"Joint-Aid" / Cod Liver Oil etc ?

deejaybee

Hi all,

I had an ACL reconstruction around 20 years ago ( Old football injury that was never properly treated at time )  . The surgeon at the time told me my knee would probably get arthritic in later life... Ive learnt to live with the pain, which comes and goes, and usually swollen - but,i can get about ok, do longish walks etc, but i wont be playing footy, or even jogging anytime soon..

So, supplements like glucosamine, cod liver oil et al - are they any good ?  I'm thinking that i probably have "structural" damage to the knee, so what use is a supplement ?  but i guess they might help with my good knee, which might eventually suffer because of me compensating and putting more weight on it..

I am a courier, so have a pretty active job, getting in/out van and up steps/slopes 100+ times a day, i did have a fall a week or so ago which twisted up my "bad" knee pretty bad, but it is calming down again now, after the usual ICE / elevation /painkillers..

IF the supplements were worth a go, i would need to check the ingredients as i am T1 Diabetic...thinking about it, glucosamine dosnt sound brilliant for me !!

[Deleted User]

https://www.bulk.com/ie/the-core-ie/cod-liver-oil-what-are-the-benefits-side-effects/
I gave this a go a few years ago, when I ached and felt it did some good
https://www.bulk.com/uk/omega-oil-blend.html

MalMonroe

Sorry to hear of your fall.

I think you'll have to speak to your GP about this though because you have to be ultra careful if you're a T1 diabetic and also, we on this forum don't know your full medical history. Whenever taking supplements, although they sound innocent enough, they can actually be quite lethal if taken in the wrong combination or dose. I'm vegetarian and am allergic to the veggie Cod Liver Oil substitute and also B12 makes me really ill. Things affect different people differently.

But you have a specific reason for wanting to know how to keep your joints working and your GP is probably the person to go to first. If your GP surgery is anything like mine, we can phone up in the morning and a doctor phones us back sometime that day and we consult with them that way during these coronavirus times.

I think it's good that you have an active job though. I've learned from experience (nasty shoulder injury) that exercise really is the only thing that works in the long term - exercise and physio actually but the first stop should be your GP. Is what I think, anyway. Good luck!

deejaybee

Thanks for feedback both.

Yep very good point about running supplements past GP, although my local diabetic care team have pretty much sent me to Coventry ( long story ) but if i request a GP call the actual GPs usually respond ok.

goldfinches

You might find the website Versus Arthritis useful, they have a section where they list all the supplements that are touted for arthritis and then give you the results from clinical trials and you can filter the list by specific types of arthritis too.