Cautions with Glucosamine

 Cautions with Glucosamine

While glucosamine, as a natural substance that actually is produced by your own body, is considerably safer than other arthritis-pain fighters such as NSAIDS and COX-2 medicines, it, like everything we ingest, can occasionally be harmful.

The first concern is that not a lot of folks are aware that most glucosamine is a derivative of shellfish. Some is, instead, made from corn - but this glucosamine product is far more difficult to find. Many people are allergic to shellfish.

If, in fact, you are one of the folks with a shellfish allergy, you don't necessarily have to rule out the use of glucosamine for your arthritis joint pain and discomfort. A pure glucosamine product, even one that comes from shellfish, might not trigger an allergic reaction. The reason for this is that a person's allergic reaction to shellfish is a reaction to its proteins and glucosamine comes from a shellfish carbohydrate called chitin. While you don't want to try glucosamine without a physician's guidance, you will quite likely find that the extraction process to create the glucosamine has destroyed the allergy-prone protein as well as the antigens that your body would allergically react to.

If you are diabetic, you should avoid glucosamine HCL as well as glucosamine sulphate. These cause your body's insulin to fluctuate. In fact, anyone taking glucosamine should keep a careful eye on his or her blood sugar level.
Nor should you take glucosamine if you are pregnant or breastfeeding. Although there is nothing to suggest glucosamine could be harmful to a fetus or infant, there is also nothing definitive to say that it would not be.

While it is not necessary to take your glucosamine at mealtime you may have less chance of digestive discomfort by taking it with a large drink. If you multiply the recommended daily dosage several times you may have an overdose effect such as diarrhea or nausea.

Except for these cautions, glucosamine has a safety history of over twenty years. It is the safest, and most effective pill or liquid you can take to help ease the pain of arthritis while repairing the bone's cartilage. Unlike other prescription or over the counter anti-arthritis drugs, glucosamine has some very positive residual effects. Should you discontinue its use, there is a prolonged period of time when your body is still realizing the effects of its ingestion.   For the best joint protection and relief of pain in the joints, a regular daily glucosamine is the best recommendation.