home > vitamins, herbs, dietary supplements a-z list > glucosamine sulfate

Glucosamine Sulfate

Osteoarthritis Overview Slideshow Pictures Simple Exercises to Relieve OA Pain Slideshow Rheumatoid Arthritis Slideshow Pictures

In this Article

• What other names is Glucosamine Sulfate known by?
• What is Glucosamine Sulfate?
• Is Glucosamine Sulfate effective?
• How does Glucosamine Sulfate work?
• Are there safety concerns?
• Are there any interactions with medications?
• Dosing considerations for Glucosamine Sulfate.

Are there any interactions with medications?

Warfarin (Coumadin) is used to slow blood clotting. There are several reports showing that taking glucosamine sulfate with or without chondroitin increases the effect of warfarin (Coumadin), making blood clotting even slower. This can cause bruising and bleeding that can be serious. Don't take glucosamine sulfate if you are taking warfarin (Coumadin). Many natural medicines can interact with warfarin (Coumadin).

Some medications for cancer work by decreasing how fast cancer cells can copy themselves. Some scientists think that glucosamine sulfate might increase how fast tumor cells can copy themselves. Taking glucosamine sulfate along with some medications for cancer might decrease the effectiveness of these medications for cancer. Any person who is receiving chemotherapy should talk with their health provider before taking glucosamine sulfate.

Some of these medications are etoposide (VP16, VePesid), teniposide (VM26), and doxorubicin (Adriamycin).

There is some concern that taking glucosamine sulfate and acetaminophen (Tylenol, others) together might affect how well each works. But more information is needed to know if this interaction is a big concern. For now, most experts say it is okay to use both together.

There has been concern that glucosamine sulfate might increase blood sugar in people with diabetes. There was also the concern that glucosamine sulfate might decrease how well diabetes medications work. However, research now shows that glucosamine sulfate probably does not increase blood sugar in people with diabetes. Therefore, glucosamine sulfate probably does not interfere with diabetes medications. To be cautious, if you take glucosamine sulfate and have diabetes, monitor your blood sugar closely.

Some medications used for diabetes include glimepiride (Amaryl), glyburide (DiaBeta, Glynase PresTab, Micronase), insulin, pioglitazone (Actos), rosiglitazone (Avandia), chlorpropamide (Diabinese), glipizide (Glucotrol), tolbutamide (Orinase), and others.

Dosing considerations for Glucosamine Sulfate.

• Osteoarthritis: 1500 mg once daily or 500 mg three times daily.
• Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) arthritis: 500 mg three times daily.