How much glucosamine should you take each day?

[deadken]

I'm a runner. I usually do 2 miles each morning Tuesday through Friday. On Saturday and Sunday I like to do more mileage minimum 3.6 miles, but can go up to 7.2 miles. I don't usually run more than 7.2 miles unless I'm training for a half marathon (ran 13.1miles once, 1H 58M). I don't run on Monday mornings.

I've had a knee problem lately. It largely feels better but occasionally feels weird when going down stairs, etc... I've stopped running for 2 weeks, and I can't say that it made 'all the difference'. My knee feels largely better, but still doesn't feel right %100 of the time. So, I barely run anymore.

I went for my Physical and the PA and Student PA suggested that I cut my mileage down (1mile each day, maybe 2) and that I start taking glucosamine, calcium, and something else (I think it was Vitamin D) daily. Unfortunately, I don't know how much glucosamine I should take. I'm 45 Y/O, 182lbs (usually closer to 175, but I've put on weight since I stopped running). The PA suggested that runners wear out their knees and If I keep doing as much mileage as I did, I'll need a knee replacement.

Are you supposed to take glucosamine once a day, or lower amount 2 or more times a day? Is chondroitin the same thing as glucosamine or is it often added to the same pill?

Ok, before I finished writing this, I found the Mayo Clinic says:
Adults (18 years and older)

In most available studies, 500 milligrams of glucosamine sulfate has been taken by mouth as tablets or capsules three times daily for 30 to 90 days. Once daily dosing as 1.5 grams (1,500 milligrams) has also been used. Limited research has used 1,500 milligrams daily as a crystalline powder for oral solution or 500 milligrams of glucosamine hydrochloride three times daily. Dosing of 20 milligrams per kilogram of body weight daily has also been recommended in some publications. One study used a dose of 2,000 milligrams per day for 12 weeks.

Certainly not a clear recommendation on what I should do, but helps to know what studies have used.

I think I'll take 1500 to 1600mls a day for a month or so and see what happens. 180lbs = 82Kilos. 82K x 20mg = 1600 mg per day.

Any suggestions?

BTW: I think I'll make an appointment with a sports doctor. It might be nice to hear what he thinks I should do about my knee.
Sorry that I'm all over the map with this post. I tried to be clear and ended up not being very focused. Any helpful suggestions will be appreciated.

 

[Mr. Pedantic]

It's questionable whether these supplements actually work anyway. Many small studies show they work, but the trend is the larger and more rigorous the study the less effect it seems to show. In any case, if you want to take these supplements, then it doesn't really matter, as long as you don't go completely overboard, they've been shown to be quite safe at a variety of dosages, so as long as you don't take so many you choke, you should be fine.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

All in all, glucosamine will have a very small effect on your overall knee pain unless you have significant arthritis. It's better at preventing knee pain than anything else I've seen. If you truly do have knee pain, seeing a PA is not the best for it, especially if the injury isn't showing up on imaging. Go see a physical therapist - that intervention will be more appropriate overall. Dropping your mileage forever is NOT the answer and isn't advice PAs should be giving out, IMO.

To answer your question, typically you would take around 2000mg glucosamine HCl. Some manufacturers state that will be the loading dose and then you can decrease to 1000mg afterward, but it doesn't really matter. Glucosamine has almost no side effects at that dosage no matter what. To keep it simple, just take 2g daily.

 

[deadken]

UPDATE:
Went to the sports doctor yesterday and got some good news. Follow up thread is over here:
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?p=34429317#post34429317

All in all, glucosamine will have a very small effect on your overall knee pain unless you have significant arthritis. ... If you truly do have knee pain, seeing a PA is not the best for it... Go see a physical therapist - that intervention will be more appropriate overall. Dropping your mileage forever is NOT the answer and isn't advice PAs should be giving out, IMO.

To answer your question, typically you would take around 2000mg glucosamine HCl. ... To keep it simple, just take 2g daily.

Thanks for the replies.

I'm a little less scatter-brained today. I have an appointment with a Chiropractor who is a sports doctor. He does a variety of treatments that I can't remember and was recommended by the running store I go to. I visited him after I tore my calf muscle and was very pleased with him. For that instance, I had been to other doctors and no one had the right answer. He did some massage (to break up something-or-other) and gave me some exercises to do. A huge improvement in a matter of days after nobody / nothing helping for weeks.

With any luck I'll have more information after I leave. I'll post back if there is anything to report.

I bought some 1500mg Glucosamine / 1200mg Chondroitin sulfate caplets (Glucoflex brand) that my Pharmacist recommended (they happened to be on sale, I don't know if that influenced his recommendation). For now, I've cut my mileage down (basically running half of what I used to).

While I was at my physical, I asked for a Physical Therapy prescription for my torn calf muscle. My Dr (not PA) had given me one last year, but I never used it. This year I'm expecting to go and talk about my knee while there. With any luck I'll get into the habit of going someplace to exercise and perhaps when it's over, I'll join a gym (if I can get into a routine of going twice a week, etc...).

Thanks again for the replies. I really needed to get the OP out of my head (which is why it was so scrambled). Now, I'm a bit more focused, have a better idea of what needs to be done, and am putting a plan in motion. Whew... It's a bit of a relief.