glucosamine experiment - Report

As of May 17 it has been slightly more than 90 days on Glucosamine.  Results are mixed.  I cannot say that my joint soreness is cured.  I do believe that I have experienced some improvement.  Maybe more time is needed for marked improvement.  I do know that my elbow soreness is definitely not worse, and there is probable improvement.  The problem is that over a 90 day period it is difficult to measure improvement.

Regarding my knees, now in addition to putting in my normal 15-20 miles per week of running, I am walking another 10-12 miles with my wife.  A normal day involves taking a 4-5 mile run, then meeting my wife and walking with her another 3-4 miles.  So, basically I leave the house at 6 pm and return at 8pm, completing a total 7-8 mile workout consisting of 4.5 miles of running at a 9:15 pace and walking 4 miles at a 15:00 pace.  My knees do have soreness after 4 days of this schedule.  But, I think even if my knees were healthy they would be sore after a workout regimen like that.  I wear patella straps on both knees which helps immensely.  The patella tendinitis in my left knee remains tolerable with the strap.  Without the strap my left knee would be too sore and would require constant medication with ibuprofen all day long.

Lastly, after sticking to the alkaline eating regimen for almost one year, along with this running program, my weight has dropped to about 165.   Although an admirable weight for a man my size (6'2") and age (late 50's), I don't need to lose any more weight (and I haven't been trying to lose weight!).  Just goes to show you if you eat right and exercise, weight, blood pressure, cholesterol, and other problems will take care of themselves.  I'm glad that I recognized this many years ago.

Lastly, my GERD was at a low level of activity for several months.  However two weeks ago, it kicked in for no apparent reason and stayed a a low level of volcanic activity for several weeks.  As of yesterday, it has calmed down again and I am trying to maintain that level.  It is really a hard thing to manage, as many of you know.

My last post was made after completing a fence repair project caused by a bad storm.  Several days after the fence repair I began to experience extreme soreness in my ribs on the right side.  Ignored it for about a week and then got serious about treating.  Over time I came to believe that I have experienced some kind of pulled muscle or some kind of muscle / tendon irritation in my ribs due to the extreme exertion during the fence repair of hammering over 50 feet of fence boards in one 6 hour marathon.  I began to use ice and heat treatments on my ribs and the soreness began to improve.  Almost all of the soreness is now gone and barring doing something stupid like lifting and re-pulling or irritating the affected area, I am hoping for total cure.  So far, so good.