Anyone here take Glucosamine ?

sloppyschleckonds

drlodge wrote:

So then its just a matter of me wasting my money, which is none of your concern.

Don't try to advice others then when you are just throwing money away.

VTech

TBH, were all throwing our money away, none of us need carbon or serious kit for what we do unless the VERY limited few of us here race seriously.

Ive just been looking at a bike here made for Bret @ Lamborghini Miami and his bike is over £20k, he is a serious cyclist but £20k !!!!!

Tb2121

Actually the researchfor Glucosamine is good. For some reason though it hasn't really been pushed in the research field- probably because there is not enough money in it. Anyway a very good Lancet paper in 2001 Reginster et al- Long-term effects of glucosamine sulphate on osteoarthritis progression: a randomised, placebo-controlled clinical trial- demonstrated an improvement in cartilage thickness over time in patients with knee osteoarthritis. This also corresponded in a slight improvement in pain scores- however this takes time- which makes me question anyone who says that they started taking Glucosamine and 5 days later their pain went!!! Cartilage doesn't grow that quickly!

So I recommend it to my patients but i tell them that the only way they'd probably be able to tell if its had an effect is through cloning them today and giving them the glucosamine and the clone some jelly tots to take, and reassessing both themselves and the clone in 5 years time. They would probably find the clone has slightly more knee pain than they do.

Tb2121

Oh and in regard to chiropractors- (chiroquacktors) it is widely acknowledged that the biggest cause of stroke in the under 45's is due to Chiropractors- Cited by multiple authors around the world- true story.

sloppyschleckonds

Tb2121 wrote:

Oh and in regard to chiropractors- (chiroquacktors) it is widely acknowledged that the biggest cause of stroke in the under 45's is due to Chiropractors- Cited by multiple authors around the world- true story.

You wouldn't recommend one then?

Velonutter

I used to run 5 miles every day before work until my knees packed up and made it painful, now in my 50's I started taking it 3 years ago due to knee pain, after about 2 weeks the knee pain in the joints disappeared and hasn't returned.

I take the vegetarian version, not sure if that is the reason why it works better.

markp80

Tb2121 wrote:

Actually the researchfor Glucosamine is good. For some reason though it hasn't really been pushed in the research field- probably because there is not enough money in it. Anyway a very good Lancet paper in 2001 Reginster et al- Long-term effects of glucosamine sulphate on osteoarthritis progression: a randomised, placebo-controlled clinical trial- demonstrated an improvement in cartilage thickness over time in patients with knee osteoarthritis. This also corresponded in a slight improvement in pain scores- however this takes time- which makes me question anyone who says that they started taking Glucosamine and 5 days later their pain went!!! Cartilage doesn't grow that quickly!

So I recommend it to my patients but i tell them that the only way they'd probably be able to tell if its had an effect is through cloning them today and giving them the glucosamine and the clone some jelly tots to take, and reassessing both themselves and the clone in 5 years time. They would probably find the clone has slightly more knee pain than they do.

Not sure I can agree with that. There are plenty of trials which have shown no effect at all, and there are published meta-analyses that confirm no useful clinical effect. It's currently not recommended by NICE.

racingcondor

Personally if you're suffering from aching knees after a riding quite a lot (more than average) for a few weeks I think the first question that needs asking is how much stretching you're doing (and how many different stretches for your calves, thighs and hip flexors). Stretching works.

It's a safe bet that any suppliments etc that have any proof that they work are on the WADA banned list (Glucosamine isn't).

Headhuunter

racingcondor wrote:

Personally if you're suffering from aching knees after a riding quite a lot (more than average) for a few weeks I think the first question that needs asking is how much stretching you're doing (and how many different stretches for your calves, thighs and hip flexors). Stretching works.

It's a safe bet that any suppliments etc that have any proof that they work are on the WADA banned list (Glucosamine isn't).

But glucosamine isn't supposed to be performance enhancing, it just protects your joints from arthritis and pain (in theory) so why would WADA ban it?

stevewj

Imposter wrote:

TrekVet wrote:

VTech wrote:

Are speedplay that good ?
I have always suffered from pain in the soles of the foot.

Look at it this way - if you dance on the pedals and your feet want to rotate say 5°, yet your pedal float is say 3° do you think your legs/feet appreciate the imposed restriction? If yes then continue to use what you have, but if "no" then fit Speedplay X5.

Or alternatively, fit one of the many other road pedals that offer more than 3deg float, like Look, Time and others.

I tried Look, Crank Bros and Shimano SPDs - all have tension pulling the foot towards the centre of the pedal with increasing resistance the further the foot is rotated until the unclipping point. Speedplay don't have that - they have completely free float up until the point where they unclip (designated by the rider).

ShayneThill

TrekVet wrote:

When I started taking glucosamine, or was it glucosamine and chondroitin, anyways noticed hair loss (that left in bath after water has gone) stopped overnight. So may be worth trying it if you suffer hair loss as it is easy to see any improvement - less or no hair in bath and none on your jacket, etc.

Ditto to Speedplay pedals. Why use pedals that restrict your float when you've got ligaments to do that job? Every bike should have them.

Never heard that glucosamine may cause hair loss. I also troubled by hair loss, my doctor told me it is heredity. The medical treatment seems useless. Now, I just have nothing to do but wearing short wigs.