NOW Foods Supplements, Hyaluronic Acid 50 mg with MSM, Joint Support*, 120 Veg Capsules

I bought this for my husband. He was on an antibiotic and suffered a serious side effect. Cipro and other antibiotics in the fluoroquinolone category carry a "Black Box" warning about the damage they can cause to tendons and other connective tissues. My husband suffered bi-lateral Achilles tendon damage and damage to the articular cartilage in his ankles, along with tendon pain in his wrists. He was not able to walk for four and a half months. Numerous doctor visits to many specialists have not helped.My field is nutrition, so as soon as he developed pain in his Achilles tendons, I began doing intensive reading on "fluroquinoline induced injury." I started him on a rigorous supplement program to try to rebuild healthy tendon cells and cartilage. This product was one of things I included in his supplement routine to support connective tissue repair.We do believe this product has helped. Over the past year, from time to time I will stop including this in with his supplements without telling him ("blind experiment") and after a week or two, he always tells me his pain has increased again. I add this product back into his supplements (without his knowledge) and in a few days, he tells me he feels better.From the extensive research I have done, I've learned that fluoroquinoline induced injury actually damages the rNA in the tendons, so it is no longer able to replicate healthy tenocytes (tendon cells). Because of that, we have no idea if this problem will ever be truly resolved. But, meantime, this product does seem to help reduce his pain level that comes from the damaged connective tissues.Please understand that we are using this along with an entire arsenal of other nutritional products. Any time I try eliminating any of them, his pain increases again. So, I can't say this product alone would have helped him - but, I can say we do believe it has made a difference when we use it in conjunction with other products that support connective tissue repair. And the reason I feel comfortable with that conclusion is because of what I stated above - that if I secretly stop giving this to him, his pain increases, and when I secretly add it back in, his pain level decreases.

Effectiveness

My knee joints are a little over 55 years old. For fitness (or recreation?) I run about 4 miles 4 times per week. Plus one evening of beach volleyball, one evening of indoor volleyball and two afternoons of Ultimate Disc every week. I had periodic knee joint aches that started about 7 years ago. Six years ago I had both knee joints checked out by a sports doctor and I agreed to Hyaluronic (Synvisc) injections directly into the knee joint area. These were costly, but mostly covered by health insurance. The injections worked great for me. However, after 4-5 years the knee aches slowly returned. I was faced with either eliminating some of my recreational activities or spending big bucks for another round of injections (since reasonable health insurance coverage/costs deteriorated quicker than my joints). I researched the benefits and options of less costly alternatives and came across Hyaluronic Acid supplements. I was highly skeptical, but decided to give it a try. I'm a once-a-day supplement-taker (evening after dinner), so I decided to cut the daily dosage in half. Before I emptied my first container of these little gems, my knee aches were already gone. I'm thinking ok, placebo effect right? Well its now been over 90 days, and still no sign of any knee joint aches. I'm also eating a banana almost every day since I learned they too are high in natural Hyaluronic acid. Plus I'm also making sure I get plenty of vitamin C to break the acid down into the components your body can use for joint lubrication/moisture retention. For complete and honest disclosure, I have two other friends (volleyball players), taking the exact same supplement and they are not seeing the same benefits as me.

I tried Glucosamine for my joint pain but it seemed to make it much worse. Someone told me about HA and MSM. So I tried this product. I mainly bought this Brand because the price was so good. I have almost finished the 120 capsules.I noticed within a few days my knees were a little better. I stopped taking it for awhile and my knees got worse again. As soon as I started taking again they are feeling better. I take more than the suggested dosage and haven't noticed any adverse reactions. I am definitely ordering again. It doesn't cure my problem but it sure helps.

My husband started using this several months ago and after a month convinced me to give it a try........we both have felt a difference in our joints & my arthritis seems to have settled down. Recommended it to our daughters & a few others with back problems and they also said they feel a difference. I've ordered this several times now for myself & to give to others to try. I take the recommended dosage <daily> on the bottle, but hubby only takes half. If you have joint problems and/or arthritis I would suggest you try this. It will take 2-3 weeks before you noticed a difference so don't give up after a few days of taking it! I have 2 hip replacements & a little carpal tunnel syndrome.....this stuff works! I also hear it helps with wrinkles! ;) Better than Glucosamine IMO!!

I have been buying Hyalauronic acid for some years to boost the effectiveness of the Collagen supplements I also take. Which I started taking because my knees were pre-arthritic- Getting stiff, no matter how much exercise I did or how healthy I eat. As the body ages, it produces less Collageen and Hyalauuronic acid. Collagen is the basic building block to the body, including joints. Hyalauronic acid is the basic building block to Collagen. The idea being to boost the effectiveness of the collagen. And the MSM is an added bonus to help in that same area. It also helps to keep my skin tight and supple. Additionally some years back I had a full body scan done. Because I take collagen and Hyalauronic acid supplements daily, The scan revealed I had the circulatory system of a 25 year old- no hardening of the arteries