Glucosemine

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okay, just been recommended this for a nagging knee injury that seems to be taking forever to heal.
having seen some comments about it, i'm a little sceptical when it comes to "take a pill and the pain goes away". reckon pain's an indicator that something is wrong and needs to be fixed.
my limited understanding of glucosemine is that it promotes cartilage regrowth and improves the speed of that regrowth... my concern is that something must be abnormally destroying the cartilage if there's a need to regrow it at a faster rate than normal, and that this cause should be fixed instead of masked.
my other concern is what happens to the healthy joints - is there an overgrowth being stimulated by glucosemine? and is that cause for concern?

what are people's experiences and knowledge regarding glucosemine?
(preferrably with a little more detail than "use it/tried it and it works great"...)

okay, just been recommended this for a nagging knee injury that seems to be taking forever to heal.
having seen some comments about it, i'm a little sceptical when it comes to "take a pill and the pain goes away". reckon pain's an indicator that something is wrong and needs to be fixed.
my limited understanding of glucosemine is that it promotes cartilage regrowth and improves the speed of that regrowth... my concern is that something must be abnormally destroying the cartilage if there's a need to regrow it at a faster rate than normal, and that this cause should be fixed instead of masked.
my other concern is what happens to the healthy joints - is there an overgrowth being stimulated by glucosemine? and is that cause for concern?

what are people's experiences and knowledge regarding glucosemine?
(preferrably with a little more detail than "use it/tried it and it works great"...)Glucosamine helps repair joints which eases the pain, and every study that I am aware of indicates that this is all for the good. Taken in conjunction with chondrotin and Methylsulfonylmethane (MSM) it's even better.
Certainly you should find out why your knees are hurting in the first place, perhaps you need to use lower gears or a higher saddle, for instance.

recovering from a damaged posterior cruciate ligament ;)

There are a number of sports medicine / ortho pages that recommend Glucosamine Sulfate/Chondroitin Sulfate, but it seems that it may take up to 3 months of a steady dose of 1 grams of each daily before the supplement begins to make a difference.


The following links are probably the best that I found and seem to be skeptical to the efficiency / effectiveness of the supplement.

My personal view is neutral since I have not followed a long term disciplined use.


Link 1 (http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/fact/thr_report_pows.cfm?Thread_ID=220&mailname=J%20F%20Rick%20Hammesfahr%2C%20MD&patientpage=patient_info.cfm&webid=1619)

General Knee Information (http://www.arthroscopy.com/sp05000.htm)

An independant study of glucosamine and chondroitin was sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (US). Results are linked from this page: http://nccam.nih.gov/research/results/gait/This rigorous, large-scale study showed that the combination of glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate appeared to help people with moderate-to-severe pain from knee osteoarthritis, but not those with mild pain," said Stephen E. Straus, M.D., NCCAM Director. "It is important to study dietary supplements with well-designed research in order to find out what works and what does not."

The research is there for glucosamine alone as well as combinations with chondrotin msm and fatty acid esters. The body of data is based on pain but mostly for degenerative joint disease or oseto arthritis. So if you have an issue similar to this than it may be helpful and yes you need to take for 3 months to 6 month to have an effect. Also severe DJD does not respond as well. Now if your injury is more acute then chronic you would be better surved controlling chronic inflamation and scar tissue formation. There are foods and supplements that can address that for you. Proper Bike/shoe fit are imperative as well as proper rehab.

"DJD"?

i was checking out all the Glucosamine supplements in a vitamin store today - plenty to chose from, yet none with the dosage that I was recommended - 5000mg a day.
However, the guy in the store suggested I might be better off with taking Fish oil instead as mine is not an arthritis issue.
any experience/knowledge with Fish Oil?

Taken it, worked great....:) I used it for about 1 month before noticing any difference. Used if for longer than that. Bottle ran out so I stopped taking it. Fixed the problem for a couple of years.
Problem came back - repeated process.
I heard a doctor recommend every over 40 year old take it as a preventative for aging joints.

"DJD"?

i was checking out all the Glucosamine supplements in a vitamin store today - plenty to chose from, yet none with the dosage that I was recommended - 5000mg a day.
However, the guy in the store suggested I might be better off with taking Fish oil instead as mine is not an arthritis issue.
any experience/knowledge with Fish Oil?That has been my preference now for the last year and I started taking fish oil more for another reason, but I have noticed that improvements in a variety of ways. I am taking about 6 grams a day along with some other omega type oils and seeds. I would love to be able to eat fish everday, but it's too expensive in my area.

"DJD"?DJD = Degenerative Joint Disease (aka osteoarthritis).

Fish oil contains high amounts of omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids. It is good for lowering cholesterol and preventing cardiovascular disease, but I am not aware that it does anything for joint problems.

DJD = Degenerative Joint Disease (aka osteoarthritis).

Fish oil contains high amounts of omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids. It is good for lowering cholesterol and preventing cardiovascular disease, but I am not aware that it does anything for joint problems.I wasn't sure of this myself because I take omega's for the cardiovascular / cholesterol reason, but I did take a quick look and it seems that there is some thing to the joint issue as well.

Link (http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/529425)

Ok sorry about that DJD is degenerative joint disease a form of arthritis


Now fish oils are great for your overall health more specific omega 3 fatty acid and not the omega 6. The ratio of omega 6 to 3 is seen to promote inflamation and alot of reasearch is out on its effect on cardiovascular disease but not on its effect on knee pain and inflamation. You can get the omega 3 by eating more fish. I would say that it would not give you a big change on knee pain and may help speed recovery but it should be combined with some other things to control inflamtion.

I think the best thing for you would be to get some proper rehab.