Glucosamine queston!!

Going off glucosamine will not hurt your joints, you just will not get the potential benefit of it.  I have used it off and on over the years.  I began using it based on advice I received from my orthopedic surgeon.  At the time there had not benn any clinical data.  I may be wasting my money, the clinical trials do not appear to support the claims.  The clinical trials so far have been very small studies so it, in my opinion is not definitive.  I doubt however I would be using the stuff at your age unless I really had a reason to. 

x2.  I used it for a time just based on others' recommendations.  I've both felt good and had sore joints while using it and while not using it.  Didn't seem worth it to me given the lack of supporting evidence for it in studies.  I also notice that when I run more consistently, I generally have LESS joint aches and pains.

What are the custom othothics exactly?  I have had knee pain for years and it really slows me down.  I have been taking glucosamine for about 5 weeks and I am not really sure it has made difference.  I do plan on continueing to take it. 

If you're having knee issues at your age (and you're obviously a fit person) I would get that looked at by an orthopaedic first.  The glucosamine has helped me in the past but I'm not on it now and can't tell the difference. 

yeah ive had it looked at before.... they said there was a build up of some fluid inside the knee....it sucks, i noticed during the summer when i ran a lot more then i am now, my knee did not bother me as much. So i guess i can start running mre consistently from now on then see how it is after i get going again. The only time it hurt this spring/summer was after my first half-mary. But i went for a bike ride after that and it was good to go..... weird..... but yeah. Maybe it is because i took a couple weeks off from really training and running.

But yeah, doc's wouldnt do anything about it they just said keep an eye on it. All this pain as from a day at soccer practise when i was practicing free kicks, and kicked about 4 million soccer balls with my right foot, was not a good idea......ever since then it has been weak.

You will most likely not see results after 5 weeks, and for the first 6-8 weeks you normally want to take a little more than the suggested dose. I would take 1500 mg's or so for 6-8 weeks, then cut down to about 1000mg for the remainder of the time you take it.

 Also for the OP is your pain kinda of a inflammation type of pain? I have had some excess fluid, and inflammation issues that I am still dealing with (I am 22 years old) I started taking prodeolic (sp?) enzymes to help with the inflammation and they seem to help quite a bit! Garden of Life FYI, Enzymatic Therapy Repair, and WOBenzyme are 3 very good peoducts.

 I am not much older than you and have been taking Glucosamine and Chondroiton with MSM for years now as a precautionary measure. I still have joint pain, inflammation but I am hoping it helps. Its a hit or miss though as with any natural supplement each person absorbs, processes everything different.

It might be the stride i run with, because it only hurts flatland, and downhill..... when going uphill i just rip, and it does not hurt. I can go on a stair stepper all day.....no pain, but flatland and descending running kicks my .... it was always like this, even last year. But yes,  i am young and hope to be a solid triathlete one day, i better make the right decisions now.

P.S, what are the gaits of my feet?

Latest and greatest long term study said the same thing that other studies have said.  There are no recognized/recorded benefits to taking it and the results were the same as the placebo control group.  They had something on the radio about it a few weeks ago.

Not saying that others haven't had perceived benefits, just that in the study (the radio show said it was done over multiple years and through numerous people, not a small group) there were no more benefits than people who took the sugar pill.

After having heard that before from other sources and then confirmed by a fairly large study by a reputable source, I personally am not wasting my money any more .......

Sounds like it could be a form issue. See the thread on running form. Perhaps if you can replicate the form you use while using the stepper or running uphill for all your running you will have different results with your knee issue. Pay attention to what part of the foot you land on and where your footstrike is in relation to your body. Is there a big difference between flat, down, and up?

I used glucosamine for several years after a knee surgery. Whether it helped or not is debatable. I read about the studies indicating there was no real benefit and I quit using it. No difference as far as I can tell, although I'm now runnig substantially more.

recent data show that neither glucosamine/chond or glucosamine alone show significant benefits in dealing with arthritis and knee pain. There are plenty of anecdotal stories that show effectiveness. The ingredients do not interfere with any other medications. Therefore it has been my recommendation to my patients to try it if they believe it might help since it will not harm you in anyway. I recommend that if they do not "feel" any benefit after 2 months to discontinue therapy. I tried it and it did nothing for me but if you have 70 bucks and want to give it a shot it wont hurt.

That's pretty much what I did.  I continued to try it until it just didn't make sense to me any more with the studies.  Because I noticed zero difference and have actually had some more pains lately than I used to (mostly from changing my training shoe styles I believe).

I played hockey and soccer since i was young. Started running longer and faster in about november 2007, trained it for about a year, but still more biking then running since Nov 2007. But, in June 2007 my knee has bothered me at soccer practices till about november 2007.. Never bothered me june-september 2008, but i stopped running for 3 weeks because i dropped something on my foot this month, now i run again and my knee injury is back.....and im on glucosamine to see what it does.