Since the early 1980s, hundreds of thousands of people have used glucosamine and continue to use it to help ease arthritis pain. Glucosamine exists naturally in your joints, and it is a natural nutraceutical product, meaning it comes from nature. Most glucosamine actually comes from shellfish.
Before glucosamine, people had to take other drugs to help with arthritis. Often, people took painkillers such as Aspirin, Advil and Ibuprofen – known as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or NSAIDS. These over-the-counter drugs can ease your pain short-term, but you should not take them for longer than a week or so because they also have dangerous side effects. For example, after a while, people can experience stomach bleeding, digestive problems, liver failure and blood clotting because NSAIDS act as a foreign substance on your body. Also, even though NSAIDS reduce pain by numbing your brain, the cause of the pain still exists, so these drugs don’t really tackle the root of the problem.
Later, people had a second option of taking prescription drugs, but these also have potentially toxic side effects, and they only cover up the pain, as well. Plus, they are very expensive.
Glucosamine works differently from these two types of medicines because it works from within your body. When you put glucosamine into your body, it joins with your current supply of the chemical, and works to not only alleviate pain, but also to build and maintain your cartilage, tendons and tissues. This means it can actually modify arthritis and slow the progression of the disease. The effects may take a little longer for you to notice because your pain will go away when your joints actually start healing, not just when your nerves get sedated.
Although glucosamine has almost no side effects, you should still make a few considerations before taking it. For example, if you have shellfish allergies, you should tell your doctor because glucosamine usually comes from shellfish. However, most people have allergies to the proteins in shellfish, while glucosamine comes from the carbohydrates of shellfish, so many allergic people don’t have problems. Also, when you take glucosamine, your insulin levels can fluctuate, which can cause problems for diabetics. Doctors also do not recommend glucosamine if you are pregnant or nursing.
Glucosamine comes in several different forms. You can either take it orally, intravenously or intramuscularly. Oral liquid doses provide the quickest relief, even faster than pills because your body absorbs liquid quicker. Not to mention that most people find liquid doses easier to take – you can even pour it over your dog’s food if it has arthritis, too. Although you may have seen glucosamine cream products, doctors don’t have evidence that your skin can absorb the medicine, so stick with the liquid doses.
Also, look at the ingredients to know the purity of the product. Glucosamine sulfate made of KCl or NaCl has a lot of the glucosamine bound up in salts, so you get a smaller dosage. Even though these are cheaper, they aren’t the real thing. The ingredient purity should consist of pharmaceutical quality. You should also look for products that contain both glucosamine sulfate and glucosamine HCL as ingredients. As for cost, pills cost less than liquid doses, but remember that your body absorbs more of the liquid. Generally, most people take 1,500 mg per day (1/4 fl oz), which ends up costing around $30-$40 per month, or about a dollar a day.
By Lisa Zyga