Glucosamine

[Chris Head]

Has anyone got any opinions or experience of the stuff? Years of fairly extreme 'excercise' and working conditions have left me poor old joints not in the best of condition...mainly fingers, knees and elbows, perpetual exposure to cold conditions doesn't help too much. The Doctor gave me the usual bag full of pills but I've binned them[:D]

TIA

[Deauville]

I've been taking glucosamie for years and so have my wife and each of our dogs, it's one of those things that you don't feel any instant effect from. But I have to say that I'm convinced that it's given the dogs more life than they woukld have had, especially our 14yr old German Shepherd who's suffering from Hip-displacia. My wife has just started taking a supplement called 'Inflamol' available, like the Glucosamine, from Healthy Direct in the UK. She swears by it. Their service is fast with a one off postage charge no matter what you order and so much cheaper than here. I'd recommend them.

[Meg]

OH's mum swears by her Glucosamine and Chondroitin tablets. Holland and Barratt ones. She said she tried a cheap brand and they were not very good. I can't remember what the addition of the Chondroitin does, but i remember researching it on the web for her a while ago.

[Deauville]

Second point I've just remembered, try arnica. Homeopathic, cheap as chips in pillule form from the pharmacie and also available as a rub-on gel, Our vet swears by the gel and uses it on horses all the time! Healthy Direct are  at www.healthydirect.co.uk

[Pads]

I also use glucosamie and give it to my german sheapherd who also has hip displacia( this has been backed up by our vet) and i would say that it is very good . As Deauville said it does take a while to kick in , so give it a try.............. theres no harm in trying.

Deauville our dog has H D do you have any information / helpfull ideas, we arnt getting a lot of support from our vet , whos main aim seems to be to get as much money from us as possible. with no results or help given yet.He has given us some anti inflams and pain killers , neither of which seem to be helping , instead they give him terrible dirreorea. Its very depressing to see a dog of only 9years going down hill so fast.  

[Chris Head]

Ok, that'll do for me, I'll get some ordered. No chance at all of it being reimbursable?

Sorry about your dog Dirty Tom.

Thanks

[Deauville]

Sorry to read about the dog's problem Tom but it goes with the breed I guess. Our mutt (who's nudging my elbow even as I type) is pushing 14 and his problems really started to kick in about 6 months ago although he's always been a bit weak on his back end and I've feared the worse for quite a while. Our vet here in 24 (he's Welsh, oddly!) says that if he gets too bad that he could give him anti-inflam/painkillers but in the meantime carry on with the glucosamine/arnica regime. He did say that too much glucosamine can lead to problems of it;s own and that if we wanted to increase anything then it should be the arnica. We're going along with that as it fits in with our healthcare phylosophy but as soon as things get too much trouble for him then, sadly, there's only one course of action.

Sorry to have hi-jacked the original thread!

[Teamedup]

Glucosamine isn't reimbursed in France but chondroitin is. Doctors will also prescribe piascledine (sp)to help with joints.

Our dogs vet will sell us glucosamine for our dog, quite pricey if I remember correctly.

[YCCMB]

My dog has chronic degenerative arthritis and has since he was a very young dog, as we discovered shortly after getting him from the rescue. Our chiropractor (who doesn't treat the dog!) told me about glucosamine one day, and after giving it to our dog, he was a totally different animal. As the chiropractor pointed out, it goes to show that if it did work on the dog it must have some effect, as he doesn't know it's supposed to do him good. I give him 7 Seas glucosamine, and when I told the vet (in some trepidation) he was very enthusiastic and said it was a good thing to do as vet quality glucosamine would be costing me about £80 a month!!! Given the results on the mutt, I now use it myself and it does really seem to help.

[Dave&Olive]

 hi

              ok they work for me try here http://www.vitaminsdirect.co.uk/

                                dave

[Coco]

I take cod liver oil with added glucosamine capsules every day and didn't think they were doing an aweful lot til I stopped for a while, then I really noticed how much they had been helping me.

[powerdesal]

Chris,

Try zipvit.co.uk on the net, order from them.

You need 1500mg daily of glucosamine and I recomment taking MSM also.

edit; you probably wont feel any effects for at least a month. MSM RDD is 1000mg / day but as the body doesn't store it I prefer to think about 2000mg / day. I am informed that it is actually impossible to overdose MSM.

[Innocents Abroad]

There is a product called Superflex-3 which contains all of the things mentioned in this thread, i.e. Glucosamine (1500mg), Chondroitin (1200mg), and MSM (250mg).

Glucosomine helps to strengthen, repair and maintain cartilage, Chontroitin attracts fluid to the area around the cartilage and therefore provides a sort of 'shock-absorber' effect, and MSM is a sulfur compound which helps to maintain a healthy inflammatory response in joint tissue.

The cheapest I found was £19.95 for 150 tablets (the recommended dose is two a day) and postage & packing is free to anywhere in the world.  If you order more than one then the price reduces.

This was with www.agestop.co.uk

I've just ordered some - which is why I sound so knowledgeable as I've just read the website blurb [;-)] - so will let you know the outcome in a month or two's time!

Lynda M

 

[Chris Head]

Thanks all, I'll go with what you say Lynda... a day spent in cold drizzle doesn't help much[:D]. If I was a horse they'd shoot me!

[Jollity Farm]

As a nurse working with orthopaedic surgeons I have to say they all recommend glucosamine  to their patients especially for arthritis and related conditions. as for the animals I have my 27 year old Anglo-Arab horse on a supplement called Cortaflex altho not cheap keeps him sprightly... he still thinks he's about five and has the speed to prove it!! He becomes very stiff when we stop it, so i swear by the stuff. Its also available for humans and dogs

[Pierre ZFP]

I take 'em too along with cod liver oil.  Everything said above is true, takes a while to have effect and if you stop you realise what they were doing.  I dissagree with cheap ones being less good, they are all made by Glaxo or Pfizers regardless who they're marketed by. I get mine here

www.simplysupplements.co.uk

 

Cheap as chips and good service

[andyh4]

Just to back up what others have said Chris, it's not a miracle cure but it certainly helps.  As further evidence (and the real reason for posting), I cannot get Glucosamine sent to my German address because (if I understand it correctly) the German Health authorities consider it to be a medicine rather than a health supplement.  Medicines have to be prescribed by competent medical personnel.

So they obviously think it works.

[Shane]

We buy our glucosamine for our border collie from the vet and six weeks supply cost about 15 euro! He also gives us a pain killer which we only use when necessary and whilst he has been on the glucosamine we have hardly used it, it is only when he does too much or knocks himself or falls out of the car, usually when he cannot wait to be helped. So anyway £80 a month for vet quality glucosamine seems very very steep to me.

I have to say it has given him a new lease of life at 12 years old, he was really bad in the early summer and we thought that's it the end, but not now, he can't wait to go for a walk again and is like a puppy again at times.

[YCCMB]

£80 a month seemed b****y steep to me too, which is why I'm glad I'm not paying it!! Then again, vet charges in the south-east UK are astronomical.

[Shane]

Just been to the vets for the dogs supply and bought 6 tabs with 10 tablets in each tab and paid 25 euro, cheap as chips and works too.