Re: Medication query - joint supplements

[Guest guest]

Happy you've made the discovery !! My horses and I have all been on joint supplements for many years, as they are safe with no side effects. I first noticed (after a few weeks) a significant difference in the older, stiffer horses, so I started on it myself. I also take MSM, but buy it separately to get the dosage right, and in the past few years I've added Hyaluronic Acid, which is an ingredient in joint fluid. MSM (methylsulfonylmethane) is dietary sulfur (see article below), something found in every cell of our bodies, and helps with cell growth, including collagen, and it's also a mild pain reliever. The beneficial side effect of MSM is that your skin, hair and nails get healthier and stronger. http://www.msm.com/ It works synergistically with the glucosamine/chondroitin and HA in helping the body to make juoint fluid and keep the joints lubricated.. The thing to watch out for here is whether you are you getting enough? Many supplement don't provide enough of any of these ingredients to do much good, and are expensive. I take 6000 mg of MSM a day, 1200 mg chondroiting and 1500 glucosamine. The least expensive I've found of glucosamine/chondroitin is a generic form of the brand Osteo BiFlex (don't know if you have that in Australia, I'm in the U.S.). Pure MSM can be found in pharmacies and supermarkets in 1000 mg tablets or capsules. If you're taking enough, you should have noticed a bit of difference at 7-30 days from my experience with it, and it's usually recommending to take loading dosages of double the amounts for the first at least 7, but normally 30 days, and then cut back to the normal dose.

My hip is not my only joint problem, in fact I think all my joints are getting arthritic, but the joint supplements have really helped put off the disintigration, I believe.

Barb Young, THR 2-13-07,very active 63 years

I have a question about Glucosamine with Chondroitin. I think it was aussie Margaret who first suggested that I take it. It is an OTC item (at least here in Australia). The tablet bottle said that it takes three months to experience any benefit and, sure enough, nothing changed for almost that long, but I now seem to be walking better and in less pain. I can't remember anybody ever mentioning these pills in here but it's a wonderful place to get help.

[Guest guest]

Barb, Thanks for letting me know the ideal human dose for MSM. A few people in the horse world here take it, only they buy the horse variety and bite the bullet (because of the taste). I've toyed w/ the idea of buying empty capsules and filling them . . . but so far I haven't bothered. I'll have to look into the Hyaluronic Acid. I've never heard of it before. Pat I also take MSM, but buy it separately to get the dosage right, and in the past few years I've added Hyaluronic Acid, which is an ingredient in joint fluid. MSM (methylsulfonylmethane) is dietary sulfur (see article below), something found in every cell of our bodies, and helps with cell growth, including collagen, and it's also a

mild pain reliever.

[Guest guest]

HA is the latest, greatest . Fortunately my "guinea pig" was an OLD pony stallion on whom I tried new things when they came out, because he got progressively arthritic in one hip (nope, we're not replacing equine hips!!). As with the others, I'd start with the MSM, when that wasn't enough I'd add the glucosamine and chondroitin, and HA came out right about when the former weren't quite enough for the old boy. It did the trick for quite a couple of years, and the minute I noticed the difference, I went in search of it for myself. Again, it's a benign precursor to joint fluid, virtually harmless. My favorite favorite place (United States) to get all my supplements is www.iHerb.com Their prices are excellent and the service is pretty fast and good. Things like HA always seem to turn up there before I can find them in the stores, and I believe some of their brand names are better quality. They also have great info on everything they sell.

I don't know that 6000 mg is the ideal dose for humans, Pat, and you certainly won't find that much listed in the directions. It's what works best for this particular individual human <smile>. In a very few humans (and horses) MSM can irritate the stomach, like aspirin and ibuprofen, just so you know.

Barb Young, THR 2-13-07,very active 63 years

Thanks for letting me know the ideal human dose for MSM. A few people in the horse world here take it, only they buy the horse variety and bite the bullet (because of the taste). I've toyed w/ the idea of buying empty capsules and filling them . . . but so far I haven't bothered. I'll have to look into the Hyaluronic Acid. I've never heard of it before.

[Guest guest]

Wouldn't the horse variety be so large of a capsule you would have fear of choking on it? I do not do well in taking even larger vitamins of the human variety. There is no way I could take one meant for a horse.

Dale

Re: Medication query - joint supplements

Barb,

Thanks for letting me know the ideal human dose for MSM. A few people in the horse world here take it, only they buy the horse variety and bite the bullet (because of the taste). I've toyed w/ the idea of buying empty capsules and filling them . . . but so far I haven't bothered. I'll have to look into the Hyaluronic Acid. I've never heard of it before.

Pat

I also take MSM, but buy it separately to get the dosage right, and in the past few years I've added Hyaluronic Acid, which is an ingredient in joint fluid. MSM (methylsulfonylmethane) is dietary sulfur (see article below), something found in every cell of our bodies, and helps with cell growth, including collagen, and it's also a mild pain reliever.

[Guest guest]

Neither could the horse <grin>! I can't even imagine trying to get a horse to take a pill. Equine supplements come in powder form, or in extruded, alfalfa based pellets. I mix it in with their grain, and they gobble it up. The powder forms are pretty invisible in milk shakes, but even so the people versions are easier and just as inexpensive these days. Just remember to be sure you are taking enough!

....and thanks for the giggle, Dale. Nothing personal, but the vision of giving a horse a pill, like you would a dog or cat, is just priceless.

Barb Young, THR 2-13-07,very active 63 years

Wouldn't the horse variety be so large of a capsule you would have fear of choking on it? I do not do well in taking even larger vitamins of the human variety. There is no way I could take one meant for a horse.

[Guest guest]

Another myth debunked. How often do we call a big pill a "horse pill" or a "pill big enough for a horse." Now, thanks to Barb, we know there is no such thing. Some dogs are impossible also. I had a dog that was perfectly behaved until it came to pills. He even refused glucosamine in livered-flavored tablets. Everything had to be either powdered and mixed into his food or camouflaged into something wonderful -- like cream cheese around a piece of steak with the pill in the middle. And I had to do it out of his sight. So I'd prepare his meds when he was napping, then hope it looked and smelled so good, he wouldn't smell the pill. The trick was to make him gobble or he woud eat around the pill and spit it out. That dog was too smart for his own good. RainbowFarm <RainbowFarm@...> wrote: Neither could the horse <grin>! I can't even imagine trying to get a horse to take a pill. Equine supplements come in powder form, or in extruded, alfalfa based pellets. I mix it in with their grain, and they gobble it up. The powder forms are pretty invisible in milk shakes, but even so the people versions are easier and just as inexpensive these days. Just remember to be sure you are taking enough! ...and thanks for the giggle, Dale. Nothing personal, but the vision of giving a

horse a pill, like you would a dog or cat, is just priceless. Barb Young, THR 2-13-07,very active 63 years Wouldn't the horse variety be so large of a capsule you would have fear of choking on it? I do not do well in taking even larger vitamins of the human variety. There is no way I could take one meant for a horse.

Food fight? Enjoy some healthy debatein the Answers Food Drink Q&A.

[Guest guest]

Dale,

I guess my message was unclear. The MSM for horses comes in a small bucket in powder form. Since it tastes so bad I was looking into getting empty capsules to fill w/ the MSM.

Pat

Wouldn't the horse variety be so large of a capsule you would have fear of choking on it? I do not do well in taking even larger vitamins of the human variety. There is no way I could take one meant for a horse.

Dale

[Guest guest]

Thanks for the reply then Pat. I was thinking it came in a very large capsule. But, I have seen almost always when looking for these kinds of supplements or even ordinary multi-vitamins(of the human kind) they are almost always a very large capsule or pill.

Dale

Re: Medication query - joint supplements

Dale,

I guess my message was unclear. The MSM for horses comes in a small bucket in powder form. Since it tastes so bad I was looking into getting empty capsules to fill w/ the MSM.

Pat

Wouldn't the horse variety be so large of a capsule you would have fear of choking on it? I do not do well in taking even larger vitamins of the human variety. There is no way I could take one meant for a horse.

Dale