By Angie on Monday, June 05, 2000 - 03:52 pm:

I have seen elsehwere on this forum that glucosamine helps with joint pain related to hypermobility. Does anyone know if it actually helps build and/or support the
connective tissues to help stabilize the joints? All I've read about is it building cartilage, which doesn't seem to be our problem. At least, my problem is with my
ligaments. Thanks!

By Gwen on Monday, June 05, 2000 - 03:52 pm:

Just recently there was an article posted on the English Ehlers-Danlos website about glucosamine and chondroiton. A medical study has been carried out but is yet to
be peer reviewed so the researcher couldn't make any definite comments but said that, at this stage, he would not recommend anyone to quit their current medication
in favour of G & C.
The way I understand it, it's not that we aren't producing collagen but the collagen that we do produce is defective so it seems reasonable to assume that, no matter
how many supplements we take, even if we produce more collagen it will still be defective. Nothing will change the way we metabolise substances. My personal
feeling is that until genetic manipulation has developed sufficiently, we should be looking only at substances that treat our symptoms and improve quality of life.
I think the hope for the future will definitely lie in gene manipulation but whether that is altogether a desirable option is another question.

By Bianca on Monday, June 05, 2000 - 03:53 pm:

I think the way it works, is that with taking glucosamine you make sure that your body has surely enough stuff to rebuild dammaged tissues. So you make sure that
healing is not slowed by a lack of the type of proteins where the ligaments are made of.
And as Beth says, because we more often dammage our ligaments, tendons or so we need more glucosamine than normal people.

By Beth on Monday, June 05, 2000 - 03:53 pm:

It is supposed to rebuild cartiledge. We wear our cartiledge out faster and that(I think) is what causes most of our pain when we get older. It can, though I don't
know about us, delay OA.

Hugs Beth

By susie on Thursday, July 13, 2000 - 07:18 am:

I first took glucosamine about 2 years ago for chronic shoulder pain. I was desperate, and had read a bit about it in the book "The arthritis cure". I was amazed that my shoulder pain went away after 24 hours. I kept taking it and to make a very long story short, this is the first "treatment" that actually tightened my loose and painful sacral-iliac ligaments. I continue to take it every day. Shop around for prices and strengths. This supplement has been a very important addition to my daily "rehab" program and continues to make a big difference in my life.

Susie

By Gwen on Thursday, June 28, 2001 - 08:39 pm:

The results of a study on glucosamine have
recently been released. Go to
http://www.individual.com
and search for
"Laboratory Tests Conclude Top-Selling Joint
Supplements Meet Label Claims". The actual link
is about a hundred characters long so probably
easier to access it this way.

By silvia on Friday, June 29, 2001 - 05:20 am:

Hi,

You might want to read this article as well. It states the importance of taking glucosamine and chondroitin together.

http://www.drtheo.com/htopic1.html

By Sheena on Tuesday, July 03, 2001 - 11:48 pm:

I tried glucosamine and chondroitin for a short time and it seemed to upset my stomach. (I have IBS and some diverticular disease). Has anyone else had side-effects? I am wondering whether to give the glucosamine another try.

By Mickey on Wednesday, July 04, 2001 - 02:30 pm:

Hiya Sheena,

I also have ibs and divericular disease. I take the glucosamine and cod liver oil capsules, one each morning. I have not suffered any side effects, so it might be the chondroitin which caused the problem, well its someting to think about at least! I have been taking this supplement since September last year!!And it has helped a little.Good luck with whatever you try next.
Mickey