thing. I've also read some things online that seem to question the effectiveness of Glucosamine. Has anyone noticed anything similar or have any impressions they could share? Thanks!!

Let me weigh in before the, "It work fors me!" crowd drowns the conversation.

I've deposed many orthopedic doctors a great number of which are the team phyicians for pro sport teams, local competitve colleges and in some cases, former pro sports players. This is their unamimous opinion - It doesn't work on people but has a great placebo affect. If you think you feel better then by all means continue to take it but don't waste your money on name brands but go to Costco or Walmart instead.

The doctors all say that they're in charge of joint health for sports teams and if all it took was daily uses of pills to keep the joints healthy that's what they'd prescibe or recommend but it's not a viable treatment with proven results beyond placebo.

The ingrediants are the right stuff but by the time it's absorbed into your system and the body starts circulating the goodies, there's no possible way for this stuff to target specific joints or even if it could, do so to a prevantative or curative level. The science simply doens't support the hype.

One doctor was a little kinder and said that if there's a benefit science hasn't found a way to measure it yet.

Drink water. A lot of it. Best thing for joint health and overall health. I drink a gallon or more a day and have been for nearly 20 years.
I'm starting to have some knee issues but the damage has been done over years at my job. Water is not going to fix that.
Many other benefits to drinking water besides joint health.

I tried them once, bought a 90 day supply. They seemed to do nothing for me, when the bottle was empty I quit taking them.

quote:

Originally posted by Dakor:

quote:

Originally posted by Flashlightboy:
Let me weigh in before the, "It work fors me!" crowd drowns the conversation.

I've deposed many orthopedic doctors a great number of which are the team phyicians for pro sport teams, local competitve colleges and in some cases, former pro sports players. This is their unamimous opinion - It doesn't work on people but has a great placebo affect. If you think you feel better then by all means continue to take it but don't waste your money on name brands but go to Costco or Walmart instead.

The doctors all say that they're in charge of joint health for sports teams and if all it took was daily uses of pills to keep the joints healthy that's what they'd prescibe or recommend but it's not a viable treatment with proven results beyond placebo.

The ingrediants are the right stuff but by the time it's absorbed into your system and the body starts circulating the goodies, there's no possible way for this stuff to target specific joints or even if it could, do so to a prevantative or curative level. The science simply doens't support the hype.

One doctor was a little kinder and said that if there's a benefit science hasn't found a way to measure it yet.

Wrong, there is ample clinical evidence that there is a therapeutic effect beyond a controlled placebo arm. Having led orthobiologic technology evaluation for one of the largest companies in the field globally & with a doctorate in biochem, I can tell you don’t know what you’re talking about when it comes to pharmacology and clinical efficacy.

I'm sure there are a lot of pro team doctors who would love to have that info.

Care to share your results? I'm willing to learn if you're willing to open up with the info.

What does ample clinical evidence mean? In humans or other mammmals?

I have tried it, for longer than 90 days... Didn't seem to do anything for me. No longer taking them.

I developed knee pain about 15 years ago. Took a combo pill of glucosamine, chondroiton, and MSM. After a couple weeks the pain went away. Kept taking it. Maybe a year later pain started returning. Damn! But, upon further review, I found out that the last pills I ordered were glucosamine and chondroiton only and no MSM. Ordered the correct pills, and no pain a couple weeks later. Been taking them ever since, and still no pain. YMMV.

In my experience it's snake oil. Does nothing.

Grape seed extract, on the other hand, seems to work for pain. When I don't have some I feel awful.

I have taken the 'Move Free' brand regularly for a few years now.

My system tolerates the tabs so I will continue to take them.

I am not a 'supplement guy' but I figure at my age (50-ish) it may help. I jokingly refer to them with my kids as my 'old man pills'.

Also - I am in the healthcare field so I am familiar with scientific study design / peer-review / placebo effect / levels-of-evidence / prospective vs. retrospective, etc etc. I know enough that to ever get 'truly definitive' results from any product / medicine / procedure is pretty difficult. Many things we consider definitive are only found to be not so definitive a few years later in a different study.

YMMV of course.

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quote:

Originally posted by Warhorse:
I tried them once, bought a 90 day supply. They seemed to do nothing for me, when the bottle was empty I quit taking them.

Same here.

I tried it, but no love.

The science doesn't support there being any benefit.

quote:

Originally posted by Sigmanic:
I've also read some things online that seem to question the effectiveness of Glucosamine.

Some people believe Glucosamine & Chondroitin to be effective, others not. It was recommended to me by another guy at the gym, at the time, and seems to be efficacious for me.

The medical science is unsettled, with most of western medicine adopting the same stance it does with just about every non-synthetic non-pharmaceutical in existence. That is to say "It doesn't work."

OTOH: Given western medicine's and big pharma's track records, particularly of late, I'm hard-put to understand why anybody'd take their word at face value, but there it is.

Latest example: Western medicine is sceptical of low-carb dieting. To the point where interviews with western medicine doctors almost invariably have them saying "I think it's dangerous as a regular habit." I went on a very low-carb diet (±50 gram/day on-average) for a month for a fat loss challenge. My marginally high blood pressure dropped, and stayed dropped. Lo and behold: It turns out this is a typical side-effect of ketosis, or the burning of fat for energy, which is what happens when you go on a low-carb diet.

I wonder how many here with high blood pressure have ever had their doctor recommend trying a diet that would put them into ketosis? My bet would be "none."

But they'll be more than pleased to prescribe blood pressure meds, many of which are known to have serious side effects.

I am not a supplement guy at all, but several years ago I had pretty intense pain in both my hands that lasted for months with no evident improvement (I am a heavy equipment mechanic and have been pulling wrenches for about 35 years at this point). I tried some glucosomine and chondroitin, figuring it couldn't hurt. Within a week my pain was gone! Tried it several years later for a since for a long forgotten pain but it had no effect. Guess it couldn't hurt to give it a shot....

I was in a class offered by my HMO on Osteoarthritis a month ago. In the Q&A section a guy asked the Dr. about Glucosamine Chondroitin and the Doc said, "We recommend it, along with Tumeric".

My brother was an Osteopath and recommended it to our Mom who took it for years and said it helped. I'm taking it and my knees seem to hurt less when I do.

Yup, that Western medicine is all about perpetuating that hospital-industrial complex.

I don't doubt that Western medicine gets it wrong more often than most of us would like to think. But throwing out everything Western medicine thinks it knows, and treating it like a red-headed stepchild doesn't make sense either.

I’m a mild believer, personal results over the years. Yes, maybe one was about to get better anyway, very possible.

It’s common in dog food and other things. I guess dogs think it helps too.

I just took a hot shower and ALL my joints feel better. I gave up on vitamins and supplements a while ago, coming to the conclusion that they're mostly good for separating you from your money. I'm basing this assumption for a healthy person on a normal diet, since I've seen benefits otherwise when prescription-strength supplements are given by physicians for significant disease (Iron for example for certain women).

I agree though with the placebo benefit. My wife is a believer in some types of "placebos", which seem to work "good" for her, so it's "good" with me too.

Jeeze, my veterinarian just put my dog on glucosamine and fish oil for a damaged ACL in his leg. She did tell me not to buy her stuff, just get whatever was on sale at the drugstore.

Ok. If the placebo effect makes it work, it works. Just not in the traditional way.

I have found that omega 3 in large dosage, and turmeric with a lot of water works...a little. I mostly notice when I don’t take them after about a week or two. If it’s placebo, I’m ok with it.

It actually did help my GSD when she started having hip problems. When we went for walks she was getting slower and I could hear her hips grinding. I asked the vet about it and he said "Well, give it a try and see what happens." After a few weeks I started to see a difference in her, and after about 6 months she was getting around like she had years earlier.

That said, I tried it myself and it didn't do squat for my bad knees.