 Poster: A snowHead
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Some of you may recall I have had various knee issues over the years. The result is in my one knee I have 1/3 of my meniscus cartilage left and half a reconstructed ACL.
For a year now I have been taking Glucosamine and Chondroitin supplements to try and help and hopefully stave off arthritis symptoms I have been told (by the three different surgeons who have operated on my knees) to expect.
I have never been sure if it makes any difference but my knee had been feeling good and strong but that could have just been due to the rehab and exercising I have been doing.
I have also had a bad shoulder for the last 11yrs after being knocked off my bike. I have surgery oiled for it this afternoon but as part of the pre-op stuff I was asked last week to stop taking the supplements ahead of today's operation. My knee has been feeling much more sensitive the last few days and feels rather tender.
I can only assume the supplements had been helping.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I can also attest to the beneficial properties of Glucosamine & Chondroitin complex supplements.
About 15 years ago I had such bad pain in one of my knees, sometimes I had to turn sideways just to climb the stairs.
After taking Glucosamine & Chondroitin pill complex, the problem disappeared, never to come back again, but one does need to take it for a while before it takes effect. If I remember correctly, that period for me was about 4-6 weeks.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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@snowglider, oh dear does that mean once I can take again it will take a while for my pain to go again, I was hoping that within a week it would as it took about 5 days for me to notice it wearing off.
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I've no idea @NickyJ, perhaps it could be an individual thing? I initially took it on the recommendation of a guy from my gym at the time. He said it'd be a while before it took effect - and that's exactly how it was, FOR ME.
Since then, I've tended to only take it when I was going really heavy at the gym. One is supposed to cycle it on a three - months - on, one - month - off basis, but I never really stuck to that. When the weights I was training with got lighter, I would completely stop supplementing with G&C.
Never had any problems when I stopped it, which I found amazing.
Over the years I recommended it to 3-4 friends and they all reported similar experiences to mine. I swear by this product.
So if for you it took 5 days for the effect to wear off, let's hope that it'll take similar length of time to come back on again?
Either way, it WILL, so let's just hope it doesn't take too long! 
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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@CaravanSkier, the link you've posted just takes me to a 404 page.
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@midgetbiker,there's a stray comma at the end, I've taken it out
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@Hells Bells, thanks
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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@CaravanSkier,
I like that link. Now I can tell Mrs M that eating more chillies will be good for her joints (especially when mixed with ginger & turmeric) 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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In the interests of balance, I've used G+C supplements over several weeks (usually prescribed but I have paid for them too to continue the experiment) and have never noticed any difference whatsoever. Interesting to see the link above which basically also doesn't really rate them. I do know that G+C supplements are one of the products that are nearly always cited as a prime example of pharmaceutical companies commissioning/sponsoring studies to "prove" that their products work and that there are almost no independent double blind studies of G+C effectiveness. If it works for you, great, but I think it's snake oil.
P.S. In contrast, I believe the virtues of capsaicin are well proven and not just for joints. India has one of the lowest rates for stomach ulcers and cancer in the world which is usually credited to their spicy diet.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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@CaravanSkier,
Fortunately I don't suffer from that sort of hot flush 
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@musher, 
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You know it makes sense.
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@Raceplate, I had been dubious and had read the study's as well. Though they were concentrating on both in isolation (the ones I found) and on symptomatic arthritis sufferers (my hope was to delay the effects) I also knew there was no way I could know if it worked. However decided that it made me feel better trying something, so was rather surprised to notice when I stopped taking them - I hadn't been consciously thinking of my knee as I was too worried about you upcoming shoulder op.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Poster: A snowHead
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All I know is that it worked for me, without an iota of doubt.
I am sure of this, because the pain in my knee wasn't just some little pain, so that I would have to wonder if it's there or not. Like I said earlier, at one point it got so bad that I couldn't climb the stairs, lest I turned sideways.
I know that it wasn't just a "placibo effect"; that would maybe work with a niggling pain, but not with such an excruciating pain as mine was.
Also, my pain was long - standing; so the chances of "coincidentally" disappearing just as I took G+C are, to my mind, about zero.
But to each their own.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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There have been some updates from Cochrane ( who review scientific literature)
They are now saying that chondroitin may be worth a try but a little more cautious about glucosamine.
Ive never seen anyone harmed by it so i suggest just try for three months
Jonathan Bell
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Since the double blind tests show that glucosamine performs as well as a placebo I thought I would try the less expensive placebo. It proved a bit difficult persuade the doctor to prescribe it so I bought some from Severn Trent Water. It appears to work provide I combine it with the physio.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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G & C must be a high dose, not the one the nhs used to give out !!! also the benefit should only show after about 3 months, but after that you should notice when you dont take it, i get mine from a vet supplies as its slightly cheaper but you can get a larger dose, a lot cheaper in USA though...
If youre wondering why vets sell it, mainly for cattle to get them to market im told !!
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Hi, the mention of vet products prompted me to comment. One of our Labradors has elbow displacia, basically cartilage worn out. Poor dog was only 12 month old. He was operated on by Noel Fitzpatrick the supervet. His ongoing medication is G&C.
The 6 month post op MRI clearly showed increased cartilage vs pre-op. Noel did point out that the G&C sold in health food shops was useless as it was mainly Glucosamine sulphate which is not absorbed well. He recommended we only buy Glucosamine HCL as the body absorbs this better.
We buy this on line from VetUK 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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We did try G&C on our elderly dog for a while. She'd torn a ligament and along with occasional Metacam, it did seem to help as she eventually recovered enought without surgery to start exercising properly again. Only a month before she died at 13, she could manage a 6 mile walk (although not every day).
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Hi guys, I've only been skiing a year my number one passion is bodybuilding and I'm gonna tell you that this stuff does work and Jim stoppani who is known as the supplement guru says the following with regards to joint health "@JimStoppani: I stack mine separately. Try Curcumin, UC-II, quercetin, can also try adding MSM and glucosamine/chondroitin" basically these are the best supplements for looking after your joints. Hope this helps 
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I tried G&C tablets for a couple of months many years ago, in the hope it would improve my stiffening and painful knees. They had become so bad that when, one day, I tried a Munro, I ended up coming down sideways and backwards ! I gave up as I could not discern any benefit.
Another alternative is Forever Freedom - the Aloe Vera (cactus) juice that has G & C, and also MSM mixed in. I tried it some years ago and felt a benefit within a week, so much so that I started skiing again about 10 years ago after a layoff of about 18 years. Now have three weeks a year skiing in Europe, an as many days as the snow permits at Glenshee. I take 30ml each morning.
I was beginning to wonder if it was merely providing a placebo effect, until I was asked to stop taking it for a week before a leg operation this summer. I can confirm it works, as by the end of the week before the op, I was hobbling around with very sore knees. Needless to say, I have resumed taking it.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Anyone tried "jointace collagen" its an off the shelf pack with collagen,glucosamine & chondroitin.
Suffering with stiff knees & Mrs overall-like posture after sitting. Am a bit worried how the skiing is going to fair. We're off at new year so need to up the mobility & knee strength but have never taken supplements before. Any side effects to consider?
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I've never used one myself but my Mom did.
She was having on-going physio for a stiff shoulder at the time. The physio didn't show much result but she was told to "kept at it". Then she had a visitor who's a retired chemist. He recommended a specific brand, saying the rest were hard to absorb by the body. He bought a bottle of it and gave my Mom as a gift. Still not believing it, she didn't want it to go to waste either. So she finished it.
Shortly after starting on the supplement, she felt some difference. Even the physio also noticed there's significant improvement, and ask if Mom had "finally starting to take the physio seriously?" The truth was, she didn't do more nor less exercise. The difference seems to be the supplement!
The combination of supplement and physio eventually got her back to normal. So she stopped both and everything seems to be fine now.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Glucosamine and Chondroitin supplements had zero effect on me when suffered from OA in my hip.
Ibuprofen and then diclofenac helped me maintain mobility, but obviously did nothing for the joint.
In the end a one-off large supplement of iron and chromium applied directly to the inside of the joint did the trick 
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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I take them everyday and have done for about 10 years and it helps me out - in the Summer I sometimes 'scale' back my taking and I feel my knees get a little more painful until I up my dosage (possibly all phycosymatic (sp?!))
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Have been taking them religiously since about 2000 - there was a period in my life when I was taking just about every supplement that was out there, yet my cartilage turned into complete mess in the same time, also read a bit on it and other supplements and on the studies so threw the remaining pills into the bin and stopped wasting money. Also, I had to see doctors twice for knee issues and glucosamine/chondroitin wasn't even suggested.
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