Glucosamine amounts

[Desert Lobster]

Does anybody take glucosamine for damaged cartilage from hiking, etc. If so, how many mg is recommended per day?

Also, is glucosamine with condroiton superior or is glucosamine just fine?

[pvtmorriscsa]

Howdy
I have been taking Glucosamine on and off for many years. What can I say but it works for me. When I am doing any heavy physical activity I take two a day, one in the morning and one at night. I am not sure of the actual dosage. The supplement I get is Glucosamine with Chondroitin, and GSG? I am not sure about the last part there. It has something else in it that works in conjunction with the Glucosamine,and the Chondroitin. Sorry I do not have a bottle here in the house. My life being fairly sedintary at the moment. I will be packing it with me on my thru-hike, along with a good multi-vitamin. Might be extra weight, but forewarned is forearmed.

[slabfoot]

I read in a training program for bicycle racing that 1500mg a day is the common dose and that greater doses don't appear to give greater returns. Also the effect can be noticed as soon as two weeks of use and the doctor I was reading advised using it for a month and then skipping a month as the good results tend to last for a couple months. This alternate month usage is just for economy.

regards,
Bill

[orangebug]

Typical dosage o f Glucosamine is 1500 mg daily. There is nothing to indicate that chondrotin adds any benefit. Glucosamine requires several weeks use before observing improvement in function, although improvement in pain is infrequent. There are many inexpensive brands of glucosamine, particularly with "big box" discount stores.

Bill...

[Dances with Mice]

Does anybody take glucosamine for damaged cartilage from hiking, etc. If so, how many mg is recommended per day?

Also, is glucosamine with condroiton superior or is glucosamine just fine?


http://www.arthritis-glucosamine.net/glucosamine/glucosamine-sulfate-osteoarthritis.html

"The amount of glucosamine sulfate an individual needs should be based on weight. An individual who weighs less than 180 pounds should take 1500 mg per day. An individual who weighs more than 180 pounds should take 2000 mg per day."

Of course, as with anything found on the Internet, caveat emptor.

[Chappy]

Where do you get this? Prescription or off the shelf?

[orangebug]

Where do you get this? Prescription or off the shelf?

It is over the counter.

Regarding the above dosage recommendations based on weight: JAMA reports on the "nutritional supplement" have been set at 1500 mg. I doubt there would be any problem with higher dosage, although there is a theorectical problem with increased insulin resistance (never seen in the real world to my knowledge).

Bill...

[davidlarson]

I have been taking glucosimine for 3 years. It took me 3 weeks for pain relief for my shoulders as I surf a lot. Thought I was cured 1 yr later , stopped taking it and pain returned, so began using again and 2 weeks later shoulder pain was gone. Have tried caplets and they don't work for me , capsules do. I take maybe 600 mg and that seems to work.

[eyahiker]

Hey David Surfer!, Eya here from St. Augustine!
I have not met too many surf/hike combos here on whiteblaze, not too many hills in FL either (Nice to break in stuff for a couple hours over at Ravine State Park near Palatka):sun

[JimSproul]

I started taking glucosamine after an 10 day trek in the Rockies. The last day had about 8 miles of mostly UP followed by 12 miles of mostly down. My knees hurt so bad that I hobbled around the office for several weeks. My boss had used glucosamine and suggested I try it. It worked great.

I am 52, no major knee problems but plenty of miles on them!

Now I start taking it about two weeks before (or when I remember) and during a hike, no problems since and I have even hiked down that same 12 mile ridge.

you can get it for a good price at Sam's

[Doctari]

Arthritus for me, probably agrivated by a fairly active life over the past nearly 50 years.

The tablets I take are: Glucosamine 500 mg Chondroitin 400 mg. I take about 3 to 5 a day, so 1500/1200 to 2500/2000 a day, and have taken as many as 10 a day for a week (when in real pain) with no ill effect.

Have taken the Glucosamine only, but I think that the relief is better when I take the ones with Chondroitin, at least I must take at least triple the dose with just Glucosamine to get the same effect. And as posted, they take about 2 to 3 weeks to "kick in", so when I am planning a hike, I up the daily dose about 3 weeks prior to hiking, & continue that higher dose thru the hike and for about 1 to 2 weeks after getting home.

I absolutly CANNOT do without them, mostly it's wrist & shoulder pain, but the knees can give me trouble thanks to years of 100 mile days on my bicycle.

I get mine from Wal-Mart mostly, sometimes they are avalable at Big Lots.


Doctari.

[Simrose]

Because dietary supplements are not regulated by the FDA (they only step in when something has shown to be dangerous), you never know what is actually in your supplements. There is an independent group that tests alternative brands to make sure they actually have the stated amount of product in them (and you'd be surprised how many short you on dosages or contain none at all!).

The website is www.consumerlab.com

They have a lot of information that is subscription only, but if you click on their "labrotory test results" and look up glucosamine it will show you a select number of brands that passed their tests (have the stated amount of glucosamine in them). They cannot show you which brands did not pass unless you subscribe.

I take all alternative med claims with a grain of salt and a search of medical literature, and I do plan on using glucosamine for knee support when I hike next year. The site I listed above comes highly recommended from a number of my graduate professors. I hope it helps.

Happy hiking. :sun

[Dances with Mice]

..... I take all alternative med claims with a grain of salt.....

Happy hiking. :sun


But that could lead to high blood pressure!

Thanks for the link.

[Doctari]

I take all alternative med claims with a grain of salt and a search of medical literature,

:sun


As do I, I was HIGHLY SCEPTICAL at first. Even after it worked, I didn't believe. I was "healed" for a few months then stopped taking them for a few weeks, just to see what happened, I shall never make that mistake again :datz
So now I am a true believer. My planned mail drops include a total of about 750 of the tablets I mentioned previously.


Doctari.