LONGECITY

From reading around on the web it seems like 2g is the "recommended" dose. However, Xanadu, who is quite conservative in his dosages in general takes 4.5 grams of glucosamine a day.

Also are you supposed to split it up or take it all at once? Empty stomach or with meals?

Unless you are over 180 lbs then 1500mg should be fine, but seeing as it's hard to get to toxic levels with it I tend to go for 2000 per day. It's water soluble (being essentially sugar based) so should be fine on empty stomach or with meals although I have seen occasional warnings of gastric disturbance on an empty stomach (I have noticed no difference either way).

Most studies and supplements suggest 500mg or so at 3x per day. I tend to go all at once but that's mainly for convenience on my part.

Sentinel

I've added Glucosamine/Chondroitin on and off, but I read that it's only useful for joints on folks that are wiry. I am not wiry, I'm a large person, and supposedly, GC won't help joints on large people. I finally decided that GC wasn't helping me.

Fish oil, on the other hand has done wonders for my joints.

100% agree about the Fish Oil and I know from the Nutster's regimethat he is already a fan. I can't say I get such a noticable effect from GS but it's another angle that has a good deal of weight behind it. I read a study where they traced the GS with a harmless radioactive mix to see if it actually made it into the cartilage etc and sure enough it turned up on target.

Without wanting to divert the thread, I have found that since I switched my Fish Oil to Doctor's Best, a more potent EPA brand going by label, that my elbows and knees have started to creak again. This could also be down to other changes I've made eg introduction of SAMe, Resveratrol or just that I've got one of the many illnesses my children are touting, but I just thought I'd throw it out there if others have had less effective results from different brands in the fish oil arena.

Talking of brands I've gone for the AOR GS this time around as there are some really cheap brands around that just seem a little too good to be true...

Sentinel

I've added Glucosamine/Chondroitin on and off, but I read that it's only useful for joints on folks that are wiry.  I am not wiry, I'm a large person, and supposedly, GC won't help joints on large people.  I finally decided that GC wasn't helping me.

Fish oil, on the other hand has done wonders for my joints.

I'm definately wiry, so hopefully this will help!

... but I read that it's only useful for joints on folks that are wiry.

I've never heard or read this anywhere. Do you have a link?

Omega3 (krill oil) helped my joints a lot. I've only been taking a Glucosamine/Chondroitin/MSM mix (1500/1200/1000) for about a month, and I can't say I've noticed anything yet. I also read somewhere (no, I don't have the link) that it takes 6 months to see a noticeable change.

GS and chondroitin should give an effect within a week or two at most. Start with a small dose and if that doesn't do anything after a week or two try more. You can use a minimum dose to save money or take the amount that gives the max results.

The stuff I take is 300mg glucosamine, 300mg MSM, 240mg chondroitin each tablet. I usually take 4 a day. 2 in the morning 2 at night.

I use it to help knee pain, and have been using it for about 5 years. I would describe myself as both wiry and heavy. Many times I have run out, and not bought more right away.

What I've noticed is that initially it took about a week to help. When I run out it takes about a week to for me to tell a difference. I learned over the years to not wait a week to buy more because it will take a week for the pain to improve if I do.

It doesn't take all the pain away, but there's definitely an improvement. I've never tried higher doses for long enough periods to see how much more that would help mainly because of cost.

I've taken GC/MSM for as long as a year-and-a-half with no discernable change in my joint pain. Fish oil helps in four or five days. After a year of fish oil, my skin has gotten considerably better, too.