Glucosamine patches, any good?

the.weekender

I suffer from arthritis and take 3 x 50 mg of anti inflamatories per day, but I am still in some pain.
A mailshot came through my letterbox extolling the virtues of Glucosamine patches, saying they were a lot more effective than the Tablets, even 1500mg per day.

Have any MSE BMs tried the Patches, are they any better than the tablets?
TIA

Steve-o

I can find research papers that deal with the healing properties of patches impregnated with a type of glucosamine, but nothing connected to arthritis. Were there any details in the mailshot about research?

Personally, I'd stick with the tablets for now. They, at least, have some proven effect.

the.weekender

Cheers steve-o
The mailshot came from Snowden healthcare, so i googled 'Glucosamine patches' and had a read up.
It says you need to give these patches a few weeks to start having an effect, of course that means paying for a couple of months before you know if they are any good or not.

The perils of being a Senior citizen in Northern europe:D

Steve-o

The NICE review doesn't mention patches either, so I assume there's been no published data on them yet.

the.weekender, if you feel that the tablets work for you then there is no reason to stop taking them (as the evidence indicates them to be safe). If you don't feel that they are working, stop buying them and save your money.

If you decide to try the patches, you would need to try them for a few months to see if any change in pain/discomfort is just down to the placebo effect. Again, there is little reason why you shouldn't try them if you want to, except that it might just be a lot of wasted money. The claims for them, as there seems to be no published data, could be viewed as.....spurious.

the.weekender

Thanks for the input guys.
I was hoping to stop taking so many tablets, as well as the 3 Diclofenac I have also tried Tramadol and Cocodamel with the anti inflamatories.

I also have to take 4 tablets a day for Hypertension

I have a good supply of Clucosamine 1500, Omega 3, Glucosamine/Chondroitin and Over 50's Active, plus some Odourless garlic for fun:eek:

So I have not been taking these supplements for a while, because of all the other things going into my body I was thinking of trying the patches but until I can get any positive info that idea will remain on the back burner.