Any good joint supplements?

[Phil Thien]

Anyone have any positive experiences w/ any joint supplements?

I've heard conflicting information about whether they work.

Reviews on places like Amazon are useless because the people that give them five stars often haven't reviewed anything else. Which is kinda fishy.


I know a guy that is in his 60's that plays a lot of tennis, and he swears by Hyaluronic Acid supplements for his knees.

[Pat Germain]

You can't go wrong with quality fish oil. You have to get the good stuff, but even that isn't very expensive. The omega 3 fatty acids in fish oil are very good for many parts of the human body; to include the brain.

I'm skeptical about shark cartilidge and the others. But I admit, I haven't tried them myself.

[Chris Damm]

I used oxycontin glucosamine as recommended by my orthopedic surgeon. It takes a couple of months to reap the benefits but my arthritic knees and ankles did feel better. I quit taking it because I am diabetic and it was messing up my blood sugars.

[Brian Ashton]

Anyone have any positive experiences w/ any joint supplements?

I've heard conflicting information about whether they work.

Reviews on places like Amazon are useless because the people that give them five stars often haven't reviewed anything else. Which is kinda fishy.


I know a guy that is in his 60's that plays a lot of tennis, and he swears by Hyaluronic Acid supplements for his knees.

About a year ago I took up futsal. Im 46 and I play with people that are half my age and younger. Basically I run my ass off trying to keep... My hips in that time were taking a pounding. There were a lot of times where my hips wouldn't quite lock up but they would have a lot of trouble with full movement. My guess is the natural lubricant was lacking and therefore they were sticking a bit and it would take some extra and painful effort to get the full range of movement out of them. About 2 months ago I thought it couldn't hurt to try Glucosamine and Condroitin Compound. I started by taking 3 pills a day for a week and then I dropped to one a day and the hips have smoothed up a fair bit. I'd say the sticking has subsided by about 75%. So you could say I'm sold.

[Mike Cutler]

Phil

I used Solgar brand Glucosamine Sulfate and Condroitin, combined with Creatine Monohydrate for the last few years of my cycling career.
It worked.
The placebo effect can only take a person so far. I'm fairly certain I went well past that point.

I never tried Hyaluronic Acid, but after seeing what it can do for an ex race horse, I wish I could have found some for humans.;) (Horses aren't susceptible to the placebo effect either.)

[Phil Thien]

All good information, thanks guys.

Mike, the HA is available at Walmart and online at places like Amazon.

I haven't checked the stuff Walmart sells, I'm not sure where it is made. I'm going to look into it today.

[Dan Hintz]

And here I was thinking someone was looking for additional "herbs" to add to their <cough> cigarette... ;)

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Phil,

I have problems with both knees.

I discussed the glucosamine supplements with my doctor. He said recent studies show they work in about 40% of people.

He told me to try them for a few months. They'd either work or they wouldn't and they wouldn't hurt me.

I tried them. They didn't help me.

My wife, on the other hand, has used them for years and they seem to help her.

[David G Baker]

Glucosamine has helped me with my knees. It takes a while before you feel the results but the pains in my knees are considerably less than before I started using it.
I had not heard about glucosamine having any issues with blood sugar, I will have to research that, maybe I can get rid of a few very expensive drugs I am taking.

[Phil Thien]

Again thanks for the input guys.

I stopped at Walmart on the way to work this morning and picked up a couple of bottles of Spring Valley Hyaluronic Acid. 60 capsules, 20mg each, runs $9 a bottle.

I'm going to try this stuff for a while and see what happens.

If it doesn't help I'll try some of the glucosamine type products.

[Lee Schierer]

Phil,

I have problems with both knees.

I discussed the glucosamine supplements with my doctor. He said recent studies show they work in about 40% of people.

He told me to try them for a few months. They'd either work or they wouldn't and they wouldn't hurt me.

I tried them. They didn't help me.

My wife, on the other hand, has used them for years and they seem to help her.


I discussed it with my Doctor and he said the same thing. In my case it seems to have helped. I've also lost weight because I exercise regularly now and that helps the knees and ankles too. For the skeptics amoung us the relief from knee pain came first then the exercise......

[Phil Thien]

I discussed it with my Doctor and he said the same thing. In my case it seems to have helped. I've also lost weight because I exercise regularly now and that helps the knees and ankles too. For the skeptics amoung us the relief from knee pain came first then the exercise......

I know guys that have bad knees on the really pack the pounds on. Exercise (at least any exercise that involves moving your legs) just isn't possible.

I had no knee problems until last year when I took a knee to fix my wife's car. When I stood, I couldn't straighten my leg. 10 minutes later it popped and it was okay and only mildly painful.

I took various joint supplements and it really helped. I hadn't realized how much my joints had ached for so long. The products worked well enough that that I stopped taking them. This time I intend to find something that works and keep with it.

[George Lesniak]

Phil,

I've been using Triflex Fast-Acting from GNC. It's expensive, but it works and it enters your system in days not weeks.

George

[Mike Cruz]

CosaminDS claims to be the ONLY brand of Glucosamine/Chondroitin Sulfate that is clinically proven to reduce joint pain. I take it. Have for years. I think it certainly helps me.

I also take fish oil. Started that about two years ago on the recommendation of my accupucturist. Again, would recommend it to anyone. I even take a pretty high dose of the fish oil (4 pills in the morning and 4 in the evening). I go to Costco and get NatureMade brand. I wouldn't trust the "off" brand names.

As for CosaminDS and off brand names...well, a bottle CosaminDS (lasts me almost 4 months @ 2 pills a day...7 months at lower doses) is $65 at Costco. Other brands are 20 some odd dollars. :rolleyes:

[Jerome Stanek]

As my daughters Vet has said about supplements ND there is no data that supports the use of them. If you belive they work then they may work fo you as the mind is very powerful and can induce results.

[Phil Thien]

As my daughters Vet has said about supplements ND there is no data that supports the use of them. If you belive they work then they may work fo you as the mind is very powerful and can induce results.

Shun the non-believer. :D

The vet may be right where dogs/cats are concerned, I have no idea.

But controlled studies seem to indicate some supplements help for people.

Here is one article from WebMD:
http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-lifestyle-guide/supplement-guide-glucosamine

Here is an article w/ more detail from the NIH:
http://nccam.nih.gov/research/results/gait/qa.htm

[Jeff Bratt]

I've been taking Glucosamine + Chondroitin and it seems to help my ankle. My Doctor's recommendation was - keep taking it, but the studies are not yet conclusive one way or the other. Fortunately my problem is minor, and there are no side effects noted.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Pegs...
I like pegs.
Nothing beats the looks of (IMHO) a pegged mortice joint.



;)

[Mike Cruz]

Yeah, Phil, interestingly, my (dog) vet recommended Cosequin (the animal version of CosaminDS, made by the same company) for our aged dog when she was diagnosed with spondilosis...the differences were night and day.

My (horse) vet recommended Cosequin for our aged horse...again, marked improvement.

My wife prides herself with surrounding herself with the best "people" she can, both in profession and in heart. Our vets are no exception. They are not only top of their fields, but are some of the best folks we know, are invited to our parties, and us to theirs. They aren't quacks...we've had to deal with those, and by quack, I don't mean alternative, I mean cooky. We have no issues with accupuncture and massage, both for us and our animals, when necessary. I do draw the line at voodoo. ;)

[Phil Thien]

I do draw the line at voodoo. ;)

You're doomed to poorly fitting dovetails until you bite the head off a live chicken and drink the blood, then plant its feet in a small flower pot filled with beaver excrement.

I thought everyone knew that.

[Gene Howe]

You're doomed to poorly fitting dovetails until you bite the head off a live chicken and drink the blood, then plant its feet in a small flower pot filled with beaver excrement.

I thought everyone knew that.

That might work better than Glucosamine. I tried it on a half lap miter and it fell apart.
Does the breed of chicken make a difference?

[Bill Cunningham]

Costco sells liquid Glucosamine. The pills never worked for me, but I would be a hobling cripple if not for the liquid Glucosamine. Knees don't hurt at all now..

[Jason Roehl]

I have problems with my wrists from time to time (probably from swinging 5-gallon buckets of paint around, you know, job and all). When they flare up, I take the Knox NutraJoint powder (mix it in a drink once a day). A couple months of that and I'm often good to go for quite a while. And, when I say my wrists flare up, it's only certain positions combined with pressure that cause pain, such as doing pushups or pushing a self-closing door open with my hand flat against the door. It also seems to help my knees a little bit, but they aren't that bad to begin with because I stay fairly active--running cross country while growing 10 inches in one year was probably not the best thing for them.