Glucosamine chondroitin... who benefits from it?

[Q.]

I've been taking it for at least a couple of years but it seems that, when I run out for short periods, I don't notice any difference. I didn't replace it today when I was at the store just because I want to see if I can tell a difference before I spend any more $$$.

[russ]

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Most of the studies involving G+C are in the context of osteoarthritis of the knee. Thus far, the evidence is somewhat conflicting, but it's thought to have a mildly beneficial effect in terms of the slowing down the degenerative process, particlularly in patients with mild osteoarthritis. Side effects seem to be uncommon. It's unclear whether the benefits related to osteoarthritis of the knee are applicable to other joints.

I've talked about G+C with my orthopedic and Rheumatology colleagues. They like using G+C because of the benign side effect profile. The problem is that it isn't cheap and the patient population at my hospital is not well off.

[Q.]

No use taking this as a preventative measure, huh?

[russ]

Originally posted by Quercus:
No use taking this as a preventative measure, huh?

I can't really say that there's no use for G+C as a preventitive measure in people who don't have osteoarthritis (OA). I can't find any research which answers that question either in the affirmative or negative. 'Caveat emptor' is probably my best response----it doesn't harm very many people, so you may feel that it's worth spending the money in the event that it does help prevent OA.

[laxcdn]

I started taking Glucosamine/MSM 1 year ago. I got to the point were when I got out of bed I had to take a couple of seconds to straighten up. I have degen disc disease of the last disc and a bit of scholiosis from the disc. I started taking it and the back pain started to go away. I also started losing weight and doing some exercises for my back and abs. Now the I only feel pain once in a while during the day instead of most of the day. I won't stop taking it and I can find it at grocery stores and Walmart. Don't know where you live but in Canada I have found it on sale for as low at $10 for a month. I usually try to get Gluc/MSM/Chondriton but if I can't find it I will go with G/MSM or G/Chron. My Chiro got me on it and now I am hooked.

[russ]

I started taking it and the back pain started to go away. I also started losing weight and doing some exercises for my back and abs.

The question is, did the G+C have anything to do with your back pain going away, or was it the exercises, weight loss, or, quite simply, the passage of time which resulted in your pain getting better. G+C may have helped, but it's tough to know for certain in that there isn't any evidence that G+C does anything for back pain. It's unlikely that G+C would have any effect on degenerative disc disease, although perhaps it could slow down the wear and tear on the 'facet' joints. Whether that would have a measurable effect in reducing back pain is unclear.

Don't know where you live but in Canada I have found it on sale for as low at $10 for a month.

Do you know if the quality of the $10 stuff is any good?

[laxcdn]

I did start it all at the same time and I haven't stopped. But when I did start it I had pain for about 2 weeks then it started to go away. I have to go back and get some xrays taken to see what is happening back there.

I know that the less you pay the cheaper the quality, so I usually get the stuff in the $15+ range.

[Kaiser]

Originally posted by Quercus:
No use taking this as a preventative measure, huh?

From all that I've read, no. The reason is that the mechanism by which your body repairs degeneration in joint cartilage is not compromised if you don't have any OA. It is when you have OA that the repair rate can't keep up with the degeneration ,and this is where G+C reportedly helps.

Brad, I've really cut down on my dosages, missing days at a time without recourse. But if I miss 2 or 3 weeks, I start to feel it. Also, I haven't been doing a lot of actitivies lately that would jar my OA knees, so that may be why I had no problem. Yesterday, I did jumping jacks and jumping rope (part of a fat-loss circuit) and last night and today, my knee hurts! So if I had kept up with the dosages of before (2X/day of the triple strength Osteo-BiFlex) instead of cutting back (1 pill only every 2 days), maybe I would have been better off? Who knows.

My point is that, if you have OA, the benefits accrued from G+C take a long time (months) to notice. Maybe by stopping taking it, the deleterious effects would also take a while to to accrue.

[Kaiser]

As always, I refer people to the following, reputable website for G+C info: www.drtheo.com

[Q.]

Thanks everyone! I haven't noticed any difference lately from not taking it but I haven't played any basketball in a few weeks just due to life's little obligations. I did run today and did a little sprinting but nothing yet.