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Errata

Biggles wrote: »

I thought Glucosamine had been officially declared 'useless' last month?

I guess I'll find out what my practice think when I collect my next prescription - or not!

Yes it was, the only effect it has is to produce expensive poo !

Biggles

My poo is free (Glucosamine is on NHS rx), which is probably why the Department of Health have written to ask me for some poo for their bowel cancer screening.

I shall send them as much as I can afford!

Millwall_Lioness

My physio advises 500mg ,three times a day.He was very specific that taking 1500mg in one dosage is not as effective.Any views on this? I have only been able to locate vegetarian 500mg Glucosamine tablets from Boots.I wait until the 3 for 2 offer but its still pretty expensive. Anyone know of another source that is vegetarian. Thanks

Biggles

Millwall_Lioness wrote: »

My physio advises 500mg ,three times a day.He was very specific that taking 1500mg in one dosage is not as effective.Any views on this? I have only been able to locate vegetarian 500mg Glucosamine tablets from Boots.I wait until the 3 for 2 offer but its still pretty expensive. Anyone know of another source that is vegetarian.

Perhaps you should discuss it with someone medically qualified, especially in vew of the latest evidence that it does no good anyway, one dose or three, vegetarian or not?

terry2

Biggles wrote: »

I thought Glucosamine had been officially declared 'useless' last month?
!

Well yes and no. The trial was specifically looking at osteo-arthritis in a knee joint. and "useless" isn't quite what it said - a relevant sentence in the abstract is "However, glucosamine and celecoxib showed beneficial but not significant trends." and the report on the NIH site includes " For a subset of participants with moderate-to-severe pain, glucosamine combined with chondroitin sulfate provided statistically significant pain relief compared with placebo" .

atypical

Millwall_Lioness wrote: »

My physio advises 500mg ,three times a day.He was very specific that taking 1500mg in one dosage is not as effective.Any views on this?

The NICE guidance used 1500mg once daily as the comparison:

"Overall, those trials which used glucosamine sulfate as a single dose of 1500 mg, rather than hydrochloride 500 mg tds [three times daily], showed a small benefit over placebo for treatment of knee OA."

"it would be beneficial to advise people who wanted to trial over-the-counter glucosamine that the only potential benefits identified in early research are purely related to a reduction of pain (to some people, and to only mild or modest degree) with glucosamine sulfate 1500mg daily."

There's a good summary of all the different evidence here:
http://www.cks.nhs.uk/osteoarthritis/evidence/supporting_evidence/pharmacological_treatments/glucosamine

Farway

Millwall_Lioness wrote: »

My physio advises 500mg ,three times a day.He was very specific that taking 1500mg in one dosage is not as effective.Any views on this? I have only been able to locate vegetarian 500mg Glucosamine tablets from Boots.I wait until the 3 for 2 offer but its still pretty expensive. Anyone know of another source that is vegetarian. Thanks

Yes, Healthspan, the Optiflex range, based on corn not shell fish

http://www.healthspan.co.uk/glucosamine-supplements/glucosamine-optiflex-hcl-750mg/productdetail-p1545872-c142.aspx

Biggles

Errata wrote: »

Yes it was, the only effect it has is to produce expensive poo !

I found that comment interesting and looked further; a bit of research showed references to 'gastrointestinal side effects', of which I was not previously aware but had been suffering to a degree.

Since stopping glucosamine, this has ceased, and I feel much more 'comfortable' in that area.

Thanks, Errata.

John_Pierpoint

Biggles wrote: »

My poo is free (Glucosamine is on NHS rx), which is probably why the Department of Health have written to ask me for some poo for their bowel cancer screening.

I shall send them as much as I can afford!

Are we not all being asked to do bowel cancer screening or is it just my GP who has had me do it twice?

I suppose what was good enough for Ronald Reagan is good enough for the rest of us.:D