Pain with Glucosamine

**wetware** · Posted On: 5/16/2007 4:09am

I know there's other Glucosamine/Chondroitin threads on here, but I'm running into something that I've not heard of before and wondered if any of you have experienced similar problems.

Basically, a couple weeks ago, in order to prepare for returning to training and possibly rejoining the military I began taking Glucosamine/Chondroitin supplements to help with my knee pain. I haven't been doing cardio other than the elliptical or bicycling a few times a week because I'm still trying to keep the impact low until I lose a few more pounds to reduce the stress on my knees.

Has anyone else experienced this? If so, did it stop given time? Could it be because it's working? Or is it more of a placebo effect type thing, as in I'm taking this supplement therefore paying more attention to how my knees are feeling and therefore noticing the pain more? Prior to taking the glucosamine again I'd not really noticed much pain in my knees for several months unless I was excessively hard on them.

Edit: I forgot to mention I've taken Glucosamine/Chondroitin before and it seemed to help a great deal, but I don't remember increased pain at the beginning.

**AeroChica** · Posted On: 5/24/2007 12:27pm

Heya! I started the Glucosamine/Condroitin/MSM joint protocol last month when my wrists started to give out from boxing. I did find they were painful for the first few weeks, but I don't know if that was residual pain from the injury or what. I did notice something very odd after a few weeks of treatment - I am a perpetual knuckle-cracker, and I found my finger joints seemed more stiff. I don't have to crack them as often now. I've been on the combination for about 5 weeks and with going light-contact in class, my wrists feel much better.

El Macho can give you all kinds of advice for this - massage before working out, icing after, anti-inflamatories that will bring down the irritation, and such. Trust me it works!

**Neildo** · Posted On: 5/24/2007 12:37pm

Interesting. I've been taking this nasty tasting stuff for a few weeks now. I haven't noticed any improvement, only some extra pain.

Reminds me, i should go take some right now. i missed a couple of days...

**Goju - Joe** · Posted On: 5/24/2007 12:42pm

Apparently it takes a month of regular dosage to feel a difference with Glucosamine also there are issues with absorption of these things and such

**Equipoise** · Posted On: 5/24/2007 3:54pm

Glucosamine shouldn't cause pain. Supplementing it just adds to the body's ability to bridge between connective tissues. There's another physiological issue that needs to be examined.

As for the cracking joints, that's a psychosomatic thing. All you're doing is releasing the gases in the synovial fluid between your joints.

**Neildo** · Posted On: 5/24/2007 4:18pm

Originally Posted by Equipoise

As for the cracking joints, that's a psychosomatic thing. All you're doing is releasing the gases in the synovial fluid between your joints.

Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

Originally Posted by Equipoise

Glucosamine shouldn't cause pain. Supplementing it just adds to the body's ability to bridge between connective tissues. There's another physiological issue that needs to be examined.

Just taking a shot in the dark here, but perhaps the pain is a result of refreshed nerve activity in the previously damaged tissue?

**Judah Maccabee** · Posted On: 5/24/2007 5:17pm

Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

Neutral thing. The only time you're going to hurt yourself while cracking your knuckles is if you're trying to force the joint in a weird way.

Out of curiousity, what brand of Gluco/Chondroitin are you taking?

**wetware** · Posted On: 5/24/2007 5:27pm

Originally Posted by Judah Maccabee

Out of curiousity, what brand of Gluco/Chondroitin are you taking?

Just when I was giving up on this. :XXbuzzsaw

It's just Schiff, a brand carried by CVS. Nothing real expensive or anything.
I also noted that there's two other ingredients purported to increase the effectiveness of the Glucosamine/Chondroitin. 'Uniflex Proprietary Extract' which is a blend of Chinese Scullcap root extract and Black Catechu bark extract, and 'Joint Fluid' which is Hyaluronic Acid.

I also should note that the pain has decreased a great deal, but gradually. As a matter of fact, I didn't realize they'd almost completely stopped hurting until I noticed that someone had replied to this thread.

**Neildo** · Posted On: 5/24/2007 5:43pm

Originally Posted by Judah Maccabee

Out of curiousity, what brand of Gluco/Chondroitin are you taking?

Originally Posted by Neildo

this nasty tasting stuff

So gross :icon_puke

Originally Posted by Judah Maccabee

Neutral thing. The only time you're going to hurt yourself while cracking your knuckles is if you're trying to force the joint in a weird way.

What about cracking the neck/spine/other joints (knees, elbows, ankles) ?

**Judah Maccabee** · Posted On: 5/24/2007 5:49pm

Note - I'm not a doctor.

Consider this - if a joint painlessly cracks while working it through a NORMAL range of motion, there's little to no harm. Some people have naturally "crunchy" joints; it's a condition called "crepitus." The key thing here is normal range of motion and painlessness. If your knees crack when you stand after sitting for a while, and it doesn't hurt, then that's no problem.

The issue comes when you try to force the crack or manipulate the joint too hard or too far. If you lean your neck and it painlessly cracks, ok, but if you're yanking on it with both hands, you've got a problem.

Me personally, I've got a herniated cervical disc, so sometimes, cracking my neck will have minor pain associated with it. It used to be that it had semi-major pain with nerve radiation.