I don’t know if it’s the placebo effect or not but it works for me. I can tell a definite difference in my knees if I don’t take it for a few days. It’s worth the price of a bottle for my knees to not hurt as much. NSAIDS upset my stomach sometimes so I started on the glucosamine to see if it helped and I’ve been happy. I’ve been taking it for several years now.
Well, Mom’s been taking it for twenty years now, and she says that her pain is only just now creeping back up to the level it was at when she started it. Maybe that is just the placebo effect wearing off, but if the placebo effect lasts for twenty years, it’s worth it.
Or maybe the pain did just go away on its own, too. This is why we say that anecdotes aren’t data.
Must work like a charm, then! 
OK, is there something here I am unaware of? I know that acetaminophen is contraindicated for moderate to heavy drinkers, but I thought that was because acetaminophen is metabolized by the liver, as is alcohol, and causes problems. NSAIDs, on the other hand, I thought were eliminated through the kidneys, and does not affect the liver. NSAIDs are my go-to analgesics, particularly ibuprofen and naproxen sodium (Motrin and Aleve). My father was a pharmacologist and had led me to believe the biggest risk with NASIDs was stomach irritation, leading to ulcers.
I suppose I should have said I drink like a fish, but I figured that was a known around here.
I’ve used it on two different dogs with remarkable improvement noted on both.
mmm
IME it does some good. I was starting to get that odd knee twinge going down stairs. Which I do for a dozenish flights a day. Doc says that (and squats as **beowulff **said above) is one of the first places trouble shows up in most people.
So I tried it. FTR this stuff by NOW Amazon.com
The difference was obvious after a week. No twinges. I’ve been on it for a couple years now. Once in awhile I forget to order more and so quit cold turkey for a week or so. The twinges come back after a few days and go away a few days after I’m back on it.
Placebo? Maybe. My doc says the formal research is ambivalent at best, but her anecdata from her patients are heavily in positive territory.
IMO one bottle of fresh stuff from a reliable manufacturer will tell the OP all he needs to know, plus or minus.
I’ve been taking glucosamine HCl for a while now, with no perceptible benefits (my knees still hurt).
However, I’ve heard anecdotal reports that glucosamine sulfate is more effective, so I might try switching to that. I searched PubMed, but can’t find any studies comparing the two formulations (admittedly I didn’t read the abstracts of every glucosamine study on PubMed—there are hundreds).
I find a big improvement with the arthritis in my fingers. I don’t see much difference with my neck.